Yubara Onsen — photo: Aimaimyi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The 3 best onsen in Okayama
If you want one onsen in Okayama, the three to look at are Yunogō, Yubara and Okutsu. Of the 14 onsen in Okayama in our data, they are the three best known, and all three are reached by JR train and a short bus ride. None of them is near Okayama city: they are about 40 to 60 km north, in the hills of the old Mimasaka province, and in Japan they are sold together as the "three springs of Mimasaka". If you are on the Shinkansen and want a night at a real onsen town, plan on leaving the coast.
Why these three, in one paragraph
We did not pick by taste. We took every onsen in our data in Okayama Prefecture, kept the ones where our travel data says the JR Pass covers the train, and ranked them by how often each town's Wikipedia article is read, as a measure of how established a place is. The full method, with numbers, is at the end.
Okayama in numbers: the hot water is in the north
Okayama city is on the Sanyo Shinkansen, so many travellers pass through, and a search for "onsen Okayama" mostly returns day-bath facilities around the city. Those are real onsen, but the water near the coast is cool. Every Okayama onsen in our data has a source temperature on record, and only 2 of the 14 reach 42 °C: Yubara at 44.9 °C and Okutsu at up to 44 °C. Five of the 14 are radioactive springs, a Japanese label for water with a trace of radon, and those five are all between 18 and 26 °C. Our guide to onsen temperatures explains what heated water means on the notice in the changing room.
The other thing Okayama has is alkaline water. Five onsen in the prefecture are recorded at pH 9 or higher, two of them in this list. Alkaline water feels smooth, even slippery, on the skin. Our guide to water types has the labels.
1. Yunogō: the easy one, near Tsuyama
Why it made it. Yunogō Onsen is the best known in Okayama, at 759 in our count, and the closest of the three to Okayama city, 41.4 km in a straight line.
The place. A compact town of hotels and inns along a river in Mimasaka city, with a local legend that the spring was found by a heron healing its leg. It is the largest and most resort-like of the three. Chōfuku-ji Temple is 7.6 km away, Mimasaka Kokubun-ji 10.6 km, and Tsuyama Castle 14.2 km.
The water. Recorded at 40 °C and listed as chloride: slightly salty water, the kind that leaves you warm for a long time after the bath. We have no pH on record for it.
Getting there. A JR train on the Kishin Line to 林野 (Hayashino Station), then a local bus of 6 to 8 minutes from the stop about 100 m from the station, or a taxi of about 8 minutes. From Okayama, the usual way is the JR Tsuyama Line to Tsuyama and a change to the Kishin Line. Our data puts it at about 2 hours from Kyoto or Osaka. The JR Pass covers the trains, not the bus.
Good for: the simplest trip of the three, a first onsen, a stop with Tsuyama Castle. Watch out for: it is a resort town rather than an old street; local trains on the Kishin Line are not frequent.
2. Yubara: the bath in the river
Why it made it. Yubara Onsen is second at 610. It has the hottest water in Okayama in our data, and 20 inns on our record.
The place. A narrow town along the Asahi River, just below a dam, in Maniwa city. It is known in Japan for the 砂湯 (sunayu), an open-air bath in the riverbed below the dam, free and mixed, where people usually wear a bath towel or swimwear. It is out in the open, in full view of the bridge. The castle town of Katsuyama is 12.9 km away and Kanba Falls 10.5 km.
The water. Recorded at 44.9 °C and pH 9.23, and listed as a simple spring. Simple means low in minerals: clear and gentle, and at that pH it is strongly alkaline, so it feels smooth. Bath floors get slippery; walk carefully.
Getting there. A JR train on the Kishin Line to 中国勝山 (Chūgoku-Katsuyama Station), then about 30 minutes onward. Our travel data does not say whether that last leg needs a car; there are local buses from the station, but not many, so check the times before you go, or take a taxi. From Okayama you change at Tsuyama, or go round by Niimi on the Hakubi Line. Our data puts it at about 2½ hours from Kyoto or Osaka. The JR Pass covers the trains only.
Good for: hot water from the ground, a riverside bath, the most inns to choose from. Watch out for: the riverbed bath is public and mixed; if that is not for you, every inn has its own baths. The last leg is the hardest of the three without a car.
3. Okutsu: the quiet gorge
Why it made it. Okutsu Onsen is third at 566, close behind Yubara. It is the smallest and quietest of the three.
