Onsen saunas in Kagoshima, Japan
かいせい乃湯
Kaisei-no-yu is a hot-spring sento in Tagami fed by sodium chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate spring water. It has an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and a bubble bath, with lockers and parking for 66 cars. It keeps long hours, 6:00 to midnight, with irregular closing days, which makes it an easy late soak on the western side of the city.
かごっま温泉
Kagomma Onsen is a nostalgic downtown sento three minutes' walk from City Hall, with free-flowing chloride spring water and enka on the speakers. It has an electric-heated sauna, a cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, electric and bubble baths, a mori-shio salt scrub, retro massage chairs and coin laundry. It also rents rooms. Open 8:00 to 24:00, closed on the 5th, 15th and 25th of each month.
みどり温泉
Midori Onsen is a leisure-style hot-spring bathhouse in Okanohara-cho with free-flowing spring water. It has three saunas: a low-temperature rock-salt sauna, a herbal steam sauna and a high-temperature sauna, plus a cold bath, an eight-herb medicinal bath, a lie-down bath, an open-air bath and a snack corner. Open daily 5:30 to 23:00 with parking for 300 cars; adult entry ¥460.
慈眼寺温泉
Jigenji Onsen is a hot-spring sento on the road up to Jigenji Park in Taniyama. A row of rock, bubble and open-air baths faces a wall of windows, and on the other side are a hinoki-built far-infrared sauna, two kinds of cold bath and an utase waterfall bath. Two family baths are upstairs. Open 8:00 to 22:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday.
新とそ温泉
Shin-Toso Onsen is a hillside hot-spring sento in Toso with a postcard view across the city to Sakurajima and down onto the JR Kyushu rail depot. It is known for a properly hot sauna and one of the coldest cold baths in the city, and has a pool about nine metres long for swimming or walking. It opens at 4:00 for its regular early-morning bathers and closes at 22:30, except the 4th Monday.
温泉お乃湯
Onsen Ono-yu is a bright hot-spring bathhouse in Ono, its large bath lit through a translucent roof, with subtropical plants dividing the men's and women's sides. Facilities include an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, ganbanyoku hot-stone bathing and five types of private family baths bookable by the hour. Open 6:00 to 22:00, closed the 1st Monday.
温泉錦湯
Onsen Nishiki-yu is a hot-spring sento near the Arata Hachiman tram stop, renovated in 2016 as it approached its hundredth year, with the men's bath on the ground floor and the women's upstairs. It has a sauna, cold bath, two depths of electric bath, sleeping and rock baths, and a germanium-plated floor; in midsummer the cold bath becomes an ice bath. It keeps long hours, 5:00 to 1:00, closed on the 26th.
神之川温泉
Kaminokawa Onsen is a quiet hot-spring bathhouse in the former Koriyama town area, with gentle weakly alkaline spring water running free-flowing into the large bath. It has a sauna, cold bath and open-air bath, family baths including a wheelchair-accessible welfare bath and rooms with tatami lounges, and the Yuyutei restaurant. Open 10:00 to 21:00; from April to October weekday hours start at 15:00.
福助温泉
Fukusuke Onsen is a neighbourhood hot-spring sento in Ishiki with a big main bath, strong massage jets, an electric bath, a sauna and a cold bath. Five family baths with four-and-a-half-mat tatami rooms can be used until midnight. The clear spring water is plentiful enough that bathers may take drinking water home for free. Open every day from 5:30 to 22:30.
芦刈温泉
Ashikari Onsen in Wakaba-cho is a hot-spring sento known as a 'bijin no yu' for its smooth sodium bicarbonate water, which runs free-flowing through every bath, shower and tap. It has a hinoki cypress bath, a garden-style open-air bath, jet and electric baths, a sauna with an adjoining cold bath, and a mist sauna on the women's side. A restaurant is attached. Open daily 6:00 to 24:00; adult entry ¥460.
花野温泉たぬき湯
Tanuki-yu is a hot-spring bathhouse in the hills of Ishiki, fed 100% free-flowing from two sources. Its signature is a cave sauna built from local stone, a gentle far-infrared room that warms without harsh heat. There is an open-air bath and two cold baths, large and small, for alternating. A canteen serves local chicken dishes. Open daily 6:00 to 24:00; adult entry ¥460.
薬師温泉
Yakushi Onsen is one of the oldest hot-spring sento in Kagoshima, close to a hundred years old and renovated in May 2023. Spring water flows straight from the source into the baths. The men's sauna has sauna stones and aroma-water löyly, and there is a cold bath, electric bath and jacuzzi, with breezes from the neighbouring park. Open 6:00 to 23:00.
谷山温泉えびす湯
Taniyama Onsen Ebisu-yu sits on the 3rd floor of the La Plus community centre, a minute's walk from JR Taniyama station. The bathroom is tiled entirely in mosaic, and it has a roomy far-infrared sauna with a cold bath, an open-air bath, electric and sleeping baths and a jacuzzi, plus bookable family baths. Open 9:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 8:00 at weekends, closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesday.
