13 Facilities5 Onsen towns
The 1,300-year-old birthplace of Nasu Onsen. Inside the wooden bathhouse, tubs are graded from 41 to 48°C, all fed with milky, strongly acidic sulfur water. No showers, no soap — start with the traditional head-dousing ritual.
A day-use facility on the same source as Shika-no-yu, open every day until 9 pm with an open-air bath and private rooms. Ideal for families or anyone daunted by Shika-no-yu's rituals — the milky water is identical.
A small riverside hotel on the south side of Kinugawa Onsen, five minutes from Tobu World Square Station. While the big hotels stop day bathing around 15:00, this one welcomes walk-ins 9:00–21:00 for ¥700. Its own alkaline sulfur spring (43.6 °C) flows 100% free into a quirky set of baths: a rotenburo made from an actual Kinugawa river-cruise boat, a rock rotenburo, indoor baths and a swimsuit mixed bath. The slightly cool, silky water is highly rated by onsen fans.
A lone inn at 1,300 m, the last stop in the Nasu hot-spring range. Spring water gushes out behind the building in such volume that it forms a river, dammed into the vast outdoor 'Kawa-no-yu' — nothing else like it in Japan. Mixed bathing since the inn's founding, but bathing wear is included so beginners can relax. Day use is limited to three hours (reception 11:30–14:30), ¥1,300 with face towel and bathing wear. The outdoor bath closes in bad weather or for cleaning, so phone ahead. Autumn colour and snow seasons are the draw.
A city-run day spa in the Kiyotaki valley, between Nikkō's World Heritage shrines and the Irohazaka switchbacks. The all-granite main bath has a sauna and jacuzzi, and the garden-style rock rotenburo looks out to the Nikkō mountains. The alkaline simple spring is clear and silky — a 'beauty bath'. Open 10:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30), closed Thursdays (next day if a holiday) and over New Year. Adults from outside the city pay ¥1,000 (¥500 for residents). The canteen serves soba, udon and other light meals. About 20 minutes by bus from JR/Tōbu Nikkō Station to the 'Yashio-no-yu' stop — a popular finish after Tōshōgū or a trip to Lake Chūzenji and Kegon Falls.
The communal bath of Kawaji Onsen, upstream of Kinugawa on the clear Ojika River. An old cure spa — 'burns to Kinugawa, wounds to Kawaji' went the saying — it uses its own mildly alkaline spring 100% free-flowing with no chlorination. Besides separate indoor and open-air baths there is a mixed rock bath open to the river, where you soak in lukewarm water facing the stream and hills (bathing garments allowed). A low-temperature sauna, private bath (¥4,000 / 50 min) and rest room complete it. Adults pay ¥1,000 (¥500 for Nikkō residents); open 10:00–20:00 (last entry 19:30), closed Wednesdays (next day if a holiday; open through Golden Week). Fifteen minutes on foot from Kawaji-Yumoto Station on the Yagan Railway, or about 15 minutes by car from Kinugawa-Onsen Station — easy to combine with Kinugawa.
A day-use hot spring in Sekiya, Nasushiobara, near the Yunoka Shiobara roadside station at the gateway to the Shiobara spa valley. The source flows at 68.4°C and 250 litres a minute, so the open-air bath runs 100% free-flowing spring water. The slightly tea-coloured, silky alkaline simple spring is known as a skin-beautifying bath; the indoor pool seats about 20 and the outdoor one about 10, both roomy. There are a sauna, cold plunge, jet lounger and a swimwear spa pool popular with families. Adults pay ¥800 on weekdays and ¥1,000 on weekends and holidays (children 4 to elementary age ¥400/¥500); after 5 pm on weekdays the evening rate drops to ¥600. Open 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:00), closed the third Wednesday (next day if a holiday). Restaurant, rest room, massage and free parking for 150 cars. About 20 minutes by car from JR Nishi-Nasuno Station or 10 minutes from the Nishinasuno-Shiobara IC on the Tōhoku Expressway – a handy last stop after a drive through the Shiobara gorge or Nasu.
A large onsen hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group standing high above the Kinugawa gorge. Day bathing runs in two sessions, 7:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00), at ¥2,200 weekdays / ¥2,400 weekends and holidays (¥2,600 on peak days), ¥1,100–1,300 for elementary pupils, infants free, towels rented for ¥330. There are eight kinds of tub including a semi-open bath where you hear the river and a rock bath, all with views of the gorge. Guests with tattoos may use the great bath only if they are completely covered with the hotel's paid cover seals. Free parking for 200; 15 minutes on foot from Tōbu Kinugawa-Onsen Station or about 10 minutes by dial bus.
An onsen hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group along the Kinugawa gorge, said to have the finest view in Kinugawa. The glass-walled lobby looks straight out over the gorge, and day bathing runs 7:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00) at ¥1,000 weekdays / ¥1,400 weekends and holidays (¥1,600 peak days), which is inexpensive. Elementary pupils ¥440–630, infants free, towels rented for ¥330. It is 8–10 minutes on foot from Kinugawa-Onsen Station, close to the station and easy to combine with Tōbu World Square or Nikkō. Free parking.
Keikoku-no-Yu, a wooden great bath looking over the Kinugawa gorge. It has five baths — a green-stone bath, a wooden great bath, an open-air rock bath, a half-body bath and a germanium bath — plus a sauna, letting you take in the gorge amid the warmth of timber. Day bathing is 14:00–17:00 at ¥1,650 for adults (tax included, plus ¥50 bathing tax) and ¥880 for children aged 3–12, and may be declined when busy. About 7 minutes by dial bus from Tōbu Kinugawa-Onsen Station, about 25 minutes from Imaichi IC on the Nikkō-Utsunomiya Road, free parking for about 100.
A member inn of the society that guards Japan's hidden springs, standing in Motoyu, the innermost part of Shiobara Onsen. Eight of its own sources fill eight baths, all run 100 percent flow-through, and the water is known as a spring you may also drink. The signature Sumi-no-yu, black with iron, is a mixed bath, reserved for women from 2:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon and 7:00 to 8:30 at night. Day bathing is received from 10:00 to 14:00, for use until 16:00, at 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children.
An onsen inn representing Kawaji Onsen in Nikko, Tochigi, overlooking the Okawa River. Its simple hot spring (weakly alkaline, hypotonic, thermal) fills large and open-air baths with 100% free-flowing water from its own source, and day bathing is welcome.
An onsen inn on a hill above Shinkyo bridge, the gateway to the World Heritage shrines and temples of Nikko. Its garden bath of alkaline simple spring (pH 9.5) is the signature, with a cypress tub and open-air bath overlooking the garden through the seasons. Day bathing, often paired with lunch, is popular.