Life in Kinosaki Onsen is slow and beautiful. Here you can slip into a yukata and wooden geta flip-flops and clomp from one bathhouse to the next with not a worry in the world. Clomp clomp clomp.
When planning our Japan trip, an onsen town was high on my priority list. I was excited to experience an authentic slice of Japanese culture, and after some research, we decided to visit Kinosaki. For us, it looked like the best onsen town in Japan.
And we were right—Kinosaki, with its seven public bathhouses, was just grand for a hot spring hopping adventure. Clomp clomp clomp. Splash splash splash.
If you, too, are looking for the best onsen town in Japan, this guide to Kinosaki Onsen is all you need. So come clomp clomp clomp with us through the pretty willow-lined streets, and we’ll show you the best places to see and things to do in Kinosaki.
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Quick Guide to Kinosaki Onsen
Visited: 28-29 October.
Where we stayed: Sennennoyu Gonzaemon. It was amazing! See below for more on our stay.
How many days in Kinosaki? We stayed for one night and could easily have stayed for another. It’s possible to visit Kinosaki on a day trip from Osaka or Kyoto, but staying overnight at a ryokan is an experience not to miss. So stay at least a night.
Transportation: Kinosaki is small, and you can walk everywhere. If you stay overnight, a free shuttle bus runs from Kinosaki Station to your ryokan. A rep awaits arriving trains and will guide you to the bus and tell you where to get off.
JR Limited Express trains from Osaka or Kyoto run several times daily and take about 2.5 hours.
Train Pass: We used the JR Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, which includes Kinosaki Onsen. We arrived from Hiroshima with a transfer in Osaka. After visiting Kinosaki, we took the train to Kyoto.
About Kinosaki Onsen
Kinosaki Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture isn’t a trendy new spot; it’s been around for a while. During our visit, we saw lanterns along the river celebrating the town’s 1,300th anniversary!
Kinosaki is a small town, just a kilometre or so from one end to the other, with the Otani River running through it. Along the willow-lined river, you’ll find houses and ryokans, a few souvenir shops or cafes, a convenience store or two, and the seven bathhouses of Kinosaki.
Besides its seven bathhouses, Kinosaki is famous for snow crab, which visitors can enjoy between November and March. There are a few seafood markets and restaurants near the train station.
Legend has it that in 720 AD, a Buddhist monk named Dochi Shonin prayed for 1,000 days to heal the local people. On the final day, a hot spring emerged where he sat, which is now the Mandarayu bathhouse. That marked Kinosaki’s beginning as a healing destination.
Another tale tells of a white stork healing its injured leg in the waters of what is now the Konoyu bathhouse.
Legends and myths aside, Kinosaki has welcomed visitors to rest, relax, and rejuvenate for over a thousand years. Today, the word is out among international visitors that Kinosaki is the best onsen town in Japan.
Unlike most Japanese onsens, Kinosaki’s bathhouses are tattoo-friendly, allowing guests with tattoos to enjoy the baths without concern.
Staying at a ryokan, or traditional inn, is a highlight of visiting Kinosaki. During your stay, you can look forward to amazing regional cuisine, hot spring baths, and one of the most special experiences Japan has to offer.
Our Kinosaki Itinerary
We arrived in Kinosaki from Hiroshima (via Osaka) at 13:00 and left the next morning at 10:30 for Kyoto.
We took the free shuttle from Kinosaki Station to our ryokan, dropped off our suitcase, and found our yukatas with instructions on how to wear them in our room. We wasted no time getting our Kinosaki yukata experience going, so we put them on and hit the streets. Clop clop clop.
I wore just my undies under my yukata as I’d lose everything once I got to the bathhouses anyway. Jin was more modest and wore a t-shirt and shorts under her yukata.
Before we left, the hotel staff told us dinner would be served in our room at 18:00 sharp, so we had to be back by then. In the afternoon, we first visited the Kinosaki Temple and boiled our onsen eggs at Yakushi Park.
We then hit up a few bathhouses and, before dinner, bought some Kinosaki beers from a convenience store to enjoy with our meal.
After dinner, we walked around town again, visited more bathhouses, and ended the night at the onsen in our ryokan.
First thing the next morning, we were in our ryokan’s onsen again, followed by an amazing kaiseki breakfast served in our room. After breakfast, there was just enough time to revisit Goshonoyu, our favourite bathhouse in Kinosaki.
Even though Kinosaki Station is just a 10-minute walk from our ryokan, they offered to drive us, which was very nice.
Sennennoyu Gonzaemon: Our Roykan in Kinosaki
We knew we wanted to stay at a ryokan in an onsen town, but we didn’t realise how expensive it could be or how tricky it was to find availability.
Luckily, we found Sennennoyu Gonzaemon, a cheaper ryokan in Kinosaki. We ended up planning our entire Japan trip around the dates we could get here!
