Minakami Onsen

The Minakami area is renowned for its hot springs (onsen) and includes onsen villages such as Minakami Onsen and Tanigawa Onsen, plus stand-alone onsens. There are various public onsen where you can bathe for a small fee. If you’re staying at a ryokan you’re likely to have baths onsite. Many of the ryokan also open up to non-guests for a fee that’s generally higher than the public onsens.

The most famous onsen in Minakami is Takaragawa Onsen which is one of the largest outdoor onsen in Japan. It features a babbling river in the middle with various hot pools on either side, along with traditional architecture and a stunning environment. Most of the baths are mixed. Ladies are provided with a large modesty towel/dress, and unlike most Japanese onsen, it’s considered OK to put your modesty towel in the water to fully keep yourself modest. If the ladies don’t want to hang out with the blokes, there is also a ladies-only area. Takaragawa Onsen is 14km northeast of central Minakami and 4.7km from Hodaigi Ski Resort.

The Tanigawa Onsen village is home to various ryokan with onsen as well as Yuterume Tanigawa, a municipal onsen that’s very affordable. In addition to indoor baths, each gender has a large rotenburo (outdoor pool) that sits near the river. It’s a cold walk down the staircase to get to the bath but it’s worth it. It’s just 2.8km northwest of downtown Minakami and about one kilometre from the White Valley Ski Area.

Just across the road, another example of an onsen experience is to head to the lovely Ryokan Tanigawa. It has small indoor and outdoor baths for each gender, and the traditional décor of the ryokan adds to the experience.

If you’re having an upmarket stay in Minakami at Bettei Senjyuan, you can book a room with its own private open air onsen, or there various other communal onsen baths to choose from.

Minakami Onsen is in central Minakami and there are various hotels there with onsen open to the public.

Hoshi Onsen is located in a very remote spot west of Minakami, so it’s a bit of a trek to get there from the main Minakami ski resorts or downtown. At the ryokan there is Hoshi no yu, a large old historic mixed-gender bath that’s made of wood and the onsen water comes up through the stones on the floor of the bath. The ryokan also has an outdoor bath that’s typically just ladies only. Drop-in bathing for non-guests of the ryokan is only on some days, so ring ahead to check if it’s open.

Onsen Theme Park Ryuudo is a quirky ryokan that has communal onsen baths and also a series of different private baths that are under cover yet open air. You’ll pay a premium for the private bathing experience, but you can at least sample different baths.

If you’re new to onsen, you can check out our guide to Japanese onsen etiquette.

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