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Japan is home to thousands of hot spring destinations. Yet “onsen” is far from a single thing: some are cloudy white waters thick with the scent of sulfur, others are silky and colorless, and some are as salty as seawater. Different mineral content means a different feel on the skin and different benefits, so no two springs are ever quite the same.
Scholars recorded them in their travel journals, emperors cherished them, and word spread that certain waters could make the skin fairer. Since ancient times, which hot springs were the finest has been a matter of genuine interest to the people of Japan.
This article introduces the hot springs that, through such reputation, legend, and the records of scholars, came to be regarded as the leading example within a particular category.
The Three Great Hot Springs of Japan (Nihon San-Meisen) are three springs recorded as “the finest waters in Japan” by two scholars of the Muromachi period (1336–1573) and the Edo period (1603–1868).
Banri Shukyu, a poet-monk of Shokoku-ji temple among Kyoto’s Five Mountains, wrote in his collection of poetry and prose, Baika Mujinzō (completed in 1506):
“Among the more than sixty provinces of Japan, each has its sacred waters, but the greatest of all are the three at Kusatsu, Arima, and Yushima (Gero).”
About a century later, Hayashi Razan, a Confucian scholar of the early Edo period, named the same three, and the evaluation took firm hold.
The Three Great Hot Springs of Japan are Kusatsu Onsen, Arima Onsen, and Gero Onsen.
Kusatsu Onsen (Kusatsu Town, Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture) boasts the largest volume of hot spring water in Japan. The yubatake (hot water field) at the heart of the town serves as the gathering point for the source water, and channels of wooden conduits stretch out into the streets, creating a distinctive scene. With a daily output of more than 20,000 tons, it ranks among the largest in the country.
In the Edo-period hot spring ranking Shokoku Onsen Kōnōkagami, Kusatsu was placed at the highest rank of the eastern division (the top tier of its day), and its fame spread nationwide with the saying, “It cures everything but lovesickness.”
Yumomi, the practice of stirring the high-temperature source water with wooden paddles to cool it to a comfortable temperature, is a bathing tradition unique to Kusatsu. From the Edo era to the present day, it remains a celebrated spring standing at the very summit of Japan’s hot springs.
Arima Onsen (Kita Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture) is a rare destination where two waters of entirely different character spring from a single location.
There is the “kinsen” (golden spring), stained reddish-brown as its iron content oxidizes, and the colorless, transparent “ginsen” (silver spring). The moment you dip a hand into the bath, the vivid color of the kinsen and its strongly salty feel surprise more than a few first-time visitors.
Close to Kyoto and Osaka, Arima has long been loved by a wide range of people, from court nobles and warriors to commoners. Toyotomi Hideyoshi visited Arima nine times in his life, built the Yuyama Palace there, and records remain of the tea gatherings he held with his wife Nene and the tea master Sen no Rikyu. The remains of the palace can still be seen today at the Taiko no Yudonokan museum.
Gero Onsen (Gero City, Gifu Prefecture) is known for the wonderful feel of its water on the skin. Smooth and silky like soap, it is a gentle, unassuming spring. Its nickname, the “Beauty Spring” (Bijin-no-Yu), was born from this very texture.
Banri Shukyu himself, who selected the Three Great Hot Springs, visited Gero twice, in 1489 and 1491, and left records of bathing there.
The spring’s origin is told in the white heron legend, in which villagers discovered a wounded white heron soaking in the riverbank waters to heal its injury.
In the “100 Best Hot Springs of Japan,” Gero ranks second after Kusatsu (as of fiscal 2025), and its reputation as a celebrated spring continues to this day.
The Three Ancient Springs (Nihon San-Koto) are the three hot springs with the longest history in Japan, appearing in ancient texts such as the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) and the Fudoki (regional gazetteers).
Records remain of emperors who stayed for dozens of days, and myths tell of gods who healed their wounds here. Each spring carries a history reaching far beyond a thousand years.