轟温泉
Todoroki Onsen is a hot-spring bathhouse among the farmland of Kawada-cho on the city's rural edge, with bright, wide-windowed bathrooms. It has an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, a jacuzzi, family baths and a restaurant, with a full-day 'yuttari' course for those who stay. Visitors can take spring water home. Open 8:00 to 21:30, except the morning of the 3rd Thursday.
郡元温泉
Korimoto Onsen is a hot-spring sento with a distinctive exterior right by the Namidabashi tram stop. Its signature is a floating bath where jets lift the body while ultrasound and bubbles wrap around it, and it also has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jacuzzi, sleeping and rock baths and a rest area. A slope and a half-basement car park make it easy to reach. Open 5:30 to 22:30, closed the 2nd and 4th Thursday.
霧島温泉
Kirishima Onsen is a Showa-era hot-spring sento ten minutes' walk from Tenmonkan, in a 1946 building that is the oldest wooden bathhouse in the city, on the site of a Shimazu samurai residence. Akita cedar lines the changing-room ceiling and Arita tiles the bathroom, with a 1950 tile mural of a beauty. Facilities are a sauna, cold bath and ultrasonic jet bath. Adult entry ¥460; open 6:30 to 22:30, irregular holidays.
鹿児島温泉時之栖
Kagoshima Onsen Tokinosumika is a modern hot-spring bathhouse in Tagami, opened in April 2020. Both the men's and women's baths have a large sauna and an open-air bath, along with a standing cold bath, floating bath, jet and electric baths, and partitioned washing stations. Seven bookable family baths each have their own open-air tub. Open 6:30 to 23:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday; adult entry ¥460.
城山ホテル鹿児島 さつま乃湯
Satsuma-no-yu is the hilltop hot-spring bath of Shiroyama Hotel Kagoshima, 108 m above the city with open-air baths looking across to Sakurajima. Day visitors are welcome from 13:00 to 21:00 for ¥3,500. Its sauna is the Ion Spa, a low-temperature steam room held at 42 to 44°C using natural water drawn from 203 m underground. Bathing in swimwear or with a towel is not allowed. Private open-air baths can be booked separately.
鹿児島サンロイヤルホテル 最上階展望温泉
The top-floor observation bath of Kagoshima Sun Royal Hotel looks straight across Kinko Bay to Sakurajima, and the hotel recommends coming in the morning to watch the sun rise behind the volcano. The water is natural chloride hot spring, with water added and reheated. The men's side has a far-infrared sauna and the women's a steam sauna. Non-guests can bathe for ¥1,500, 6:00 to 10:00 and 15:00 to midnight.
かいせい乃湯
Kaisei-no-yu is a hot-spring sento in Tagami fed by sodium chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate spring water. It has an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and a bubble bath, with lockers and parking for 66 cars. It keeps long hours, 6:00 to midnight, with irregular closing days, which makes it an easy late soak on the western side of the city.
かごっま温泉
Kagomma Onsen is a nostalgic downtown sento three minutes' walk from City Hall, with free-flowing chloride spring water and enka on the speakers. It has an electric-heated sauna, a cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, electric and bubble baths, a mori-shio salt scrub, retro massage chairs and coin laundry. It also rents rooms. Open 8:00 to 24:00, closed on the 5th, 15th and 25th of each month.
みどり温泉
Midori Onsen is a leisure-style hot-spring bathhouse in Okanohara-cho with free-flowing spring water. It has three saunas: a low-temperature rock-salt sauna, a herbal steam sauna and a high-temperature sauna, plus a cold bath, an eight-herb medicinal bath, a lie-down bath, an open-air bath and a snack corner. Open daily 5:30 to 23:00 with parking for 300 cars; adult entry ¥460.
慈眼寺温泉
Jigenji Onsen is a hot-spring sento on the road up to Jigenji Park in Taniyama. A row of rock, bubble and open-air baths faces a wall of windows, and on the other side are a hinoki-built far-infrared sauna, two kinds of cold bath and an utase waterfall bath. Two family baths are upstairs. Open 8:00 to 22:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday.
新とそ温泉
Shin-Toso Onsen is a hillside hot-spring sento in Toso with a postcard view across the city to Sakurajima and down onto the JR Kyushu rail depot. It is known for a properly hot sauna and one of the coldest cold baths in the city, and has a pool about nine metres long for swimming or walking. It opens at 4:00 for its regular early-morning bathers and closes at 22:30, except the 4th Monday.
温泉お乃湯
Onsen Ono-yu is a bright hot-spring bathhouse in Ono, its large bath lit through a translucent roof, with subtropical plants dividing the men's and women's sides. Facilities include an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, ganbanyoku hot-stone bathing and five types of private family baths bookable by the hour. Open 6:00 to 22:00, closed the 1st Monday.
温泉錦湯
Onsen Nishiki-yu is a hot-spring sento near the Arata Hachiman tram stop, renovated in 2016 as it approached its hundredth year, with the men's bath on the ground floor and the women's upstairs. It has a sauna, cold bath, two depths of electric bath, sleeping and rock baths, and a germanium-plated floor; in midsummer the cold bath becomes an ice bath. It keeps long hours, 5:00 to 1:00, closed on the 26th.
