Japanese Onsen Towns Map

Hakone

Onsen town with Fuji views and lake cruises

8.6

Owakudani formed after Mount Hakone's last major eruption thousands of years ago. Sulfur vents still stain the valley floor yellow and send steam into the air. Visitors can buy eggs boiled black in the natural hot spring water here. Local legend says eating one adds several years to your life.

Highlights:

🚠 Take a scenic ride on the Hakone Ropeway
🖼️ Explore stunning sculptures at Hakone Open-Air Museum
♨️ Soak in relaxing waters of Hakone Onsen hot springs

Beppu

Steaming hot springs and colorful Hells

8.1

Beppu produces more hot spring water than any other town in Japan. Its Eight Hells tour shows off boiling ponds in shades of blue and red. Visitors can walk between the sites without ever stepping into the scalding water itself. Sand baths nearby let bathers get buried up to the neck in warm sand.

Highlights:

🏖️ Try a traditional sand bath at Beppu Beach Sand Bath
🌋 Watch the spectacular steam vents rise at Umi Jigoku
♨️ Bathe in the famous Beppu hot springs known as “onsen hells”

Kusatsu-Onsen

Steaming hot water field and bath hopping

8.1

Kusatsu produces the largest volume of hot spring water flowing naturally from the ground in Japan. Its water is so acidic that it must be cooled before bathing. Visitors can watch the yumomi performance, where workers stir the water with long wooden paddles. The town's central field, Yubatake, sends steam rising through the streets.

Highlights:

🌿 Relax in open-air baths at Sainokawara Park
🎍 Watch a traditional Yumomi hot water cooling show
♨️ Admire the steaming Yubatake hot spring field in the center of town

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park

Fuji, Hakone, Izu and volcanic islands

8.8

Fuji-Hakone-Izu became a national park in 1936, one of Japan's earliest protected areas. Its boundaries stretch from Mount Fuji's slopes down to the Izu Peninsula's coast. Visitors can move between mountain onsen towns and seaside hot springs within the same park. Offshore, the park even includes several small volcanic islands.

Highlights:

🥚 Explore volcanic vents and black eggs at Owakudani
♨️ Relax in Hakone’s renowned hot spring baths
🗻 Climb iconic Mount Fuji for sunrise views

Kinosaki Onsen

Seven bathhouses to stroll between in yukata

8.3

Kinosaki Onsen grew up around seven public bathhouses spread along a willow-lined canal. Visitors traditionally wear yukata robes and wooden geta sandals while walking between them. Guests can hop from bathhouse to bathhouse using a single day pass. The clatter of geta on stone streets is one of the town's signature sounds.

Highlights:

⛩️ Visit the historic Kinosaki Shrine and participate in local rituals
👘 Stroll through the charming streets wearing a yukata and geta
🛁 Relax in a traditional ryokan and soak in private onsen baths

Noboribetsu

Steaming hell valley and nine spring types

8.5

Jigokudani is known in English as Hell Valley, formed from an ancient volcanic crater still venting steam today. Sulfur fumes and bubbling mud pools color the ground orange near the trail. Visitors can walk a boardwalk trail around the crater's edge. The valley feeds most of the hot spring water used by the town below.

Highlights:

🐻 Meet Japanese macaques at the Noboribetsu Bear Park
🌋 Walk through the steaming volcanic valley of Jigokudani
♨️ Soak in natural hot springs at Noboribetsu Onsen resort

Nyuto Onsen

Seven secluded onsen inns in beech forest

9.2

Nyuto Onsen is a cluster of remote hot spring inns tucked into an Akita mountainside. Its milky white water comes from several distinct mineral springs nearby. Visitors can hike between the inns along forest trails in winter snow. Lantern-lit paths guide bathers to outdoor baths after dark.

Highlights:

🥩 Taste yamanoimo nabe, a hearty mountain yam hot pot
🏞️ Hop between Nyuto's hot spring inns with a Yumeguri pass
♨️ Soak in the milky-white outdoor bath at Tsurunoyu

Gero

One of Japan's three great hot springs

7.5

Gero is ranked among Japan's three greatest hot spring towns, a title dating back centuries. Its alkaline water is said to leave skin noticeably smoother after bathing. Visitors can soak in free public foot baths scattered along the river. A wooden bridge lit at night connects the town's two riverbanks.

Highlights:

🚶🏻 Stroll along the Gero Onsen street and footbaths
🏮 Stay overnight in a traditional ryokan inn
♨️ Soak in Gero’s famous natural hot spring baths

Yufuin Onsen

Lakeside onsen town below Mount Yufu

8.4

Yufuin sits at the base of Mount Yufu, quieter than its larger neighbor Beppu. Lake Kinrin nearby steams gently where hot springs feed into the cold lake water. Visitors can walk the lake's shoreline path in the early morning mist. Small galleries and craft shops line the town's main street.

Highlights:

🌅 Take a morning walk around tranquil Lake Kinrin
🛍️ Stroll along Yufuin’s picturesque Yunotsubo Kaido shopping street
🛀 Bathe in a private open-air onsen with mountain views

Izu

Shuzenji hot springs, wasabi and Amagi hikes

8.1

Shuzenji Onsen grew up around a temple said to date back over a thousand years. A monk is said to have found the hot spring by striking rock with his staff. Visitors can walk through a bamboo grove path along the town's river. Public foot baths line the riverside walk through the old town center.

