七十二湯
しちじゅうにとう
A field guide from Tokyo
The Seventy-Two Waters
The old almanac divided the year into seventy-two faint seasons; this guide divides the country around Tokyo into seventy-two waters. Fourteen journeys are drawn in full — sea-facing resorts, temple towns, stone staircases and snow-country valleys — with Hakone spanning both Yumoto and Gora. Fifty-seven more destinations follow across Kanto, Izu, Niigata, Nagano and Fukushima. All are listed the way Japan itself ranks them: by where its own bathers go. And past the waters, an inn register follows the bath across all forty-seven prefectures — 232 houses for the journeys where the spring is not the destination, but the bath still comes with the room.
東京から、湯へ。
Map路線図
72 waters ranked by Japanese popularity · 85 inn-register destinations · 62 hotel dossiers across Japan · times are one-way estimates
路線図
The Route Map
Fourteen gateways, seven corridors, mapped in detail. Select a spring to trace its line out of Tokyo — then explore 57 further destinations below.
温泉番付
The Banzuke — Town by Town
Edo printers ranked the springs like wrestlers, on woodblock banzuke — Kusatsu holding the east champion’s slot. We keep the custom: fourteen dossiers in the order Japan’s own polls and bookings put them, from the ōzeki down through sekiwake, komusubi and the maegashira ranks. Each pairs the soak with popular local stops worth adding to the day. Numbers match the map; where a famous source is not for bathing, we say so. Each dossier also includes either its Michelin Guide addresses or a high-end stay favored by Japanese travelers.
湯探し
Beyond the Fourteen
Fifty-seven more onsen towns, valleys, coasts and secret-spring clusters, in the order Japanese travelers favor them — now with a stay for every destination. Search by name or place, narrow the field by character, or isolate the Michelin Guide addresses.
No springs match that search. Try a prefecture, town name or a broader term.
湯宿帳
The Inn Register — All Japan
The seventy-two waters go where the spring itself is the destination. This register goes everywhere else: eighty-five places across all forty-seven prefectures that repay a journey in their own right — cities, temple towns, castle coasts, ski country, islands — and in each, the inns and hotels whose shared bath makes the stay. Kyoto alone holds twenty-one addresses.
A place qualifies for the journey; a house qualifies only when overnight guests may use a genuinely shared bath — 147 natural onsen, 71 large baths, and a labeled handful of spa, swimsuit-thermal and partner-bath formats. Private and in-room baths never count.
How to read a line: 甲 first choice 乙 strong alternative 丙 secondary — reconfirm first tattoo lines appear only where a house publishes a rule; everywhere else, ask the bath
No inn matches that search. Try a city or prefecture name, or a word like sauna, rooftop or Michelin.
湯の作法
The Way of the Bath
Six habits that hold in every town in this guide, from the grandest ryokan bath to a ¥300 neighborhood sotoyu.
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かけ湯
Kakeyu
Rinse at the basin before entering. You arrive at the water already clean; the bath is for soaking, not washing.
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手拭い
The small towel
It never touches the bathwater. Fold it on your head or set it on the rim.
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静けさ
Quiet
Community baths are shared rooms, not attractions. Enter and leave the water slowly; keep voices low.
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写真
Photography
None in baths or changing rooms, ever — unless the facility itself has authorized a shoot.
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刺青
Tattoos
Policies are facility-specific in every town. Verify with the bath or ryokan before travel; never assume from the town's reputation.
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水分
Afterward
Drink water after bathing. After strongly acidic or sulfurous springs — Kusatsu above all — sensitive skin may prefer a final rinse.