The Three Ancient Springs are Dogo Onsen, Arima Onsen, and Nanki-Shirahama Onsen.
Dogo Onsen (Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture) is said to be the oldest hot spring in Japan, with a history of approximately 3,000 years.
A surviving passage of the Iyo no Kuni Fudoki records a legend in which Ōkuninushi-no-Mikoto, a deity of Izumo, used the hot spring to revive Sukunabikona-no-Mikoto from a sudden illness.
In 596, Prince Shōtoku is said to have stayed here to recuperate from illness, praising it as “just like the Land of Heavenly Longevity.” Afterward, many emperors and members of the imperial family visited, including Emperor Jomei, Empress Saimei, and Prince Naka-no-Ōe.
The main building of Dogo Onsen was constructed in 1894 (Meiji 27) and was the first public bathhouse to be designated a National Important Cultural Property. In 2024, it completed roughly five and a half years of preservation and repair work and resumed full operation.
When Natsume Sōseki was assigned to Matsuyama Middle School in 1895, he became a regular here, and because he depicted it in his novel Botchan, it is also fondly known by the nickname “Botchan Yu.”
Arima Onsen is also among the very oldest in Japan. The Nihon Shoki records that in 631 (Jomei 3), Emperor Jomei stayed for 86 days at the “Arima Hot Spring Palace of Settsu Province,” a grand imperial visit accompanied by the Minister of the Left and the Minister of the Right.
Nanki - Shirahama Onsen (Shirahama Town, Wakayama Prefecture) appears in the Nihon Shoki, which records that in 658 (Saimei 4), Empress Saimei and Prince Naka-no-Ōe bathed here. Its old name was “Muro no Yu.” It is a hot spring of distinguished pedigree, also celebrated in the Man’yōshū.
“Saki no Yu,” considered the oldest spring here, is an open-air bath set along a coastline so close to the sea that the spray of the Pacific reaches it. Since the age of the Man’yōshū, when hollows worn into the sandstone served as natural baths, people have soaked in these waters.
The Three Imperial Hot Springs (Nihon San-Miyu) are three springs that emperors themselves visited for healing and whose benefits they personally acknowledged.
“Miyu” (imperial hot spring) is a name signifying an emperor’s seal of approval, regarded as the most prestigious title ever granted to a hot spring.
So trusted were these waters that legend tells of springs from lands far from the capital being deliberately transported all the way to the court for the emperor’s use.
The Three Imperial Hot Springs are Akiu Onsen, Bessho Onsen, and Nozawa Onsen.
Akiu Onsen (Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture) was called “Natori no Miyu.” Legend holds that Emperor Kinmei (the 29th emperor, reigned 539–571) was cured of a skin ailment after having the water of this spring transported to the capital. About 30 minutes by car from central Sendai, it is one of Tohoku’s leading hot spring destinations, known as the “secluded retreat of Sendai.”
Bessho Onsen (Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture) was called “Shinano no Miyu.” The surrounding area gathers ancient temples of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), such as Kitamuki Kannon, Anraku-ji (home to the National Treasure octagonal three-story pagoda), and Joraku-ji, earning it the name “the Kamakura of Shinshu.” It is a hot spring where you can enjoy both the baths and a tour of ancient temples in a single day.
Nozawa Onsen (Nozawaonsen Village, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture) was called “Inukai no Miyu.” It is mentioned as “Inukai no Miyu” in the Heian-period poetry anthology Shūi Wakashū, and has long been known as a celebrated spring recognized by the imperial household.
In the Edo period, the Matsudaira lords of the Iiyama Domain built a villa here for therapeutic bathing, and the spring has a history of permitting common people to take the waters as well.
The Three Great Medicinal Hot Springs (Nihon San-Dai Yakuto) are three springs that contain therapeutic minerals far exceeding the standards set by Japan’s Hot Spring Law, and that have long been called “medicinal waters.”
The “concentration” of their minerals is in a class of its own, and they have traditionally been believed to have therapeutic effects rivaling those of medicine.
