Arima Onsen

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

Three wounded crows, legend says, revealed its water by healing their sores in a pool.

It is one of the three oldest hot springs in Japan (日本三古湯, together with Dōgo and Shirahama), and the first written account dates back to 631, when the Nihon Shoki records the visit of Emperor Jomei. The founding legend, kept by the town's Yusen-jinja shrine, says that two deities discovered the water by watching three wounded crows heal their sores in a hot pool. Two different springs feed the public baths: kinsen (金泉), rust-coloured because of its high iron and salt content, and ginsen (銀泉), clear and slightly effervescent because of dissolved radon. The Kin-no-yu public bath, on the kinsen, opens as early as 8:00 and has a free foot bath in front of it.

Hot spring town in the mountains of Kita-ku, north of central Kobe; the municipality runs two separate public baths, Kin-no-yu on the kinsen and Gin-no-yu on the ginsen.

ℹ️ Kin-no-yu open 8:00–22:00 (last entry 21:30), closed on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month and on 1 January. Admission 800 yen at weekends/on public holidays, 650 yen on weekdays, 350 yen for children.

🚉 Arima Onsen · 5 min walk

Sources: arimaspa-kingin.jp · kinzan.co.jp · hyogo-c.ed.jp

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