This is every one of the 1,538 hot spring towns in our catalogue, listed by prefecture. Most are small places with a few inns and no English page anywhere. If you are choosing your first one, start with the towns below: each has its own guide with the water, the baths and how to get there.
Hokkaido: Noboribetsu · Jozankei
Tohoku: Ginzan · Zao · Nyuto · Naruko
Around Tokyo: Kusatsu · Shima · Hakone
Japanese Alps: Nozawa · Shibu · Shirahone · Hirayu · Gero
Kansai: Arima · Kinosaki · Shirahama · Yunomine
Western Honshu and Shikoku: Tamatsukuri · Dogo
Kyushu: Beppu · Yufuin · Kurokawa · Unzen · Ibusuki
Not sure which? The three best onsen towns in Japan picks three with the numbers shown, and where the onsen are explains what each region is like.