Okuhida Onsen Villages
Gifu, Japan · 奥飛騨温泉郷
Five mountain villages of riverside rotenburo under the Northern Alps
Okuhida is a group of five hot spring villages in the mountains of eastern Takayama, beneath the Northern Alps: Hirayu, Shin-Hirayu, Fukuji, Tochio and Shin-Hotaka, the last at the foot of the Shinhotaka Ropeway. It is one of the best places in central Japan for outdoor baths beside rivers, and a relaxed place to try mixed bathing. Hirayu no Mori, a day-use complex in Hirayu, charges 700 yen, and Hirayu Minzokukan asks only for a donation of about 300 yen for its gender-separated outdoor bath, which has no showers.
In Shin-Hotaka, Shin-Hotaka no Yu is a boulder-lined mixed pool on the bank of the Gamata River with no fence or screen; the tourism association asks for about 300 yen toward cleaning and requires a swimsuit, which you can buy nearby for 350 yen. In 2026 it opens from April 18 to October 30, 8:00 to 18:00, and closes when the river floods. Yarimikan, an inn upstream, lets day visitors into two mixed outdoor baths for 500 yen, and Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake in Shin-Hirayu has a large mixed area where special towels are worn.
The downside is timing. Inn day-use windows are short (Yarimikan takes day visitors only from 10:00 to 14:00), so a bath-hopping day needs a plan.
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Hot springs near Okuhida Onsen Villages
LuxuryClothing OptionalAwanoyu, Shirahone OnsenNagano, JapanA big mixed outdoor pool of milky, lukewarm water high above MatsumotoOnsen inn · $
Off the GridYumata OnsenNagano, JapanHot seeps across a riverbed and a still-growing mineral mound, three hours' walk inWild pool · 42°C / 108°F · Free
Off the GridClothing OptionalTakamagahara OnsenToyama, JapanJapan's most remote onsen: stream-side rock pools two days' walk into the AlpsWild pool · 51°C / 124°F · $$$
Off the GridNakabusa OnsenNagano, JapanA road's-end hikers' inn with 15-plus baths fed by 70-94°C springsOnsen inn · $
Off the GridMikurigaike OnsenToyama, JapanJapan's highest hot spring, 2,410 m up on the Tateyama Alpine RouteOnsen inn · 45°C / 113°F · $
Off the GridClothing OptionalAzohara OnsenToyama, JapanA riverbank rock pool deep in Kurobe Gorge, five hours' walk on a cliff trailWild pool · $Run this spring or resort? Claim this listing · Report a correction