Best onsen towns in Japan in May

Hot-spring towns to visit in May, with the ones at their best listed first.

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• Misasa Onsen Tottori
  Jinsho giant vine tug-of-war at the Hanayu Festival (May 3–4; Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property); fireflies along the river in June
• Unzen Onsen Nagasaki
  Miyama-kirishima azaleas (usually early–mid May); autumn leaves (usually late Oct – early Nov); rime ice on the trees in winter
• Beppu Hells Oita
  Seven colorful boiling hot springs — cobalt blue, blood red and bubbling mud — too hot to bathe in.
• Hakone-Yumoto Onsen Kanagawa
  The oldest and biggest of Hakone's hot springs, a river town at the station gateway with many inns, shops and day-trip baths.
• Kinosaki Onsen Hyogo
  A willow-lined riverside onsen town where guests stroll in yukata and geta between public bathhouses (sotoyu). Day visitors can use the baths too.
• Noboribetsu Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Hokkaido
  A steaming crater about 450 m across at Noboribetsu Onsen, full of hot vents. Its spring water supplies the town's inns.
• Jozankei Onsen Hokkaido
  Sapporo's hot-spring valley along the Toyohira River in a national park, with hotels, day-trip baths and a free foot bath.
• Sounkyo Onsen Hokkaido
  A gorge resort at the foot of the Daisetsuzan mountains, with tall cliffs and the Ginga and Ryusei waterfalls nearby.
• Lake Akan Onsen Hokkaido
  A lakeside spa town in Akan-Mashu National Park, home of marimo moss balls and the Akan Ainu Kotan, the Ainu village street.
• Sukayu Onsen Aomori
  A historic inn high in the Hakkoda mountains, famous for its huge mixed-bathing 'Hiba Sennin-buro' bath built of hiba cypress.
• Aoni Onsen Aomori
  A remote valley inn lit by oil lamps instead of electric lights, with several baths beside a mountain stream open to day visitors.
• Koganezaki Furofushi Onsen Aomori
  A seaside inn with a gourd-shaped open-air bath right at the edge of the Sea of Japan, filled with reddish-brown spring water straight from the source.
• Hanamaki Onsen Iwate
  A hot spring resort opened in 1923 in the hills north of Hanamaki. Its rose garden includes a sundial flower bed designed by Kenji Miyazawa.
• Naruko Onsen Miyagi
  The main town of the Naruko spa villages, by the station, with public bathhouses such as Taki-no-yu and many kokeshi doll shops.
• Akiu Onsen Miyagi
  A hot-spring town about an hour by bus from Sendai, counted among Japan's three 'royal' baths and once the Date lords' spa. The Rairaikyo gorge runs through it.
• Togatta Onsen Miyagi
  A hot-spring town on the eastern foot of the Zao range, over 400 years old, with kokeshi-maker workshops. Two public bathhouses and a free footbath sit in the centre.
• Sakunami Onsen Miyagi
  A hot-spring village in the mountains west of Sendai, said to date back to the Nara or Kamakura period. Its gentle water is called the 'beauty-making bath'; large hotels and inns line the valley.
• Nyuto Onsen (Tsurunoyu) Akita
  A centuries-old hot spring inn with thatched buildings and a milky outdoor bath in the forest.
• Tamagawa Onsen Akita
  A strongly acidic hot spring (pH 1.2) in the Hachimantai mountains, with steaming ground and a long tradition as a healing spa.
• Goshogake Onsen Akita
  A lone inn at 1,000 m in Hachimantai with mud baths and box steam baths, beside a nature trail through active volcanic ground.
• Kawarage Oyutaki (Hot-Spring Waterfall) Akita
  A waterfall of hot-spring water: a spring rising 1 km upstream joins a mountain stream and drops about 20 m, and the pool below is a natural open-air bath.
• Ginzan Onsen Yamagata
  Wooden inns from the early 1900s line a small river, lit by gas lamps at night.
