Arima Onsen — photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Arima onsen: the gold and silver water, the two public baths, and getting there
Arima is the hot spring town most visitors to Osaka and Kobe end up in, because it is the famous one and the near one at the same time. It is a small, steep old town in a valley behind Mount Rokkō, known for its rust-brown "gold" water. Most guides give you the opening hours of the two public baths and a walking route. This one is about what they leave out: what the gold and silver water actually are and how unusual they are, why Arima stands alone among the towns around the big Kansai cities, how to pick an inn for its water, and when a day trip is enough.
What the numbers say
Our records list Arima on four water types at once: chloride, bicarbonate, iron and radioactive, with sources from 40 up to 98 °C. Each of those is less common than it sounds:
- Of the 1,468 towns in our database with a water type on record, 81 list iron, and 46 list iron together with chloride, as Arima does.
- Only 57 of those 1,468 list four or more water types.
- Of the 1,167 towns with a source temperature on record, 573 reach 42 °C, and just 22 reach 98 °C. Arima is one of the 22.
The local picture is starker. There are 24 other towns in our records within 50 km of Arima, covering Kobe, Osaka and the edge of Kyoto. 21 of them have a temperature on record, and only one, Settsukyō, reaches 42 °C, and only just, at 42.0. The next hottest is 41.5 °C; most are in the teens to the thirties and are heated before you bathe in them. Around the cities of Kansai, Arima is the hot water. For the wider region, see onsen near Kyoto and Osaka.
Gold water and silver water
Arima sells its water as two kinds, and the names are marketing for a real difference.
金泉 (kinsen), "gold spring", is the iron-bearing salt water. It comes out of the ground clear. Within minutes of meeting the air the iron oxidises and the water turns a heavy, opaque rust-brown, so you cannot see your hands under the surface. It is very salty: taste a drop and you will know. The colour is the iron, not mud and not dirt.
銀泉 (ginsen), "silver spring", is the clear water. In Arima the name covers the clear sources, including the carbonated and the radon ones, and has nothing to do with silver. It looks like ordinary hot water.
Two practical points follow. First, the gold water stains. Towels used in it turn orange-brown, and the stain can stay in light-coloured fabric, so do not take your own white towel into a gold bath, and leave the hotel's good towel in the room. Second, inns pipe in one or the other, and not every inn has the gold water. If the brown bath is the reason you are going, check the inn's description for 金泉 (kinsen) before you book. For reading the sign in the changing room, see reading the water sign.
Kin no Yu and Gin no Yu
The town runs two public bathhouses, named after the two waters, and they are the easy way to try both without staying the night.
金の湯 (Kin no Yu) is in the centre of town, by the bus stop. It is the larger of the two and has the brown water. There is a free footbath outside it, which is where most day visitors put something in the gold water for the first time.
銀の湯 (Gin no Yu) is a few minutes' walk uphill and has the clear water. It is smaller and usually quieter.
Each costs under ¥1,000 for adults, slightly less on weekdays, and a combined ticket for both is sold at either. Each closes on two set weekdays a month, on different days from the other, and for New Year. Check the current hours on the official Arima site on the day you go. Both are small and simple: wash first, no swimwear, small towel out of the water. The general rules are in our etiquette guide. Both are busy from late morning at weekends, and the evening hour before closing is often calmer.
Many inns also open their baths to day visitors at set hours, and some offer day-use plans with a room and lunch. A large bathing complex on the edge of town offers both waters, saunas and rest areas under one ticket for a longer visit. If you would rather not bathe with strangers, a day-use private bath at an inn is the usual answer; see baths you can have to yourself.
A day trip or a night?
Arima is one of the few famous towns that works well as a day trip. From Osaka or Kobe you can arrive mid-morning, bathe at both public baths, walk the lanes, eat, and be back for dinner. Arrive by about 10 or 11 to stay ahead of the crowds. See day trips for how day bathing works in general.
A night is better if you want the gold water in a quieter bath, the lanes after the day visitors have left, and dinner at the inn. It is also the best way to try an inn's bath early in the morning. Arima's inns are mostly mid-range to expensive, and a night with two meals is the normal way to stay; see what an onsen stay costs and ryokan meals. If you are on a tighter budget, use Arima as a day trip and sleep in Kobe or Osaka.
The town
The centre is compact: a few steep lanes running up from the river, lined with old inns, shops selling the local thin rice crackers and carbonated soda, and small shrines and temples. You can walk all of it in an afternoon. The steam vents and small spring sources dotted around the lanes, fenced and signed, are where the water comes up. Tsuzumigataki Park, with its small waterfall, is about a kilometre from the centre.
The lanes are steep and some are stepped. If you are travelling with a large suitcase, ask your inn about forwarding luggage or send it on to your next stop.
Getting there
Arima is 11 km from Shin-Kobe Station, 25 km from Osaka Station and 51 km from Kyoto Station in a straight line, but Mount Rokkō is in the way, so the trip takes longer than the distance suggests.
- From Osaka. Direct express buses run from the Hankyū Sanbangai terminal at Umeda and from Osaka Station, in about an hour. They are the simplest option. Book or arrive early at weekends.
- From Kobe. Buses run from Sannomiya. By rail, take the subway from Sannomiya or Shin-Kobe to Tanigami and change for the Kobe Electric Railway to 有馬温泉 (Arima-Onsen) station, a short walk from the centre. Some trains need another change at Arimaguchi.
- Over the mountain. The Rokkō-Arima Ropeway runs down from the top of Mount Rokkō into Arima, so you can combine the mountain and the bath in one day. It closes for maintenance for several weeks each year; check before you plan around it.
- From Kyoto. There is no direct route. Take a JR train to Osaka or Sannomiya and continue as above. Allow around two hours, and do not try to fit Arima into the afternoon after a morning of Kyoto temples.
- From Tokyo. Take the Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe, then the subway and the Kobe Electric Railway.
The JR Pass covers the Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe and JR trains to Osaka or Sannomiya, but not the subway, the Kobe Electric Railway or the express buses. Several private railway passes for Kobe and Arima are sold for visitors.
When to go
Arima is good all year, because the draw is the water and the town, not snow or a view. Autumn colour in the valley, around November, and the cherry blossom in early April are the busiest times outside the holidays. Snow is possible in midwinter but not reliable. Summer is warm and quieter on weekdays. Weekends and Japanese holidays are busy at any time of year. See when to go for more.
Arima or Kinosaki?
These are the two names everyone staying in Kansai is weighing. Kinosaki is about 100 km from Arima in a straight line, on the Sea of Japan coast, two and a half hours or more from Osaka. It has one kind of water, recorded up to 83 °C, and seven public baths you walk between in a yukata in the evening. It asks for a night.
Arima is an hour away, with four water types, the brown gold water, and most of its bathing inside the inns plus two public baths. Choose Arima if you are short of time, want the unusual water, or are based in Osaka or Kobe. Choose Kinosaki if you want the evening of walking between baths and have a night to give it. If you are choosing among the three nearest well-known towns, see our three best onsen near Osaka and Kyoto.
Things not to do
Do not take a white or treasured towel into the gold water.
Do not plan Arima as a quick add-on to a Kyoto day. The crossing takes longer than the map suggests.
Do not assume your inn has the brown water. Check before you book.
Do not drag a big suitcase up the stepped lanes if you can send it ahead.
Do not assume tattoos are fine. Policies vary by bath and inn. See going to an onsen with tattoos, or book an inn with a private bath.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the region, see onsen near Kyoto and Osaka and our Kinosaki guide. For the iron water elsewhere, see iron springs.