Hot Springs for Chronic Joint Pain & Neuralgia | All 10 Spring Types Including Radon

Struck in 1963, this spring takes its name from a seated Kannon statue said to have been unearthed during drilling. In the hills facing the Amagi range, its alkaline water feels remarkably slippery on the skin and is mild enough that it has long been enjoyed for drinking as well. It suits travelers who want to sink slowly into silky water amid mountain quiet.

As its name "Asagiri no Yu" (Morning Mist Bath) suggests, this source gushes forth in a location overlooking the Yufuin Basin's magical morning mist. It is a private source nurtured by one of Yufuin's most historic establishments, founded in 1911. The alkaline simple spring is gentle on the skin. Its abundant metasilicic acid helps to wash away old skin cells, leaving your skin feeling silky smooth. It is a renowned spring perfect for days when you wish to quietly reset your mind and body at the foot of Mt. Yufu.

This Radon-sen No. 1 source plays a key role as one of the "Ginsen" (Silver Springs) that color the history of Arima Onsen, one of Japan's three ancient hot springs. In contrast to the reddish-brown "Kinsen" containing iron, Ginsen is characterized by its clear, smooth feel. The water from this source is said to gently stimulate cells and vitalize the body as it's absorbed through breathing.

This naturally gushing mixed source is located about 7km upstream from Unazuki Onsen, nestled within the Kurobe Gorge's Kuronagi Onsen area. Since its water was first drawn through wooden pipes in Taisho 12 (1923), it has continuously supplied a generous 2,100 liters per minute of hot spring water to the Unazuki Onsen town. Renowned as Japan's clearest, its soft waters gently embrace the skin and offer a restorative warmth that permeates deep into the body. It is highly recommended for those seeking deep relaxation, rejuvenation, and a chance to forget daily fatigue amidst the blessings of magnificent nature.

Dogo Onsen appears in the ancient Iyo Fudoki and ranks among Japan's oldest hot springs. Its original natural spring has long dried up, so drilled wells are now blended at distribution stations. The Dai-ni Bun'yujo station on Kanmuriyama mixes waters of varying temperature and sends them to the heart of the spa town. The smooth alkaline water soothes the skin and leaves a gentle, lingering warmth, suiting travelers who want history and quiet rest.

The Miyagino Combined Spring supplies the Gora Onsen area, one of Hakone's 17 famous springs. Since successful drilling around 1965, this source has supported the development of the Miyagino district as a health resort. By blending multiple sources, it maintains a stable volume and quality. The soft, weakly alkaline water is gentle on the skin, leaving it feeling smooth after bathing. It is recommended for those seeking a moment of peace to gently unwind both body and mind amidst Hakone's rich nature.

Hakone-Yumoto is said to date back to the Nara period, the oldest of Hakone's seven historic spas. In the Edo period it thrived as a healing stop for travelers on the Tokaido, nestled by the forest of Sounji Temple, linked to the Hojo clan. This source rises at 45.2°C as an alkaline simple spring of pH 8.5, its softly balanced water wrapping the skin in smoothness. Gentle enough for all ages, it is a spring that unwinds city fatigue at the gateway to Hakone.

The Hotel Marue Onsen source dates to 1980, when drilling in central Nakashibetsu struck hot water at a depth of 1,530 meters. Once classed as a sulfur sodium-chloride spring, it was reclassified as an alkaline simple spring in the 2019 analysis. Nearly clear with a faint hint of hydrogen sulfide, the water feels slick and leaves the skin notably smooth, soothing travelers who want to unwind after a day exploring the Konsen plain.

Asama Onsen is an ancient spa long loved as the back parlor of Matsumoto's castle town, said to be the "Tsukama no Yu" mentioned in the Nihon Shoki or a spring found by the Inukai clan in the Heian era. In the Edo period the Matsumoto domain kept a lord's bathhouse here, and samurai bathed in separate pools by rank. The No. 2 Source is the main spring supplying the town's inns, pumped up at around 49°C. Its alkaline water, carrying sodium, calcium and sulfate, suits travelers who want a quiet, warming soak steeped in castle-town history.

Named after the warlord Uesugi Kagetora, who met his end at Samegao Castle, the Kagetora no Yu source was drilled in 2017 in the hills of Jinguji, Myoko, below the castle ruins. Piped from the slopes at about 39°C, its dense salty water steeps into the skin and lets warmth linger long after bathing, while iron stains the rocks reddish brown. It suits travelers tracing Sengoku-era history who want to warm up to the core on chilly days.