Sennennoyu Gonzaemon was everything we hoped for. We booked a meal plan that included a fantastic kaiseki dinner and breakfast. Dinner was an 11-course feast, with Tajima wagyu as the star, along with goat, sashimi, soup, and rice. It was incredible.
Breakfast was another huge spread of eggs, tofu, flounder fish, sashimi, miso soup, and other goodies.
Meals are served in your room, and staff come to transform your room between meals and sleeping. After dinner, we went onsen hopping, and when we returned, our tatami beds were made on the floor. In the morning, after a pre-breakfast bath, our beds were replaced with a breakfast table.
The rooms were spacious and had a toilet and basin, but no private shower or bath. Sennennoyu Gonzaemon has its own indoor and outdoor baths, like the bathhouses around town, just smaller. I even had the place to myself in the morning.
Our stay included a Yumepa pass, which gave us free access to all seven public bathhouses in Kinosaki. It’s a QR code you scan at each onsen. We also had our own yukata to wear, and you can grab a pair of wooden geta sandals from the lobby.
Staying at Sennennoyu Gonzaemon Ryokan was one of the most memorable experiences we had in Japan, and it’s well worth the money.
Kinosaki Onsen Public Baths
A visit to Japan’s top hot spring town is all about soaking in its soothing waters. For me, it was the most special cultural experience we had in Japan.
Each hot spring in Kinosaki is a little different, with each bathhouse having a unique feature to look forward to.
Like other onsens in Japan, bathing is done naked and separated by gender. While it might sound intimidating to be nude around a bunch of strangers, it’s actually incredibly freeing and relaxing. Don’t let shyness stop you from visiting an onsen town.
No photography is allowed inside the bathhouses (understandably, since everyone is naked), so I can only show you what they look like from the outside and tell you what to expect inside.
Bathhouses in Kinosaki have a weekly schedule, with one closing each day. If you want to try them all, plan your visit over a weekend. If you stay at a ryokan, you’ll get a day pass to visit all the bathhouses. Those visiting Kinosaki on a day trip can pay an 800 yen entrance fee per bathhouse.
The day pass costs 1,500 yen (available at any bathhouse), so it’s worth getting if you plan to visit more than one.
Mandarayu Onsen
We kicked off our bathhouse hopping at Mandarayu.
After a bit of faffing around the entrance trying to build up enough courage to go naked, we said, It’s now or never. So in we went.
Inside, there’s a rectangular granite bath, but the real highlight is outside. There are two ceramic tubs, just big enough for one person to sit in with only their head sticking out.
Mandarayu means Enlightened Mind and sits on the spot where a monk, according to legend, prayed for 1,000 days.
Closed: Tuesday
Hours: 15:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Konoyu Onsen
Konoyu is Kinosaki’s oldest bathhouse, and its water is said to bring happiness and a long marriage. It’s also where the stork supposedly healed its injured leg.
Konoyu is tucked away near the ropeway station, a bit farther from the centre. This makes it quieter and the perfect place to overcome your nude bathing fear.
Inside, there’s a stone bath, but the real treat is the beautiful outdoor bath (rotenburo) set in a rock garden. The outdoor water is a little cooler and very refreshing.
If you’re only visiting one or two Kinosaki bathhouses, we suggest Goshonoyu and Konoyu for their wonderful outdoor baths.
Closed: Tuesday
Hours: 7:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Goshonoyu Onsen
This is the most popular and prettiest rotenburo in Kinosaki. Inspired by the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Goshonoyu boasts an impressive facade and is often called the Water of Beauty.
Honestly, I don’t even remember the indoor bath, as the outdoor area stole the entire show.
Outside, you’ll find several large baths facing a waterfall. Sitting naked in an outdoor hot spring while listening to the water crashing is quite the Japanese bucket list item. There is also an indoor steam room.
Goshonoyu’s waters are believed to bring luck in love and protect against fires.
Closed: Thursdays
Hours: 7:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Ichinoyu Onsen
Ichinoyu means Number One Bath, a name given by a famous Edo-era doctor who praised its healing waters. The bathhouse looks like a traditional kabuki theatre, and its special feature is a cave bath made from big boulders.
I liked the spacious lobby of this bathhouse and the vending machines selling cool drinks.
Closed: Wednesdays
Hours: 7:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Yanagiyu Onsen
Just across the river from our ryokan was Yanagi-yu, the smallest bathhouse in Kinosaki. It’s also called Willow Bath and is known for its traditional wooden design.
Yanagiyu has the hottest water of all the baths in Kinosaki, which is believed to help with fertility and safe childbirth. The water was a bit too hot for me, and without an outdoor bath, I didn’t stay long. A free foot bath is available outside the entrance on the street, providing a relaxing resting spot while strolling through town.
