Regions
Destinations
We cover four regions properly rather than the whole country thinly. Each page explains how the districts differ, how to get there, and which season makes booking hard.
More regions follow as we finish them.
Photo: Pexels
Where we cover
Two city regions and two hot spring regions, all reachable from Tokyo or Osaka without a domestic flight.
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Kyoto
Townhouse inns in the old capital, where the building and the neighbourhood are the stay. Hot springs only at the edges.
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Hakone
Six onsen districts inside one caldera, around ninety minutes from Shinjuku. The easiest first hot spring trip.
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Izu & Atami
A warm coastal peninsula with sea-facing baths and seafood at dinner. Atami is under an hour from Tokyo.
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Kanazawa & Kaga
A craft city with gardens, and four old hot spring towns half an hour south. Crab season runs through the winter.
Choosing between them
If this is your first ryokan and you are based in Tokyo, Hakone or Atami will do the job in one night. If you want the inn itself to be the memory, Kyoto or the Kaga towns reward a longer stay. If you want a bath with a view of open water, go to Izu.
Many trips combine two: a city where the building is the point, and a hot spring town where the water is. Kyoto with Kaga works well by shinkansen, as does Tokyo with Hakone or Izu.