Nestled in the scenic town of Matsuyama, this spring has long been cherished for relieving traveler fatigue, boasting robust eagle-like properties. The hypertonic chloride waters envelop the skin, smoothly expelling excess fluids and metabolic waste. The lightness after bathing and deep-penetrating warmth soothe the mind and body, freeing you from daily stress. Ideal for those with chronic stiffness or cold extremities, and perfect for weekend rejuvenation.

Pumped from 1,000 meters beneath the Kuju Highlands in Aso-Kuju National Park, the Tenku no Daichi Kuju Kogen Hotel source is a true all-star spring, combining the properties of chloride, sulfate, and bicarbonate waters. Rich in metasilicic acid, a natural moisturizer, it leaves skin feeling smooth during the bath and wonderfully soft afterward. It's perfect for days when you want to deeply soothe body and soul while gazing at the majestic nature of the Kuju mountain range and Mount Aso.

This spring rises at a spa retreat about 900 m up the northwest flank of the Hakkoda Mountains, amid beech forest, in the area chosen as Japan's first National Health Resort Hot Spring. It has long filled a great bathhouse built entirely of hiba cypress alongside the area's other springs. At pH 1.71 it is strongly acidic, with a tingling bite on the skin and a faint scent of sulfur and iron; sinking into its milky water feels like the essence of a traditional healing spa, especially in deep-snow winter.

The Shiroyu source is one of four springs of differing character that rise within about 50 meters of one another at Yunotai, said to be the oldest bathing ground of Nyuto Onsen, where records of a spa date back to the Edo period. Long called the "beauty spring" and the "spring for chills," it bubbles up beneath an open-air bath and is also piped to nearby lodgings. Its bluish, cloudy water carries a gentle sulfur scent and a soft, smooth touch, leaving skin supple and warmth that lingers long after a soak, a spring for anyone who wants to unwind slowly in the beech forest.

The Mandaiko source, originating from traces of past mining development, is deeply intertwined with Kusatsu Onsen's unique yumomi culture and its long history of toji (therapeutic bathing). Its highly acidic waters, among Japan's most potent, deliver a distinctive tingling sensation, awakening both mind and body and offering a sense of rejuvenation. The high-temperature blessings penetrate deep into the core, leaving you with a surprisingly light and refreshed feeling after your bath. We invite those seeking a genuine toji experience, a true escape from daily life to restore their mind and body, to discover the profound power of this spring.

Hot springs opened on the shore of caldera Lake Shikotsu in 1915, and until a road was built the area could be reached only by boat. It is known for a pool where water wells up through the gravel underfoot, and several sources of the same spring type flow nearby. At 50.3°C, the No. 1 Well is among the hottest. Chloride, bicarbonate and sulfate dissolve in balance, rich enough to build mineral deposits around the spout, suiting anyone who wants to warm up quietly while gazing at the lake.

Naturally gushing from the riverbed and banks of the Toyohira River, which flows through the heart of Jozankei Onsen, this source's waters are collected without mechanical pumps. Its pristine freshness, embodying the earth's blessings, is truly captivating. A gentle, saline veil envelops the skin, delivering restorative warmth deep into the body's core, ensuring a blissful, lasting afterglow. It's an invitation for those who yearn to be embraced by nature's vigor and experience deep relaxation from the depths of their mind and body.

Ginzan Onsen is said to trace its origins to waters found by miners of the Nobesawa silver mine, which flourished in the Edo period, and the town still carries the mine's name. This blend of cooperative sources No. 2, 3 and 6 rises at 63.8°C, layering sodium and chloride with sulfate, and white mineral flakes drift softly through it. Rich in metaboric and metasilicic acid, it leaves the skin moist and the body warm long after bathing, suiting those who want to warm to the core in a riverside town lit by gas lamps on snowy nights.

Kinosaki Onsen's centrally managed mixed spring gathers water from several wells into a large storage tank, where its temperature is steadied before it flows through a looped pipe beneath the streets to the town's public bathhouses and inns. Managed as a shared resource by the Yushima property ward of Kinosaki, this faintly salty water wraps the body in warmth that lingers long after bathing, suiting travellers who stroll from bath to bath in yukata.

Gora Onsen is a unique "steam-created spring," established in the early Showa period, born from the reaction between volcanic steam from Owakudani and water from Sengokuhara. This blessing embodies the fusion of Hakone's natural power and human ingenuity. A gentle salt veil envelops the skin, delivering heat deep into the body's core, ensuring restorative warmth that lingers long after your bath. It's the perfect spring to soothe the fatigue of an active day and quietly replenish your vitality for tomorrow.

