Tokushima · Iya Onsen
Hotel Iya Onsen (cable-car bath)
ホテル祖谷温泉（ケーブルカー露天）
A five-minute ride down a 42-degree cable car to the bottom of the Iya gorge, where a self-flowing bath sits beside the river. Day use 7:30–17:00, cable car included. A member of the Secret Onsen Preservation Society.
- Price (adult)
- ¥2,000
- Hours
- Day use 07:30–17:00 (last entry 16:00)
- Closed
- Wednesdays (another day if a holiday)
- Access
- 20 min by hotel shuttle or taxi from JR Oboke Station
- Water type
- Alkaline simple
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥2,000 / children ¥1,000 — covers the cable car, the riverside rotenburo and the panoramic indoor bath (up from ¥1,900 in 2024). Some media list ¥700 for the indoor bath alone. Private rotenburo “Yamagiri-no-yu” ¥3,000 + tax for 60 min, first come first served on the day. Meal-inclusive day plans by reservation
- Baths
- Valley-floor rotenburo “Seseragi-no-yu” (Kiyora-no-yu): gender-separated open-air baths on the Iya River, reached by a 250 m cable car descending a 42-degree slope in about five minutes. The 39 °C source is used unheated — a mild 37–38 °C bath in which fine bubbles cling to the skin; white mineral flakes make it look cloudy. The main building has a panoramic indoor bath over the gorge, renewed in 2021 (heated, recirculated)
- Water
- Alkaline simple sulphur spring (hypotonic, alkaline), pH 9.1, 38–39 °C at source, artesian. The gorge rotenburo is free-flowing with no dilution, heating or disinfection. Rich in carbonate and bicarbonate ions — silky “beauty water”
- Parking
- Free. ~20 min by car from Oboke Station on a narrow, twisting gorge road. Shikoku Kotsu bus from Oboke to “Iya Onsen-mae”, right outside (4–5 a day)
- Phone
- 0883-75-2311
- Official site
- iyaonsen.co.jp ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Five-minute cable car to the gorge floor
- Naturally rising ~39°C lukewarm water
- Scenery of one of Japan's three great hidden valleys
A cable-car ride down to a mild, bubbling bath on the valley floor — the lone inn of Iya, one of Japan’s three great hidden regions
The Iya Valley is a deep V-shaped gorge carved into the Shikoku mountains of western Tokushima, one of Japan’s “three great hidden regions” with legends of Heike fugitives. Hotel Iya Onsen is the only hot-spring inn perched on its cliffs, and its speciality is “Seseragi-no-yu”, a rotenburo on the valley floor reached by the hotel’s own 250 m cable car dropping down a 42-degree slope in about five minutes. Gender-separated rock pools jut over the Iya River, fed by a private artesian source at 39 °C and filled as is — no heating, dilution or disinfection — giving a mild 37–38 °C bath. The pH 9.1 alkaline simple sulphur water is rich in carbonate, so after a few minutes champagne-like bubbles cling to your arms, while floating white mineral flakes cloud the water — proof of the source. Because it is mild you can soak for half an hour or an hour gazing up at the gorge walls to the sound of the river — the “bath where time is forgotten”. The ¥2,000 day fee covers the cable car both ways and the main building’s panoramic indoor bath renewed in 2021; reception 07:30–16:00, closed Wednesdays. The cable car is small and queues form in peak season, so come in the morning.
Tips & cautions
- Reception until 16:00; closed Wednesdays (another day if a holiday). The cable car is tiny — expect waits on holidays and in autumn-leaf season.
- The gorge bath is mild (37–38 °C); in winter you chill on getting out, so warm up straight away in the main building’s panoramic bath. Shorter guest hours 4 Jan–end Feb.
- Minimal washing facilities at the rotenburo — wash in the main building.
- Sulphur plus alkali: slippery skin, tarnished silver.
- The private rotenburo cannot be booked — first come, first served.
- Iya’s roads are narrow with frequent rockfall and fog. Drive in daylight; buses are few, so check timetables.
- Tattoo policy unconfirmed — phone ahead (0883-75-2311).
Getting there
Shikoku Kotsu bus (towards Kazurabashi) ~30 min from Oboke Station (JR Dosan line) to “Iya Onsen-mae”, right outside (Matsuo Matsumoto 367-28, Ikeda-cho, Miyoshi); 4–5 buses a day. Taxi ~20 min. By car ~40 min from Ikawa-Ikeda IC via Route 32 and prefectural road 32; free parking. ~3 h 30 min from Osaka by highway bus and JR. Tel. 0883-75-2311.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- Ryokan day-use hours are limited and may be suspended in peak season — phone the same morning.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Mood & scenery
Rules & private
Convenience
Amenities
✔ Verified operating: 2026-09 Operating status and rates cross-checked against the official site and onsen guides (full source notes in Japanese on the JA page)
Prices and hours change. Check official sources before visiting.
More in this area
Iyakei Onsen Hotel Hikyo-no-yu
Five minutes by car from the Kazurabashi vine bridge, the day-use bath of a large hotel at the mouth of the Iya Valley — the biggest bathhouse in Iya, with a rotenburo facing the green gorge, indoor pool and sauna. At ¥1,100 it's a cheaper, later-opening alternative to Hotel Iya Onsen's cable-car bath (¥1,900). 20 minutes by car from Oboke Station. Closed Tuesdays.
Hotel Kazurabashi – Sky Open-Air Bath
Five minutes by car from the Kazurabashi vine bridge, this popular Iya inn is famous for its 'sky open-air bath' reached by private cable car. Day bathing (¥1,200) runs 10:30–16:00; the goemon cauldron baths are for overnight guests only. A free sky footbath on the viewing deck is spectacular on mornings with a sea of clouds. With Hotel Iya Onsen it forms Iya's pair of 'cable-car onsen', ideal for a break while touring the valley.
Naruto Natural Onsen Aratae-no-yu
A large day-use onsen next to the Naruto boat-race stadium, 10 minutes by car from the whirlpools and the Ōtsuka Museum of Art. The open-air bath, fed by the site's own natural spring, opens to Naruto's hills and sky; there are also a carbonated bath, pot tubs, a hot sauna, cold plunge and outdoor rest area. Open 8:00–24:00 (last entry 23:00), from early morning to late night; ¥750 weekdays, ¥900 weekends and holidays. The ground-floor restaurant is known for fresh fish — Naruto sea bream and sashimi at fair prices. Walkable from the Konaruto-bashi bus stop on the Tokushima Bus Naruto line. Irregular closures.