Highlights:

🌸 Walk the Path of Bamboo along Shuzenji's river
💧 Hike to the stunning Joren Waterfall
♨️ Relax in the healing waters of Shuzenji Onsen

Aso-Kuju National Park

Giant caldera, active volcano and highlands

8.1

Mount Aso's caldera is among the largest volcanic craters in the world. Hot springs across the park draw their heat directly from the still active volcano below. Visitors can drive across the vast grassy caldera floor between soaking stops. Steam vents near the summit remind visitors the mountain is still very much alive.

Highlights:

🐎 Ride horseback across the grasslands of Kusasenri Plateau
🥾 Hike the Kuju Mountains for sweeping views of lush valleys
🌋 Peer into Mount Aso’s active volcanic crater and feel the heat

Nozawa Onsen

Thirteen free public baths and a ski area

8.3

Nozawa Onsen keeps thirteen free public bathhouses called soto-yu scattered through its streets. Locals have maintained these community baths for residents and visitors alike for generations. Skiers can soak here after a day on the surrounding mountain slopes. Steam rising from roadside drains marks where hot spring water runs beneath the town.

Highlights:

🔥 Experience the unique Ogama boiling hot spring kitchen
🥾 Hike trails around the scenic Nozawa Onsen village
♨️ Tour the 13 historic public hot spring bathhouses

Kurokawa Onsen

Riverside bath hopping in a Kumamoto valley

8.8

Kurokawa Onsen built its reputation on rustic wooden ryokan set along a forested river. A single wooden pass lets visitors choose three different outdoor baths around town. Guests can wander between inns wrapped in yukata robes after dark. Streetlights here were kept deliberately dim to preserve the town's old fashioned feel.

Highlights:

🏮 Enjoy seasonal lantern festivals lighting the village
👘 Stroll the charming streets in traditional yukata robes
♨️ Use the wooden pass for onsen hopping across baths

Shibu Onsen

Nine public baths and cobbled lanes

8.5

Shibu Onsen's narrow stone streets have stayed largely unchanged for centuries. Nine public bathhouses here are traditionally visited in a set order for good luck. Visitors can walk the route in wooden geta between soaks. Jigokudani Monkey Park, where wild snow monkeys bathe in hot springs, sits just up the mountain.

Highlights:

👘 Stroll historic streets wearing yukata robes
🐒 Visit Jigokudani Monkey Park to see bathing snow monkeys
♨️ Soak in nine unique public hot spring baths

Kinugawa-Onsen

Gorge hot spring resort near Nikko

8.3

Kinugawa Onsen sits along a river gorge carved through steep, forested cliffs. Hot spring water here was once reserved only for feudal lords centuries ago. Visitors can ride a short cable car for views down into the gorge. The town sits within easy reach of Nikko's historic shrines.

Highlights:

🍜 Taste local soba noodles at riverside izakaya
🏞️ Hike to Kinugawa Gorge waterfalls
♨️ Soak in outdoor hot springs overlooking mountains

Izu Peninsula

Hot springs, volcanic coast and beaches

8.3

The Izu Peninsula sits where hot spring water meets the open Pacific coastline. Several ryokan here built their baths directly facing the ocean cliffs. Visitors can soak while watching waves break along the Jogasaki coast below. The peninsula formed from volcanic activity that still feeds its many onsen.

Highlights:

🌸 Explore Izu Kogen highland's flower gardens
🏔️ Watch the sunset over Suruga Bay from Cape Koganezaki
🛁 Soak in Atami's famed hot spring baths

Matsuyama

A hilltop castle and Japan's oldest hot spring

8.3

Dogo Onsen is considered one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, mentioned in ancient texts. Its main bathhouse was built in 1894 and still operates today. Visitors can bathe inside the wooden building or soak in a private room upstairs. The building is often cited as an inspiration for the bathhouse in Spirited Away.

Highlights:

⛩️ Explore Ishiteji Temple and its historic tunnel
♨️ Relax in Dogo Onsen, Japan's oldest hot spring
🏯 Visit Matsuyama Castle with panoramic city views

Fujikawaguchiko

Lake town with Mount Fuji views and onsen

8.1

Fujikawaguchiko sits beside a lake that reflects Mount Fuji on clear, still mornings. Several ryokan here built open air baths facing directly toward the mountain. Visitors can soak outdoors while watching the sunrise light up Fuji's snowy peak. The lake itself is one of five formed by past eruptions of the volcano.

Highlights:

🚠 Ride the Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway for stunning views
🏘️ Explore traditional thatched houses at Iyashi-no-Sato
🏞️ Admire Mount Fuji from scenic Lake Kawaguchiko

Hida

Carp canal and sake town near Takayama

7.3

Okuhida's onsen villages sit tucked into a valley beneath the Northern Japan Alps. Five separate hot spring areas here share water from the same volcanic source. Visitors can soak outdoors in baths facing steep, forested mountainsides. The region is also known for its tender, marbled Hida beef.

Highlights:

🚆 Ride the scenic Hida-Furukawa rail line through mountain valleys
🍶 Take a sake brewery tour and sample local varieties
🏮 Wander through the preserved streets of Hida-Furukawa

Traditional Japanese onsen towns and hot springs