Closed: Thursdays
Hours: 15:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Jizoyu Onsen
Named after the Jizo Bodhisattva, protector of children, the retro Jizoyu bathhouse is a favourite among families.
Its architecture is inspired by a Japanese lantern and features hexagonal windows reminiscent of the volcanic rock formations found in the area. The bathhouse offers a large main bath and a smaller, cooler bath suitable for children.
We found this onsen a bit meh, so we’d skip it if we were ever in Kinosaki again.
Closed: Mondays
Hours: 7:00-23:00
Entrance Fee: 800 yen
Satonoyu Onsen
Satonoyu, right next to the train station, has been closed for years. There is no word yet on when it will reopen. Don’t believe anyone describing a visit to Satonoyu in recent years.
Guess we should technically rename this post to Visit Kinosaki Onsen’s Six Wonders, but that just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?
Other Things to Do in Kinosaki
You won’t find 25 things to do in Kinosaki. Thank goodness it’s not that kind of place. Besides clop clop clopping and relaxing in the onsens, there’s not much to do, and that is why we loved the place so much.
Still, below we’ll show you a few things we loved about Kinosaki.
Boil and Eat an Onsen Tamago
Yakushi Park, a small public space in front of Onsenji Temple, is home to Moto-yu, the town’s hot spring water source. The park also features a large footbath where visitors can relax and soak their feet.
While all these are nice and must hold some cultural significance, we particularly enjoyed boiling and eating Onsen Tamago here.
An Onsen Tamago is an egg boiled in onsen water. At a small shop called Chaya (location), you can buy raw eggs in mesh bags to cook in the hot spring water in front of the shop. A sign recommends leaving them in the water for 11 minutes.
Following this advice, our eggs came out perfectly jammy. During the 11-minute wait, you can relax in the footbath or explore Onsenji Temple.
Onjensi Temple
Onsenji Temple was founded in 738 by the monk who prayed for 1,000 days to bring forth the hot springs that now define the town. Back in the day, visitors would stop here first to pay their respects before heading to the baths.
The temple’s wooden architecture is simple and pretty, blending beautifully with the surrounding mountains and trees.
We spent about 10 minutes here while waiting for our onsen eggs to boil. That was enough time to take in the calm atmosphere and appreciate the temple’s wooden charm.
Shisho Shrine
The small Shinto shrine next to Goshonoyo Onsen is linked to the monk who prayed for a thousand days. Beyond its historical significance, it’s a lovely spot to take a photo or two while wearing your yukata.
Seafood Market
Kinosaki is famous for its fresh seafood, particularly the prized Matsuba snow crab, which is available from November to March. These crabs are known for their sweet and tender meat, making them a winter delicacy in the region.
A notable spot for Kinosaki crab is the Okesho Fish Market & Restaurant, located near the train station. Established in 1925, Okesho offers a variety of seafood, including sashimi rice bowls with up to 11 types of seafood, sweet shrimp, squid, and sea urchin.
They also serve crab dishes year-round (fresh in season, frozen otherwise), including crab rice porridge, grilled crab, and crab sashimi.
Even if you’re not planning to make a purchase, the market is enjoyable to browse. The displays of fresh seafood and the vibrant atmosphere provide a glimpse into the local culinary culture.
Shopping
While walking between the bathhouses, we popped into a few shops. I discovered whisky and locally brewed Kinosaki beer, while Jin found a cute onsen towel featuring sumo wrestlers doing yoga.
Aside from a few souvenirs and snacks, Kinosaki isn’t really a shopping destination—thank goodness!
Foot Baths
There are several footbaths scattered throughout town. They are all free and make a relaxing break between, well, relaxing in the hot springs.
How to Get to Kinosaki from Hiroshima/ Osaka/ Kyoto With the JR Pass
We used our JR Kansai-Hiroshima Pass to travel from Hiroshima to Kinosaki and from Kinosaki to Kyoto.
Initially, we thought we’d need to transfer at Himeji, but the staff at Hiroshima Station recommended transferring in Osaka, which turned out to be faster. The journey took about 4.5 hours, with a transfer from the Nozomi Shinkansen to the Limited Express Kounotori at Shin-Osaka Station.
From Osaka, the Limited Express Kounotori offers a direct route to Kinosaki Onsen, taking approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.
After our stay in Kinosaki, we took the Limited Express Kinosaki to Kyoto, a straightforward journey of around 2.5 hours.
With travel time of about 2.5 hours between Kinosaki and Kyoto or Osaka, making a day trip is quite possible. However, we recommend staying at least one night. It’s that kind of place where you’ll kick yourself for not staying longer.
Hope you enjoy your Kinosaki visit as much as we did. One last tip – you might want to reconsider if you think one night is long enough ✌️