The place. A handful of inns along the Yoshii River gorge in Kagamino town, at the far end of the valley north of Tsuyama. It is a known place for autumn leaves. The Kagamino Modern Art Museum is 1.3 km away, and Yokono Falls 9.4 km.
The water. Recorded at 35 to 44 °C and pH 9.2, a simple spring, strongly alkaline like Yubara. Some sources are below body temperature, so ask your inn which baths are heated.
Getting there. A JR train to Tsuyama on the Tsuyama Line or the Kishin Line, then a Chūtetsu bus of about 50 minutes. Our data puts it at about 3 hours from Kyoto or Osaka, the longest of the three. The JR Pass covers the train, not the bus.
Good for: a quiet night, autumn colour, a walk along the river. Watch out for: there are few shops or places to eat, so plan on dinner at the inn; the bus is the only public transport into the valley.
Which of the three?
- Easiest from the Shinkansen: Yunogō, the closest, with the shortest bus.
- The hottest water: Yubara, 44.9 °C.
- Quietest: Okutsu.
- Two in one trip: Yubara and Okutsu are both alkaline simple springs, and both are reached via Tsuyama; Yunogō is on the same JR line, east of Tsuyama.
The places that only just missed
Awakura (197) would have been fourth, but the line to its station, the Chizu Express, is not JR, so it did not pass the test. It is a 10-minute walk from Awakura-Onsen Station, on the line between Kyoto or Osaka and Tottori. Recorded at 21 to 26 °C, pH 8.0, a radioactive spring, so the baths are heated.
Tomada (197) is the one in the city, 1.3 km from Okayama Station on our map, recorded at 22 °C, a radioactive spring. If you have an evening in Okayama and only want a bath, it is the closest. Yuba (144) is about 30 minutes by local bus from Okayama Station, recorded at 18 °C, with one inn.
Staying in Kurashiki for the canal quarter? There is no onsen town in central Kurashiki in our data. The two springs inside Kurashiki city are both down on the Kojima coast, south of the old town, and both are small: Kurashiki Yuga (倉敷由加温泉, 32), at Yuga in Kojima, is listed as about 30 minutes by car from Kurashiki Station, recorded at 18.8 °C and pH 6.7, with one inn. Washūzan Fukiage (鷲羽山吹上温泉, 58), at Shimotsui near the Seto Ōhashi bridge, is listed as about 10 minutes by car from Kojima Station, recorded at 20.3 °C and pH 7.5, also with one inn. Both are radioactive springs and both are well below bath temperature, so the water is heated. Neither came close on the ranking: few people look them up, and the last leg from the station is by car. For a hot natural spring from Kurashiki, the three above, via Okayama, are still the answer.
Coming from Hiroshima? Our best onsen near Hiroshima looks the other way, across the Inland Sea to Dōgo. Going on to the Sea of Japan? See Tamatsukuri.
How we picked these three
- Starting pool: all 14 onsen in our data in Okayama Prefecture.
- Reached by JR: 13 of the 14 are marked in our travel data as reached by a JR train. The one that is not is Awakura, on the Chizu Express. We kept the 13.
- Last leg: of the 13, 7 are marked as a short walk or a local bus from the station, 5 as a taxi from the station, and 1, Yubara, has no answer. We did not drop Yubara for that, but we say so above.
- Known: we ranked the 13 by how often each place's Wikipedia article is read. Yunogō 759, Yubara 610, Okutsu 566, then Tomada 197 and Yuba 144. Awakura (197) was not in the 13.
- Not used: views, inn quality, price, tattoo policy, food or private baths. We have no data that ranks those fairly, so we did not pretend to.
- About the water: all 14 have a temperature on record; 2 reach 42 °C, Yubara (44.9 °C) and Okutsu (up to 44 °C). The water did not decide the ranking.
- Distances are in a straight line from Okayama Station; travel times are rough estimates from our data, not a timetable. Check the current route before you go.
For every onsen you can reach by train, see onsen on the JR Pass and onsen you can reach without a car. Starting from Kyoto or Osaka? See the best onsen near Osaka and Kyoto. Other prefecture picks: Gunma, Chiba and Nara. What do "simple" and "chloride" mean? See onsen water types. New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. Tattooed? Read going to an onsen with tattoos before you book.