• Zao Onsen Yamagata
  A mountain spa and ski town with strongly acidic sulfur water, three small public bathhouses and a big riverside outdoor bath.
• Kaminoyama Onsen Yamagata
  A hot spring town that grew up around a castle and a post station on the old Ushu Road, with public baths, footbaths and walking courses near Kaminoyama Castle.
• Yunohama Onsen Yamagata
  A seaside hot-spring resort about 1,000 years old, with hotels and inns along a 1 km white-sand beach and sunsets over the Sea of Japan ranked among Japan's 100 best.
• Akayu Onsen Yamagata
  A town-centre hot spring over 930 years old, once a bath of the Yonezawa lords, with 11 inns and three public baths. Six wineries and well-known spicy miso ramen shops are nearby.
• Higashiyama Onsen Fukushima
  A historic hot spring in a narrow valley just outside Aizu-Wakamatsu, a bathing resort of the Aizu domain in the Edo period, with inns lining both banks of the Yu River.
• Kinugawa Onsen Tochigi
  One of the largest spa resorts in the Kanto region, with big hotels and inns along the Kinugawa River gorge; day-trip baths too.
• Okunikko Yumoto Onsen Tochigi
  A quiet sulphur hot-spring village on the shore of Lake Yunoko at the far end of Oku-Nikko, said to have been found about 1,200 years ago.
• Nasu Yumoto Onsen and Sessho-seki Tochigi
  The oldest part of the Nasu hot springs. The rustic Shika-no-yu bathhouse stands near Sessho-seki, a barren, sulphur-smelling field of rocks tied to a fox legend.
• Shiobara Onsen Tochigi
  A string of hot-spring villages along a forested river valley, with over 150 sources of different water types and riverside walking paths.
• Yunishikawa Onsen & Heike no Sato Tochigi
  A mountain hot-spring village said to have been found by Heike warriors who fled after their defeat at Dan-no-ura. Heike no Sato recreates their way of life and displays related materials.
• Kusatsu Onsen Yubatake Gunma
  Steaming hot spring water flows through wooden channels in the middle of town. Lit up at night.
• Ikaho Onsen Stone Steps Gunma
  A hot spring town built along 365 stone steps, lined with old inns and snack shops.
• Minakami Onsen Gunma
  The main spa town of Minakami along the Tone River gorge, with inns, souvenir shops and day-trip baths; a base for rafting and Mt. Tanigawa.
• Shima Onsen Gunma
  A long, quiet hot-spring village along the clear Shima River, with retro streets and no traffic lights or convenience stores in sight.
• Manza Onsen Gunma
  A high-altitude spa at about 1,800 m with strongly sulphurous milky water from more than 20 sources; inns draw from different springs.
• Shiriyaki Onsen Gunma
  Hot water rises from the riverbed here, so part of the river itself is a huge open-air bath. Two inns also offer spring baths.
• Hoshi Onsen (Chojukan) Gunma
  A single inn founded 150 years ago in the mountains of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park. In its wooden Hoshi-no-yu bath hall, a registered cultural property, hot water bubbles up through the floor of the bath.
• Takaragawa Onsen Gunma
  A single inn near the source of the Tone River, with huge open-air baths on both banks of the Takaragawa stream: four pools totalling about 470 tatami mats. Everyone bathes in the bathing wear provided.
• Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen Niigata
  The hot-spring town of Kawabata Yasunari's novel Snow Country, by a Shinkansen station, with inns, ski slopes and several public baths.
• Tsukioka Onsen Niigata
  A hot-spring town opened in 1915, known for emerald-green sulphur water with one of the highest sulphur contents in Japan. Footbaths, a spring-water tasting spot and concept shops selling Niigata sake and food make it good for strolling in a yukata.
• Unazuki Onsen Toyama
  Toyama's largest hot-spring town, opened in 1923 at the mouth of Kurobe Gorge, with clear alkaline water piped from upstream and footbaths around town.