The Mandaiko source, originating from traces of past mining development, is deeply intertwined with Kusatsu Onsen's unique yumomi culture and its long history of toji (therapeutic bathing). Its highly acidic waters, among Japan's most potent, deliver a distinctive tingling sensation, awakening both mind and body and offering a sense of rejuvenation. The high-temperature blessings penetrate deep into the core, leaving you with a surprisingly light and refreshed feeling after your bath. We invite those seeking a genuine toji experience, a true escape from daily life to restore their mind and body, to discover the profound power of this spring.

Ginzan Onsen is said to trace its origins to waters found by miners of the Nobesawa silver mine, which flourished in the Edo period, and the town still carries the mine's name. This blend of cooperative sources No. 2, 3 and 6 rises at 63.8°C, layering sodium and chloride with sulfate, and white mineral flakes drift softly through it. Rich in metaboric and metasilicic acid, it leaves the skin moist and the body warm long after bathing, suiting those who want to warm to the core in a riverside town lit by gas lamps on snowy nights.

The 'Mixed Source No. 9 and 10' naturally gushes from the riverbed of the Toyohira River, which flows through Jozankei Onsen. By blending multiple private sources, this unique and rich hot spring water is created. A gentle salt veil envelops the skin, delivering warmth deep into the body's core, and a pleasant restorative warmth lingers long after bathing. This blessing from the earth is especially recommended for those seeking to release daily fatigue and experience deep relaxation.

The Mandaiko source, originating from traces of past mining development, is deeply intertwined with Kusatsu Onsen's unique yumomi culture and its long history of toji (therapeutic bathing). Its highly acidic waters, among Japan's most potent, deliver a distinctive tingling sensation, awakening both mind and body and offering a sense of rejuvenation. The high-temperature blessings penetrate deep into the core, leaving you with a surprisingly light and refreshed feeling after your bath. We invite those seeking a genuine toji experience, a true escape from daily life to restore their mind and body, to discover the profound power of this spring.

Tsurumaki Onsen's non-volcanic waters, first utilized for bathing in 1889 after well water proved undrinkable, emerge from deep within the Tanzawa Mountains. This spring is a national rarity, exceptionally rich in calcium, gently enveloping the skin. Its restorative warmth penetrates the body's core, fostering deep relaxation and a lasting gentle glow post-bath. Following its history as 'Tokyo's inner parlor,' bustling with therapeutic bathers after the Odakyu Line opened in the early Showa era, it remains ideal for tranquil self-care away from urban clamor.

The waters of Jozankei Onsen, Sapporo's secluded retreat opened by the mountain ascetic Miizumi Jozan, are characterized by their smooth texture that gently envelops the skin. Drawn by pump-lifted methods, these therapeutic waters create a "salt veil" that thoroughly warms the body to its core, providing restorative warmth that lingers long after your bath. It's an ideal escape for those seeking deep relaxation for mind and body, allowing one to reflect on Jozankei's pristine landscapes away from the daily hustle.

Kaminoyu Onsen is a quiet spa in the hills beyond central Yakumo. Seiryuen's spring gushes naturally at 98°C and 60 liters per minute; because it is so hot, the water is tempered with added water, yet both indoor and outdoor baths are free-flowing. The salty water can turn faintly milky, and in the open-air bath a long hose is used to cool it on the way in.

Opened in 1898 and later famed for its radium content, Futamata's water has deposited calcium carbonate for ages, building a 400-meter limestone dome. Mixed wells turn amber and cloudy in the air, with waxy mineral flakes floating on top; the rich salts have long warmed hot-spring cure guests deep in the valley.

Tsuta Onsen in southern Hakkoda has hosted bathers since the Heian period, when simple bathhouses already stood here. The Tsuta Onsen Shinyu source bubbles up directly beneath the baths, seeping through gaps in beechwood floorboards without ever touching the air. Its blend of sulfate and bicarbonate soothes the skin and lingers long after bathing, suiting travelers who pair a brief, hot soak with autumn walks around nearby Tsuta Pond.

Toyotomi Onsen began in 1926, when hot water burst out with natural gas during oil exploration. A 2020 analysis of the mixed water from five wells recorded 34.2°C and pH 7.5, with sodium 4432 mg/kg, chloride 5952 mg/kg, bicarbonate 2136 mg/kg, iodide 16.1 mg/kg and metaboric acid 494.6 mg/kg, for 13.32 g/kg of dissolved solids. Pale yellow, cloudy and faintly oily in scent, it is a lukewarm yet deeply enveloping water with the steady, unpretentious character of a craftsman.

