Shima Onsen — photo: Kentaro Ohno from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
.jpg){kind=link}
Shima onsen: the quiet valley in Gunma, what the water is like, Shima or Kusatsu, and getting there from Tokyo
Shima, written 四万温泉 (Shima Onsen), is a hot spring village strung out along a narrow river valley in the mountains of north-west Gunma. It has no big centre and no famous sight you have to queue for: a road, a river, old wooden inns and a few small public baths. Most guides cover the bus, the photogenic old inn and the blue dam lake up the valley. This one adds what they leave out: what the water is and how much of it there is, how Shima compares with Kusatsu on the same railway line, and how to plan the last leg so you are not stuck waiting for a bus.
What the numbers say
Shima is recorded in our database at 43 to 82 °C, pH 7.7, about 3,500 litres a minute, and listed as both chloride and sulfate.
- Its Wikipedia article is read more often than all but ten of the 1,538 onsen towns in our data, which makes it the 11th best known in Japan by that measure (2,340 in our count). In Gunma it is third of 62, after Kusatsu (5,718) and Ikaho (3,401).
- Of the 1,167 towns with a temperature on record, 78 reach 80 °C. Shima's hottest source is one of them, so some of the water has to be cooled before anyone can get in.
- Of the 425 towns with a flow on record, 24 put out more than Shima. In Gunma, 20 have a flow on record and only two are higher: Kusatsu and Manza.
- Sulfate is the less common of its two types. Of the 1,441 towns with a water type on record, 295 are listed as sulfate and 176 as both chloride and sulfate.
So Shima is not a small, tepid village spring. It is a lot of hot water in a very quiet place, and that combination is what people come for.
What the water is like
The water is clear, with little smell. It is the opposite of Kusatsu's: Kusatsu is recorded at pH 1.0 to 2.2, strongly acidic, and stings small cuts; Shima at pH 7.7 is mildly alkaline, the kind that feels slightly slippery on the skin. Chloride water is salty and leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm after you get out. Sulfate water is clear and can taste faintly bitter. Neither stains towels or blackens silver the way sulfur water does.
The sources are spread along the valley, and different inns draw from different ones, so the temperature and feel can vary a little from one bath to the next. The sign in the changing room tells you which source you are in; see reading the water sign. It is gentle water for a long soak, which suits a place where there is not much else to do.
Shima or Kusatsu?
Both are on the JR Agatsuma Line in Gunma, and people searching for one usually end up comparing it with the other. They are only 17.4 km apart in a straight line, but there are mountains in between, so going from one to the other means going back down the line.
- Kusatsu is the bigger, busier town: a central square with the steaming yubatake, many public baths, shops and evening crowds, and strong acidic water. See our Kusatsu guide.
- Shima is quieter and more spread out, with clear, mild water and a river beside you. There is little to do after dark except bathe and eat.
- Two nights? Do both. The two waters are about as different as Japanese onsen get, which is why we put both in the 3 best onsen towns in Gunma.
The village and what to see
Shima is a long, thin village rather than one centre. The inns and small public baths are grouped in several clusters along the river, and the road runs on up the valley. Ask your inn how far it is from the bus stop before you book, especially with luggage.
- The old inns. The best known is a wooden inn reached by a small red bridge, often photographed and often said to be one of the inspirations for the bathhouse in Spirited Away. The studio has never said so, so treat it as a story, not a fact.
- The dam lake. Further up the valley, the lake behind Shima Dam is known for the unusual blue of its water on a clear day. It is beyond the village; check whether a bus runs that far or plan to walk.
- Nearby, in a straight line from the town: Mount Shirasuna 9.3 km, Iwabitsu Castle ruins 14.4 km, and Agatsuma Gorge 14.6 km, which is best known for its autumn leaves. The Naeba (11.7 km) and Minakami ski areas are close on the map but on the other side of the mountains.
Day trip or a night?
Three hours each way from Tokyo is a long day for one bath. A day trip only makes sense if you start early and use a public bath; see onsen without staying the night. Shima is really a place to stay. Most inns sell dinner and breakfast with the room, and there are few places to eat out late, so book the meals; see what "two meals included" means. If you would rather not bathe in front of strangers, look for an inn with a private bath. The public baths are ordinary Japanese baths: naked, wash first, towel out of the water. See our etiquette guide. Tattoo rules are set by each bath and each inn; ask, and see going to an onsen with tattoos.
Getting there
No car is needed. Our travel data puts Shima about three hours from Tokyo.
- Train and bus from Tokyo. The JR limited express from Ueno on the Agatsuma Line to 中之条 (Nakanojō), then a local bus of about 40 minutes up the valley to Shima. Or take the Shinkansen to Takasaki and change to a local Agatsuma Line train to Nakanojō.
- Highway bus from Tokyo. A direct bus runs from central Tokyo to Shima, with only a few departures a day. It saves the change at Nakanojō, but book ahead.
- From Kyoto, Osaka or Kanazawa. There is no shortcut. Take the Shinkansen to Tokyo (from Kansai) or to Takasaki on the Hokuriku Shinkansen (from Kanazawa or Nagano), then the Agatsuma Line to Nakanojō and the bus. It is a full day; see onsen trips from Kansai. From Karuizawa, the Shinkansen to Takasaki is the simplest way round.
The Japan Rail Pass covers the JR trains to Nakanojō, but not the bus up the valley or the highway bus. Buses are not frequent, so check the last one back before you set out. Times here are rough; check the route on Google Maps before you go.
Shima in winter
Shima is in the mountains and gets snow. The local bus and the main highway bus run all year, and a snowy valley with a hot bath is a good reason to come. If you are driving, you need winter tyres. Some sights up the valley, like the dam lake, are harder to reach or less worth it in deep winter. Autumn, when the gorge and the valley turn red, is the busiest time. See onsen by season.
Nearby
The hot springs around Shima are small, and most are a separate trip rather than an add-on.
- Sawatari, 7 km south, is a small village with the same two water types as Shima, recorded at 55 °C.
- Kawarayu, 16.8 km away on the Agatsuma Line, is recorded at 79.3 °C, with 6 inns.
- Kusatsu, 17.4 km away, is the big town at the end of the bus line from the Agatsuma Line.
- West of Shima, over the ridge, are Shiriyaki (12.6 km), where hot water flows into the river itself, and Hanashiki (12.1 km), a simple spring at 58 °C. Both are small and much easier with a car.
- Hōshi (8.1 km) and Sarugakyō (11.6 km) are close on the map but over the mountains, in the Minakami area, reached from Jōmō-Kōgen on the Jōetsu Shinkansen.
- Ikaho, 24.6 km away, is the easiest Gunma onsen town to reach from Tokyo, with its stone steps; it shares the Shibukawa end of the line.
Things not to do
Do not miss the last bus. Check it before you leave Nakanojō or the valley.
Do not assume the JR Pass covers the whole trip. The bus is separate.
Do not plan to hop from Shima to Kusatsu in an hour. They are close on the map but not by road.
Do not book an inn without checking where it is in the valley; some are a long walk from the bus stop.
Do not treat Spirited Away as a fact on the sign. It is a popular story.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For more towns in the area, see the 3 best onsen towns in Gunma, the 3 best onsen towns near Tokyo and our guide to onsen trips from Tokyo. For every onsen within reach of Tokyo, see onsen near Tokyo.