• Yamanaka Onsen Ishikawa
  A riverside spa town said to be 1,300 years old, with the Kakusenkei gorge walk, Korogi Bridge and the Kiku-no-yu public bathhouse.
• Wakura Onsen Ishikawa
  A seaside spa town on Nanao Bay in Noto, with salty 'sea onsen' water, a public bathhouse (Soyu) and a free foot bath.
• Yamashiro Onsen Ishikawa
  A Kaga hot-spring town centred on the Yu-no-Kuruwa square, where the Ko-Soyu bathhouse recreates a Meiji-era public bath with Kutani tiles and stained glass.
• Awara Onsen Fukui
  A hot-spring town opened in 1883 and long called the 'inner parlour of Kansai'. A free foot bath sits by the station.
• Isawa Onsen Yamanashi
  A hot-spring resort in the Kofu Basin that grew after hot water gushed from a vineyard in 1961. Its alkaline simple springs are known as 'skin-beautifying water', and more than 30 hotels and inns belong to the resort's association.
• Shibu Onsen (Yudanaka-Shibu) Nagano
  A cobbled old hot-spring street of wooden inns with nine public bathhouses (sotoyu), near the Snow Monkey Park.
• Nozawa Onsen Nagano
  A mountain village and ski resort with 13 free public bathhouses (sotoyu) kept by local residents, plus steaming Ogama spring.
• Bessho Onsen Nagano
  A small hot-spring town in Ueda, called the oldest spa in Shinshu, with three public bathhouses and old temples such as Anrakuji with its octagonal pagoda.
• Gero Onsen Gifu
  A riverside hot spring town counted among Japan's three famous springs, with free footbaths scattered through its streets.
• Okuhida Onsen Villages (Hirayu & Shinhotaka) Gifu
  Five mountain spa villages under the Northern Alps with many riverside outdoor baths, from Hirayu to Shinhotaka; day-trip baths too.
• Atami Onsen Shizuoka
  A seaside resort town on a bay, with hotels on the hillside, a sandy beach, fireworks over the water and day-trip baths.
• Shuzenji Onsen Shizuoka
  An old temple town along the Katsura River, with a bamboo-grove path lit at night and a wooden public bathhouse, Hako-yu.
• Arima Onsen Hyogo
  One of Japan's oldest hot spring towns, famous for its rusty-brown 'gold' water, just behind Kobe.
• Yumura Onsen Hyogo
  A hot spring town said to have been opened in 848. At the Arayu source, 98°C water gushes out and visitors boil eggs and vegetables in it; a footbath runs along the river beside it.
• Shirahama Onsen Wakayama
  A seaside onsen resort on the Pacific coast. Its Sakinoyu is an old open-air rock bath right at the water's edge, and the town runs public baths open to day visitors.
• Yunomine Onsen (Kumano) Wakayama
  A small hamlet of inns in a narrow valley on the Kumano Kodo, said to be one of Japan's oldest hot springs. Tsuboyu, a tiny rock bath, is part of the World Heritage site.
• Kaike Onsen Tottori
  One of the largest hot-spring resorts in San'in, on a pine-lined beach facing Miho Bay, with views of Mt. Daisen; its salty spring was found in 1900.
• Lake Togo and Hawai Onsen Tottori
  A brackish lake about 10 km around, nicknamed Crane Lake, with hot springs rising from its bed and two spa towns, Hawai and Togo, on its shores.
• Tamatsukuri Onsen Shimane
  An onsen town of inns along the Tamayu River near Lake Shinji, mentioned in the 8th-century Izumo Fudoki. Known for skin-friendly water, a wish stone shrine and riverside footbaths; day-trip baths exist.
• Yunotsu Onsen Shimane
  A retro hot-spring town that was once the port shipping Iwami Ginzan silver; old public baths sit along a narrow street of wooden inns.
• Yunogo Onsen Okayama
  One of the three Mimasaka hot springs, said to have been found when a white heron healed its leg in the water; the town has a free footbath.
