Jinata Onsen
A Free Hot Spring in the Sea Rocks of Shikinejima, Timed by the Tide
Rock pools at the foot of a narrow cleft on Shikinejima's south coast, where iron-rich spring wat...
Aoni Onsen
Aoni Onsen: The Lamp-Lit Inn at the Bottom of a Snowbound Valley
A single inn deep in the Aoni valley east of Kuroishi, lit at night by oil lamps instead of elect...
Yamanaka Onsen
Basho's Nine-Day Stop, a Public Bath in Two Buildings and a 1.3 km Gorge Walk
One of the Kaga onsen towns, in the valley of the Daishoji River. The public bath, Kikunoyu, cost...
Hoshi Onsen Chojukan
A One-Inn Hot Spring Where the Water Rises Through the Bath Floor, Four Buses a Day from Sarugakyo
Hoshi Onsen is a single wooden inn, Chojukan, at the foot of the Mikuni Pass. Its big bath, Hoshi...
Okuhida Onsengo
Five Hot Spring Villages Under the Northern Alps, with Outdoor Baths at Almost Every Inn
Five onsen villages strung along the valleys east of Takayama: Hirayu, Fukuji, Shin-Hirayu, Tochi...
Nozawa Onsen
Thirteen Free Village Baths Kept by the Residents, and a Fire Festival Every 15 January
A hot spring village in northern Nagano with 13 public bathhouses, the soto-yu, that anyone may u...
Iya Onsen
A Cable Car Down a 42-Degree Cliff to a River Bath in the Iya Valley
A single inn, Hotel Iya Onsen, on the rim of the Iya gorge, with its own cable car that drops 170...
Shirahama Onsen
A Seaside Hot Spring Town Where the Oldest Bath Is a Rock Pool at the Waterline
The hot spring side of Shirahama, apart from the beach. Its best-known bath is Sakinoyu, open-air...
Takegawara Onsen
Beppu's 1938 Public Bathhouse, Where Staff Bury You in Hot Sand
A city-run bathhouse a 10-minute walk from Beppu Station, in a 1938 wooden building with a curved...
Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen
Yakushima's Sea-Rock Bath That Only Surfaces Around Low Tide
Two rock pools on the shore at Hirauchi, on Yakushima's south coast, where hot spring water rises...
Naruko Onsen
Kokeshi Dolls, a 300-Yen Sulfur Bath by the Shrine, and a Gorge That Fills Up in Autumn
A hot spring town in the hills of northwest Miyagi, about 45 minutes from Furukawa on the JR Riku...
Shima Onsen
42 Springs, a 1691 Inn and the Blue of Lake Okushima
A narrow hot spring valley along the Shima River in northwest Gunma with 42 sources, named in 195...
Zao Onsen Dairotenburo
Zao Onsen's Big Open-Air Bath: Hours, Fees and Season
Zao Onsen's seasonal outdoor bath, fed straight from a strongly acidic sulfur spring. ¥850 for ad...