Willow-lined street of Kinosaki Onsen with wooden bathhouses and a stone bridge

Kinosaki Onsen Sato no Yu

A willow-lined onsen town on the Sea of Japan coast where guests move between seven public bathhouses in yukata and wooden geta.

Drivephotographer / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Source temperature: 72°C
Bathing temperature: 42°C
Bathing: Indoor / Outdoor
Accommodation: Hotel on site

Kinosaki Onsen is a hot-spring town in Toyooka, Hyōgo Prefecture, built along the willow-shaded Ōtani River. Its defining custom is soto-yu meguri — bathhouse hopping — in which visitors walk between seven public baths, of which Sato no Yu, beside the station, is the largest and most modern.

Balnevia view

Why visit

Few thermal places in Japan are so completely organised around walking. Ryokan act as changing rooms, the street is the corridor, and the seven bathhouses each have their own character, from the cave-like Ichi no Yu to the rooftop pools of Sato no Yu.

Recommendations

Hotels nearby

Explore places to stay near Kinosaki Onsen Sato no Yu.

The water

Thermal water

Source: Kinosaki hot springs
Mineralisation: Sodium-calcium chloride
Character: Clear, saline water distributed from municipal source wells to all seven public bathhouses

History

Bathing at Kinosaki is documented for well over a thousand years, and the town's literary reputation was secured by Naoya Shiga's 1917 story At Kinosaki. The present townscape of wooden inns and stone bridges largely dates from reconstruction after the 1925 North Tajima earthquake.

Practical information

A single pass sold by the ryokan covers all seven bathhouses. Each bathhouse closes on a different day of the week, so at least six are open at any time. Tattoo policies are relatively relaxed compared with much of Japan.

Official website

Getting there

Kinosaki-Onsen Station is served by direct limited express trains from Kyoto and Osaka in around two and a half hours; the bathhouses begin a few minutes' walk from the station.