Secret Japan

[sanji]

Rating is a popular activity nowadays. And onsen are something worth rating...

Here is the first rating from Tabihikaku web site, which selected the 100 best onsen towns. This rating is specifically for onsen towns, which means it is not focusing on a specific bath. The first 20 onsen towns are :

1) Kusatsu Onsen (Gunma-ken)
2) Yufuin Onsen (Oita-ken)
3) Arima Onsen (Hyogo-ken)
4) Noboribetsu Onsen (Hokkaido)
5) Gero Onsen (Gifu-ken)
6) Hakone-yumoto Onsen (Kanagawa-ken)
7) Kinosaki Onsen (Hyogo-ken)
8) Kurokawa Onsen (Kumamoto-ken)
9) Dogo Onsen (Ehime-ken)
10) Ikaho Onsen (Gunma-ken)
11) Beppu Onsen (Oita-ken)
12) Atami Onsen (Shizuoka-ken)
13) Gora Onsen (Kanagawa-ken)
14) Nozawa Onsen (Nagano-ken)
15) Wakura Onsen (Ishikawa-ken)
16) Ibusuki Onsen (Kagoshima-ken)
17) Shirahama Onsen (Wakayama-ken)
17) Beppu Onsen-kyo (Oita-ken)
19) Nyuto Onsen (Akita-ken)
20) Jozankei Onsen (Hokkaido)


The second list from TRipadvisor focuses on hikaeri onsen (day-trip soaks), and in my opinion, is much less relevant, as it is rather selecting large industrial facilities rather than hidden hot springs... The first 20 hikaeri onsen are :

1) Healthyland Rotenburo (Ibusuki, Kagoshima)
2) Hottarakashi Onsen (Yamanashi, Yamanashi)
3) Himawari-no-yu (Shima, Mie)
4) Shika-no-yu (Nasu, Tochigi)
5) Sunaraku (Ibusuki, Kagoshima)
6) Dogo Onsen Honkan (Matsuyama, Ehime)
7) Zippuku-no-yu (Ueda, Nagano)
8) Hoheikyo Onsen (Sapporo Hokkaido)
9) Tenzan Tojikyo (Hakone, Kanagawa)
10) Takegawara Onsen (Beppu Oita)
11) Kin-no-yu (Arima Onsen, Kobe, Hyogo)
12) Terme VILLA Chulayu (Cyatan Okinawa)
13) Anakanon-no-yu (Obuse, Nagano)
14) Tenku-no-yu, Budo-no-oka Onsen (Kousyu, Yamanashi)
15) Yuami-no-shima (Kuwana, Mie)
16) Spa LaQua (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
17) Oedo Onsen Monogatari (Koto-ku, Tokyo)
18) Spa World (Osaka, Osaka)
19) Onsen Cafe (Myoko, Nigata)
20) Hakone Kowakien Yunessan (Hakone, Kanagawa)


The existence of those ratings was found on the excellent Onsen Soaker blog.

[Genki__Guy]

I'm glad to see Jozankei Hotsprings in Hokkaido listed on here. Absolutely one of my favorites, so I I was quite surprised not to find it on the Onsen map of Hokkaido!