神之川温泉
Kaminokawa Onsen is a quiet hot-spring bathhouse in the former Koriyama town area, with gentle weakly alkaline spring water running free-flowing into the large bath. It has a sauna, cold bath and open-air bath, family baths including a wheelchair-accessible welfare bath and rooms with tatami lounges, and the Yuyutei restaurant. Open 10:00 to 21:00; from April to October weekday hours start at 15:00.
福助温泉
Fukusuke Onsen is a neighbourhood hot-spring sento in Ishiki with a big main bath, strong massage jets, an electric bath, a sauna and a cold bath. Five family baths with four-and-a-half-mat tatami rooms can be used until midnight. The clear spring water is plentiful enough that bathers may take drinking water home for free. Open every day from 5:30 to 22:30.
芦刈温泉
Ashikari Onsen in Wakaba-cho is a hot-spring sento known as a 'bijin no yu' for its smooth sodium bicarbonate water, which runs free-flowing through every bath, shower and tap. It has a hinoki cypress bath, a garden-style open-air bath, jet and electric baths, a sauna with an adjoining cold bath, and a mist sauna on the women's side. A restaurant is attached. Open daily 6:00 to 24:00; adult entry ¥460.
花野温泉たぬき湯
Tanuki-yu is a hot-spring bathhouse in the hills of Ishiki, fed 100% free-flowing from two sources. Its signature is a cave sauna built from local stone, a gentle far-infrared room that warms without harsh heat. There is an open-air bath and two cold baths, large and small, for alternating. A canteen serves local chicken dishes. Open daily 6:00 to 24:00; adult entry ¥460.
薬師温泉
Yakushi Onsen is one of the oldest hot-spring sento in Kagoshima, close to a hundred years old and renovated in May 2023. Spring water flows straight from the source into the baths. The men's sauna has sauna stones and aroma-water löyly, and there is a cold bath, electric bath and jacuzzi, with breezes from the neighbouring park. Open 6:00 to 23:00.
谷山温泉えびす湯
Taniyama Onsen Ebisu-yu sits on the 3rd floor of the La Plus community centre, a minute's walk from JR Taniyama station. The bathroom is tiled entirely in mosaic, and it has a roomy far-infrared sauna with a cold bath, an open-air bath, electric and sleeping baths and a jacuzzi, plus bookable family baths. Open 9:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 8:00 at weekends, closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesday.
轟温泉
Todoroki Onsen is a hot-spring bathhouse among the farmland of Kawada-cho on the city's rural edge, with bright, wide-windowed bathrooms. It has an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, a jacuzzi, family baths and a restaurant, with a full-day 'yuttari' course for those who stay. Visitors can take spring water home. Open 8:00 to 21:30, except the morning of the 3rd Thursday.
郡元温泉
Korimoto Onsen is a hot-spring sento with a distinctive exterior right by the Namidabashi tram stop. Its signature is a floating bath where jets lift the body while ultrasound and bubbles wrap around it, and it also has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jacuzzi, sleeping and rock baths and a rest area. A slope and a half-basement car park make it easy to reach. Open 5:30 to 22:30, closed the 2nd and 4th Thursday.
霧島温泉
Kirishima Onsen is a Showa-era hot-spring sento ten minutes' walk from Tenmonkan, in a 1946 building that is the oldest wooden bathhouse in the city, on the site of a Shimazu samurai residence. Akita cedar lines the changing-room ceiling and Arita tiles the bathroom, with a 1950 tile mural of a beauty. Facilities are a sauna, cold bath and ultrasonic jet bath. Adult entry ¥460; open 6:30 to 22:30, irregular holidays.
鹿児島温泉時之栖
Kagoshima Onsen Tokinosumika is a modern hot-spring bathhouse in Tagami, opened in April 2020. Both the men's and women's baths have a large sauna and an open-air bath, along with a standing cold bath, floating bath, jet and electric baths, and partitioned washing stations. Seven bookable family baths each have their own open-air tub. Open 6:30 to 23:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday; adult entry ¥460.
城山ホテル鹿児島 さつま乃湯
Satsuma-no-yu is the hilltop hot-spring bath of Shiroyama Hotel Kagoshima, 108 m above the city with open-air baths looking across to Sakurajima. Day visitors are welcome from 13:00 to 21:00 for ¥3,500. Its sauna is the Ion Spa, a low-temperature steam room held at 42 to 44°C using natural water drawn from 203 m underground. Bathing in swimwear or with a towel is not allowed. Private open-air baths can be booked separately.
鹿児島サンロイヤルホテル 最上階展望温泉
The top-floor observation bath of Kagoshima Sun Royal Hotel looks straight across Kinko Bay to Sakurajima, and the hotel recommends coming in the morning to watch the sun rise behind the volcano. The water is natural chloride hot spring, with water added and reheated. The men's side has a far-infrared sauna and the women's a steam sauna. Non-guests can bathe for ¥1,500, 6:00 to 10:00 and 15:00 to midnight.