The Three Great Medicinal Hot Springs are Kusatsu Onsen, Arima Onsen, and Matsunoyama Onsen.
The strongly acidic water of Kusatsu Onsen is acidic enough to dissolve a one-yen coin in a week. At the same time, its sterilizing power earned it the saying, “It cures everything but lovesickness,” and its benefits for skin conditions are recognized in medical terms as well.
Arima Onsen is a multi-mineral spring containing seven of the nine therapeutic spring components defined by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. Examples of a single hot spring holding such a diverse range of therapeutic minerals are rare even worldwide, and this water that addresses a wide range of conditions is the reason it is called a medicinal spring.
The water that springs at Matsunoyama Onsen (Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture) is seawater from approximately 12 million years ago. An ancient sea was sealed underground just as it was, and it rises to the surface through a rare emergence mechanism known as the “geopressurized type,” driven upward by geological pressure.
Its boron content is about 57 times the standard set by the Hot Spring Law. The salt concentration is also high, so the warming effect lingers long after you leave the bath.
Located in the heavy-snow region of Echigo, where winter brings snow more than three meters (10 ft) deep, this hot spring is one that people have long relied upon as a medicinal water.
The Three Great Beauty Hot Springs (Nihon San-Dai Bijin-no-Yu) are three springs that have long been cherished as “beauty springs” for their cosmetic effect of conditioning the skin.
The cosmetic benefits were already noted in the Railway Bureau’s Onsen Annai (Hot Spring Guide) of 1920 (Taisho 9), so their reputation was firmly established by the Taisho era.
The Three Great Beauty Hot Springs are Ryujin Onsen, Kawanaka Onsen, and Yunokawa Onsen.
Ryujin Onsen (Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture) is a sodium bicarbonate spring welling up along the gorge of the Hidaka River, and it has been called a “beauty spring” for the softness it leaves on the skin after bathing. So treasured was this water that an Edo-period lord of the Kishu Tokugawa family built a private palace bath here for his therapeutic visits, and it is also remembered as a spring beloved by women.
Kawanaka Onsen (Higashiagatsuma Town, Gunma Prefecture) is a calcium sulfate spring. With a source temperature of about 34°C (93°F), it is on the cooler side, and it has long been cherished as a spring that conditions the skin through a slow, unhurried soak. It is a quiet hot spring nestled in the mountains of the Agatsuma Gorge.
Yunokawa Onsen (Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture) is the hot spring where, according to legend, Yakami-hime of Izumo mythology bathed and regained her beauty. Cherished as a cosmetic spring since the age of myth, it lies about 30 minutes by car from Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine.
The Three Great Beautiful Skin Hot Springs (Nihon San-Dai Bihada-no-Yu) are three springs chosen by scientifically evaluating the skin-beautifying effect of their water.
Unlike the “beauty springs” based on legend and reputation, these were selected with attention to the “natural peeling effect” of highly alkaline waters with a high pH value.
They share the action of softening old keratin and leaving the skin smooth and refined. The Three Great Beautiful Skin Hot Springs are Ureshino Onsen, Kitsuregawa Onsen, and Hinokami Onsen.
Ureshino Onsen (Ureshino City, Saga Prefecture) is characterized by a silkiness you can feel the moment you put your hand in the water. With a smoothness like soaking in cosmetic lotion, it is the most widely known of the Three Great Beautiful Skin Hot Springs. Also famous as a producer of Ureshino tea, its tea fields and hot spring town sit side by side.
Kitsuregawa Onsen (Sakura City, Tochigi Prefecture) is a relatively new hot spring discovered through drilling in 1981. The scent of sulfur drifting over the water and the smoothness of the skin after bathing have earned it high praise.
Hinokami Onsen (Okuizumo Town, Shimane Prefecture) is one of Japan’s foremost strongly alkaline springs, where a distinctly slippery feel stands out the moment you bathe. A quiet hot spring set among the mountains of Okuizumo, the stage of Izumo mythology, it is a beautiful-skin spring known to those in the know.