• Yuda Onsen Yamaguchi
  A hot spring town in Yamaguchi City, said to have been found by a wounded white fox. About 2,000 tons of soft alkaline water flow each day, and free footbaths dot the streets.
• Iya Onsen (cable car to riverside bath) Tokushima
  A hotel's private cable car drops 170 m down a 42-degree cliff to open-air baths by the Iya River, fed by free-flowing spring water.
• Dogo Onsen Honkan Ehime
  A grand wooden bathhouse from 1894 at one of Japan's oldest hot springs. Fully reopened in 2024.
• Ureshino Onsen Saga
  A riverside onsen town on the Shiota River in a green-tea area, known for onsen-yudofu (tofu simmered in spring water). The Taisho-style Siebold-no-yu public bathhouse is open to day visitors.
• Takeo Onsen Saga
  An onsen town with about 1,300 years of history, entered through the Romon gate, an Important Cultural Property. The public baths Motoyu and Horaiyu behind the gate are open to day visitors.
• Obama Onsen Nagasaki
  A seaside hot spring town on Tachibana Bay. Named after the 105°C source, the free Hot Foot 105 footbath is 105 m long, Japan's longest, and you can steam local seafood and vegetables in the hot-spring steamers next to it.
• Kurokawa Onsen Kumamoto
  A hot spring village in a wooded valley. Buy a wooden pass to try three outdoor baths at different inns.
• Yufuin & Lake Kinrin Oita
  A small lake where morning mist rises on cold days, at the end of Yufuin's shopping street.
• Beppu Onsen & Takegawara Onsen Oita
  The bathhouse district near Beppu Station. Takegawara Onsen (founded 1879, current building 1938) is a city bath with an ornate gabled roof and a staffed sand bath.
• Myoban Onsen Yunohana Huts Oita
  A steaming hillside hot-spring area above Beppu where thatched huts are still used to grow yunohana, natural bath-salt crystals, as in the Edo period.
• Nagayu Onsen Oita
  A hot spring village in the hills of Taketa known for its rare carbonated springs. More than ten day-use baths, such as Lamune Onsen, cover you in fine bubbles, and you can also drink the water.
• Kannawa Yukemuri Observatory Oita
  A free lookout above Kannawa facing the plumes of steam rising over Beppu's hot spring district, with Mt Ogi and Mt Tsurumi behind. The night view is listed as Japan Night View Heritage.
• Ibusuki Sand Bath (Saraku) Kagoshima
  Lie in a yukata on the beach while staff cover you with sand warmed by hot springs, then rinse off in the onsen bath.
• Kirishima Onsen-kyo Kagoshima
  A cluster of mountain hot springs at 400–900 m on the slopes of the Kirishima range, centred on Maruo, Hayashida and Iodani, with many types of water, footbaths and inns of every size.
• Toshichi Onsen Iwate
  A lone inn at 1,400 m in Hachimantai, billed as the highest in Tohoku. Milky sulphur water flows straight from the source into open-air baths on the mountainside.
• Geto Onsen Iwate
  A remote hot spring in beech forest along the Geto River. Its open-air baths sit right on the springs, and a huge sinter dome lies upstream.
• Hijiori Onsen Yamagata
  A small hot-spring village of wooden inns at the foot of Mt. Gassan. A morning market sells mountain vegetables from late April to late November.
• Onogawa Onsen Yamagata
  A small spa village outside Yonezawa where the poet Ono no Komachi is said to have healed. The water flows straight from the source, can also be drunk, and fills two old public bathhouses.
• Shirabu Onsen Yamagata
  A hot spring at the foot of the Azuma range said to date from the late Kamakura period, with a thatched-roof inn, and a base for the Tengendai Highlands and Mt. Nishi-Azuma.
• Dake Onsen Fukushima
  A highland hot spring town at the foot of Mt. Adatara. Its rare acidic water (pH about 2.5) is piped about 8 km from the source high on the mountain.
