Atami Onsen — photo: Drivephotographer · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Atami onsen: day baths, free foot baths, Hashiri-yu, and how it compares with Hakone
Atami is a seaside resort city at the top of the Izu Peninsula, the first Shinkansen stop in Shizuoka going west from Tokyo. It is the closest big onsen resort to Tokyo by train and one of the best known in Japan. Most guides list hotels and sights. This one puts Atami in numbers, explains how a day trip works when you are not staying overnight, shows the older springs at the edges of the city, and helps you choose between Atami and Hakone.
What the numbers say
- Atami Onsen's Wikipedia article is read 1,275 times in our sample, the most of the 48 onsen places in Shizuoka in our records and 37th of 1,538 in Japan. Hakone, its rival for a night out of Tokyo, is 43rd at 1,184.
- The water is classed as chloride and sulfate: salty, clear water that leaves a film on the skin. There is no sulfur, so no egg smell. Hakone has that; Atami does not.
- Our records have no temperature, flow or count of inns for the Atami Onsen entry itself, so we do not give them. The city draws on many wells rather than one source, and the inns range from tower hotels to small ryokan.
- Four onsen places in our data are inside Atami city: Atami itself, Izusan to the north-east, Ajiro down the coast, and Izu-Yugawara on the border with Kanagawa.
Getting there
Atami is easy, which is most of its appeal. Our travel data puts it under an hour from Tokyo and about two hours from Kyoto or Osaka, with no car needed.
- Shinkansen. Kodama trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen stop at Atami, about 45 minutes from Tokyo Station. Only some Hikari trains stop, and Nozomi trains do not. The Japan Rail Pass covers Kodama and Hikari.
- Limited express. The JR Odoriko runs direct from Tokyo along the coast. It is slower than the Shinkansen but cheaper, and some trains continue down to Itō and the Izu Kyūkō line.
- Local train. The JR Tōkaidō Line runs from Tokyo, Shinagawa and Yokohama to Atami without changing. It takes about an hour and three quarters and costs the least.
Atami Station is at the top of the town. The beach and the old centre are below it, down steep streets, so the walk down is easy and the walk back up is not. Local buses and taxis wait at the station. Times here are rough; check the current timetable before you go. For other trips, see onsen trips from Tokyo and the 3 best onsen towns near Tokyo.
A day trip: where to bathe without staying
Atami is a hotel town, and most of its baths are inside hotels. For a day visit you have three kinds of choice.
- Hotel day bathing. Many hotels sell a bath ticket to non-guests in the middle of the day, often with a sea view. Search for 日帰り入浴 (higaeri nyūyoku, day bathing) on the hotel's own site. Hours are usually limited to the gap between check-out and check-in, and some stop day guests at weekends.
- Small public bathhouses. The city has a few old neighbourhood baths with plain rooms and local regulars, cheaper than the hotels. They follow neighbourhood habits: bring your own towel and soap, and expect early closing and fixed rest days. See onsen or sentō for how they work.
- A private bath by the hour. Some inns rent a private bath for a set time. This is also the reliable route if you have tattoos; see private baths and going to an onsen with tattoos.
Prices and hours change often, so we do not list them. Check on the day.
The free foot baths
You do not need a ticket to put your feet in Atami water. The best known foot bath is 家康の湯 (Ieyasu-no-yu) in the square in front of Atami Station, named after the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who came to Atami to bathe. It is open in the daytime only. Bring a small towel to dry your feet. There are others by the sea and in the plum garden, and for many visitors on a tight schedule a foot bath at the station is the whole Atami onsen experience.
The old springs: the Seven Springs and the geyser
Atami used to be famous for water that came out of the ground by itself. In the old centre, a short walk below the station, seven historic spring sites known as 熱海七湯 (Atami nanayu) are marked with small monuments and signboards. The water no longer flows by itself at most of them, and none of them is a bath.
The best known is 大湯間欠泉 (Ōyu geyser), once a natural geyser and one of the reasons the town grew. The natural eruptions stopped long ago; what you see now is a reconstruction that is made to erupt at set times. It is a pleasant stop on a walk through the old streets, not a natural wonder.
Izusan and Hashiri-yu: the cave spring
Just north-east of the station, along the coast, is Izusan Onsen, about five minutes by local bus in the public transport data we show. It is a separate onsen place in our records, with chloride, sulfate and iron springs listed; iron water is one of the less common types, on record at 81 of the 1,468 onsen places with a water type.
Izusan's sight is 走り湯 (Hashiri-yu), the "running spring", one of the oldest named springs in this part of Japan. It comes out of a short horizontal tunnel in the hillside rather than from a well, which is unusual. It is for looking at, not for bathing; the steam in the tunnel is hot. Above it, a long flight of steps leads up to Izusan Shrine.
Ajiro and Yugawara: quieter water next door
If Atami feels too busy, two smaller onsen places are a short ride away, and our records have more numbers for them than for Atami itself.
- Ajiro, 6.4 km south of Atami Station in a straight line, is a fishing port with 10 inns in our records and chloride water recorded at 27 to 68 °C. Ajiro Station on the JR Itō Line is about five minutes on foot from the onsen area.
- Yugawara, 4.6 km north in a straight line and across the border in Kanagawa, is a valley onsen town with chloride and sulfate water recorded at 30 to 88 °C. It is one stop from Atami on the JR Tōkaidō Line, and buses run from Yugawara Station up the valley. Its Wikipedia article is read 713 times in our sample, 77th in Japan. The Izu-Yugawara entry in our records is the part of the same area on the Shizuoka side of the river.
- Itō, 12.6 km south, is the next big resort down the coast, with water flowing at about 34,000 litres a minute in our records. Our guide to the 3 best onsen towns in Izu compares it with Atami, Shuzenji and Izu-Nagaoka.
Atami or Hakone?
Both are about an hour from Tokyo, and many visitors choose one. The difference is not the distance.
- Atami is a city by the sea. The water is salty and clear. You arrive by Shinkansen and walk out of the station into town. Pick it for the sea, a short trip, or a stop between Tokyo and Kyoto; see the best onsen stops between Tokyo and Kyoto.
- Hakone is a set of mountain villages spread along a valley, with volcanic steam vents, a lake and a ropeway. Some of its water is sulfur. Pick it for mountains, a loop of sightseeing, and the classic onsen look.
The two are not far apart, and buses cross the hills between them, but most people do better choosing one for a night than trying to do both in a day.
When to go
Atami is busiest at weekends, in the summer beach season, and over the New Year. The plum garden is at its best in late winter. Fireworks over the bay are held on many evenings through the year; the dates are set each year by the city. Midweek outside summer is the quietest. Our seasons guide compares the year across Japan.
Things not to do
Do not plan to walk back up from the beach to the station with heavy luggage; take a bus or taxi.
Do not expect to bathe in the old Seven Springs or at Hashiri-yu; they are for looking at.
Do not assume a hotel takes day guests at the weekend; check first.
Do not get on a Nozomi expecting it to stop at Atami.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the rest of the area, see the 3 best onsen towns in Izu, Hakone, the best onsen near Mount Fuji and onsen near Tokyo. For a short trip, see onsen day trips. Want to know what "chloride" means? See onsen water types.