The Three Great Hidden Hot Springs (Nihon San-Dai Hito) are three springs that preserve their old-time form deep in the mountains, far from any town.
As hot springs combining difficulty of access with rarity of water quality, Yachi Onsen, Iya Onsen, and Niseko Yakushi Onsen have traditionally been named among them.
Yachi Onsen (Towada City, Aomori Prefecture) is a single lone inn standing deep in the mountains of the Hakkoda range, more than an hour by car from the nearest station. For about 400 years since the Edo period, it has guarded its waters in the same form, serving only those who come for therapeutic bathing.
The simple bathing method of moving between the “Shimo no Yu,” where the source water springs straight up from the bottom of the tub, and the “Kami no Yu,” clouded white with sulfur, has been passed down unchanged since the spring first opened.
Iya Onsen (Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture) is located in the Iya Gorge, a remote hideaway of Shikoku.
The open-air bath at the valley floor is reached by a cable car that takes about five minutes to descend. The free-flowing open-air bath, with its source springing up in a gorge 170 meters (560 ft) below, is a world apart, surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs.
Niseko Yakushi Onsen (Hokkaido) was once counted among the foremost of the hidden hot springs, but it closed in 2014 and the building has been demolished. It is currently inaccessible.
The Three Great Hot Springs for Digestive Health (Nihon San-Dai Ichoubyo-no-Yu) are three springs with a long record of healing digestive ailments through drinking the spring water.
Japan has a culture of insen (drinking spring water) to settle the stomach and intestines, and these springs have a history of welcoming, as therapeutic bathing destinations, people troubled by digestive ailments.
The Three Great Hot Springs for Digestive Health are Shima Onsen, Gaga Onsen, and Yunohira Onsen.
Shima Onsen (Nakanojo Town, Gunma Prefecture) is a hot spring said to take its name from the phrase “it heals forty thousand (shima) ailments.” A drinking spring is set up in the hot spring town, where you can actually drink the spring water.
In a quiet hot spring town along a gorge with no traffic lights and no convenience stores, the mysterious blue waters of the Shima River known as “Shima Blue” are one of its highlights. It has also long been cherished as the “finishing bath after Kusatsu,” its gentle waters soothing skin left rough by the strongly acidic waters of Kusatsu Onsen.
Gaga Onsen (Zao Town, Miyagi Prefecture) is a single lone inn standing in the mountains of the Zao range. It has been known as a therapeutic bathing destination for digestive ailments since the Meiji era (1868–1912).
Its specialty is a bathing method called “kakeyu” (pouring water). Using a bamboo tube, you scoop up the hot water and pour 100 cupfuls over your stomach while lying down—a distinctive method. It is the wisdom devised by long-staying therapeutic bathers to prevent the strong effects of overbathing, passed down to this day.
Yunohira Onsen (Yufu City, Oita Prefecture) is a therapeutic bathing destination that opened in the Kamakura period, where ryokan and five public bathhouses line a stone-paved slope laid in the Edo period. In olden times, people were encouraged not only to bathe in its weak saline water but also to drink it, and it became known for its benefits for the stomach and intestines.
What makes a celebrated hot spring? Excellent water quality. A long history. High therapeutic value. Each of these is, of course, a condition of a celebrated spring. But those alone do not make a hot spring “celebrated.”
The water welled up, people soaked in it, and someone said and passed on that this water was good. That voice spread, and eventually a name was given to a single hot spring.
A Muromachi poet-monk left it in his records, an emperor stayed for dozens of days, and villagers guarded the public baths for hundreds of years.
A celebrated hot spring is something woven together over a long span of time, where the power of the water and the work of people overlap.
Was there any spring among those introduced here that caught your interest?
Every hot spring has its own history and story, and scenery and water that can be savored nowhere else.
Layered with history, yet seeking the scenery you can only meet “now.”
Please do make your way to a hot spring.
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