The Mandaiko source, originating from traces of past mining development, is deeply intertwined with Kusatsu Onsen's unique yumomi culture and its long history of toji (therapeutic bathing). Its highly acidic waters, among Japan's most potent, deliver a distinctive tingling sensation, awakening both mind and body and offering a sense of rejuvenation. The high-temperature blessings penetrate deep into the core, leaving you with a surprisingly light and refreshed feeling after your bath. We invite those seeking a genuine toji experience, a true escape from daily life to restore their mind and body, to discover the profound power of this spring.

Kinosaki Onsen's centrally managed mixed spring gathers water from several wells into a large storage tank, where its temperature is steadied before it flows through a looped pipe beneath the streets to the town's public bathhouses and inns. Managed as a shared resource by the Yushima property ward of Kinosaki, this faintly salty water wraps the body in warmth that lingers long after bathing, suiting travellers who stroll from bath to bath in yukata.

Ikaho is an ancient spa praised in the Man'yoshu poetry anthology. In the Warring States era its stone-step street was laid out as a healing retreat for soldiers wounded at Nagashino, and the koma-guchi system that divides the spring water among the inns survives today. Kogane-no-yu rises clear, but its iron oxidizes in the air and tints the water tea-brown, as its golden name suggests. This neutral water rich in sulfate and bicarbonate warms the body to the core and has long been called a spring for fertility. It is a bath that carries Ikaho's history itself.

Misasa Onsen is said to have been discovered some 850 years ago when a samurai who spared a white wolf was guided to the spring in a dream, and its name is linked to the belief that "by the third morning, ailments are healed." It is known for radium springs with some of the world's highest radon levels. Rakusen wells up naturally from the ground along the Mitoku River, and hot water rises constantly from the spring pocket at the bottom of the tub.

Kamioka Onsen flows on its own, without pumps, from a 170 m well drilled in 1957 in Beppu's Kannawa district. A 2025 analysis recorded 89.5°C and pH 9.0: an unusual alkaline sulfur spring in a town known for acidic sulfur waters, its sulfur dissolved as hydrosulfide ions rather than gas. Sodium 228.0 mg/kg, bicarbonate 279.0 mg/kg, sulfate 184.0 mg/kg and metasilicic acid 339.0 mg/kg give a clear water with a faint sulfur scent and a quiet, deeply comforting character.

This spring rises on a plateau wrapped in old-growth beech forest at the foot of Mt. Akita-Komagatake, the gateway to Nyuto Onsen. Unlike the milky sulfur springs that dominate the area, it is a brownish bicarbonate water that leaves the skin slippery and smooth, with a faint tart taste and a hint of iron. It is warmed in the deep-snow winter months, and invites a side-by-side comparison with the area's white sulfur waters while you take in fresh green or autumn leaves.

Tange Onsen is a young spring that rose in the early Heisei era in the mountains between Shima and Sawatari, along the rushing Tange River. Piped a few hundred meters from its well, the water is a gentle alkaline spring rich in calcium and sulfate. Naturally lukewarm, it carries fine white mineral flakes, and suits long, quiet soaks to the roar of the nearby stream.

Yugawara Onsen is an ancient spa sung of in the Man'yoshu poetry anthology, and Oku-Yugawara, its innermost reach, is a quiet retreat wrapped in the Fujiki River gorge and deep greenery. Yugawara No.77 is a private source here, a calcium sulfate spring once called a gypsum spring. Its main components are 939.0 mg/kg of sulfate and 398.0 mg/kg of calcium; the water is clear and mild in taste and smell, yet carries a faint toasty note typical of sulfate springs. Soft and weakly alkaline, it clings gently to the skin and has long been valued for soothing cuts and skin troubles, suiting bathers who want a calm soak amid the greenery.

On the Dogashima coast of western Izu, famed for sculpted rocks and sea caves, two Nishina sources are blended at the town's distribution station and piped in. Calcium makes up about 70 percent of the cations and sodium about 30, while sulfate exceeds 90 percent of the anions: a classic Izu gypsum-type sulfate spring. Alkaline at pH 8.8 yet moderately rich at 2.290 g/kg, the 52.4°C water wraps a body chilled by Suruga Bay breezes, an honest water to sink into as the sea turns gold at sunset.

Gifu-shi Nagaragawa Onsen is a city-owned source rising beside the Nagara River, famed for its cormorant fishing, at the foot of Mt. Kinka. Pumped up clear from underground, the water slowly turns yellow-brown as its iron oxidizes in the air, becoming the reddish, cloudy riverside bath the area is known for. A faint iron taste and metallic aroma reveal its rich iron content. It suits travelers who watch the cormorant boats' bonfires on a summer night, stroll the old Kawaramachi streets, then sink into a rustic, robust soak.