• Yugawara Onsen (Manyo Park) Kanagawa
  A streamside park in the Yugawara hot-spring town, with a monument to the only poem in the Man'yoshu anthology about a hot spring. Inside, Yugawara Soyu has a day-use bath with open-air pools of free-flowing spring water and a free terrace with a café and books.
• Matsunoyama Onsen Niigata
  A mountain hot spring counted among Japan's three great medicinal baths. Its very salty water, over 90°C at the source, is said to be fossil seawater about 12 million years old, and the Takanoyu day-use bath in the village makes it easy to try.
• Shogawa Gorge Cruise & Omaki Onsen Toyama
  A boat cruise through the emerald-green Shogawa Gorge (about 1 h round trip) to Omaki Onsen, a lone inn reachable only by boat. Boats run year-round, with heated cabins in the snow season.
• Yuwaku Onsen Ishikawa
  A small mountain spa known as Kanazawa's inner retreat, with eight inns. Kaga lords came here to bathe, and the painter-poet Takehisa Yumeji stayed here.
• Shirahone Onsen Nagano
  A small mountain hamlet of inns in a gorge, known for its milky-white, nearly neutral spring water, with a public outdoor bath by the river.
• Sakakibara Onsen Mie
  An old spa praised by Sei Shonagon in The Pillow Book as 'Nanakuri no yu'. Pilgrims bathed here to purify themselves before visiting Ise Jingu, and its clear alkaline water is known for leaving skin smooth.
• Dorogawa Onsen Nara
  A small hot-spring town at the foot of sacred Mt. Omine, base for Shugendo pilgrims. Old inns line the river, and paper lanterns light the streets after dark.
• Kawayu Onsen (Sennin-buro) Wakayama
  A riverside hamlet in Kumano where hot water wells up from the gravel of the Oto River, so you can dig your own bath. In winter the river is dammed into the huge free Sennin-buro.
• Ryujin Onsen Wakayama
  A mountain spa on the Hidaka River, counted among Japan's three "beauty baths" and said to have been opened by Kobo Daishi. The public bath Motoyu uses 100% spring water and has a riverside open-air bath.
• Iwai Onsen Tottori
  A small hot spring town along the Gamo River, said to be the oldest in the San'in region, with wooden inns and the old custom of "yukamuri" — pouring hot water over a towel on your head with a ladle while singing.
• Yubara Onsen Okayama
  A riverside onsen town just below Yubara Dam on the Asahi River. Its Sunayu is a free, 24-hour open-air bath where hot water rises from the riverbed.
• Yuki Onsen Hiroshima
  A hot spring said to have been found 1,500 years ago and long called the "inner parlour of Hiroshima". At the Yuki Lodge you can bathe in free-flowing spring water beside the Minochi River.
• Nagato Yumoto Onsen Yamaguchi
  A small riverside onsen town on the Otozure River, with about 600 years of history. Stepping stones, river terraces and evening lighting line the water, and the Onto public bath is open to day visitors.
• Tawarayama Onsen Yamaguchi
  A 1,100-year-old spa town in the hills, once run by the Choshu lords. Most inns have no baths of their own, so guests walk to the public baths Machi-no-yu and Hakuen-no-yu.
• Oyabu Onsen Ehime
  A hot spring inn on a mountain stream above the Hiji River, founded in 1876. Its three-storey wooden main building with a railed veranda dates from the Taisho era, and day visitors can bathe in the cypress or rock bath.
• Yamaga Onsen Kumamoto
  An old spa town in northern Kumamoto. Its centre is Sakurayu, a large wooden public bathhouse rebuilt in Edo-period style, and the town is famous for its gilded paper lanterns.
• Tsuetate Onsen Kumamoto
  An old spa town in a steep river valley, where 98°C springs send steam up between the inns. Many inns have steam baths, and narrow back alleys called sedoya are good for a stroll.
• Hinokage Onsen Station Miyazaki
  A hot spring built in the former Hinokage Station of the closed Takachiho Railway, with the entrance on the platform. The baths overlook the Gokase River gorge, and two old rail cars on site have been converted into a lodging.

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