Kinosaki Onsen

城崎温泉Toyooka, Hyogo

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What makes this place special?

At a Glance

Kinosaki Onsen is a hot spring town in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, known since before the Heian period. In the Edo period it was called the finest spring in the land, and a monument to that title still stands. Legend says a stork healing its wounds revealed the spring in 629.

The town centres on seven public bathhouses, called soto-yu, and strolling between them in yukata and geta is the local style. All the spring water is gathered at a central facility built in 1972, then piped to the baths and inns. Willows line the Otani River, which runs from the station past wooden three-storey inns, and a ropeway climbs to Daishi-yama, where Onsen-ji temple and a viewpoint stand.