Hello everyone. My friend and I are looking to spend about 2-3 full days in a quiet onsen town in the Japanese Alps, as a quiet midweek excursion from Tokyo (part of a larger Japan trip).
Ideally, it shouldn’t be too popular and developed (e.g. Kusatsu), have like 2-3 onsens with outdoor parts with mountain views. And the village would ideally reflect some element of rural Japan without having its entire identity revolve around attracting cityslickers/tourists. (Understandably, this would mean that the onsens themselves aren’t “top-notch” by Japanese standards, but that’s totally fine). It should also be pleasant to wander around for a day or two.
For reference, I speak intermediate Japanese. Train access is preferred, but bus is fine too. This would be for late November…
It shouldn’t be more than like 5 hours from Tokyo, but we wouldn’t want it to be _so_ close that it would be “on the beaten path”
(For reference, this will be my first time in the mountains of Japan; while this is my friend’s first time in Japan)
Thank you so much for reading this far! Sorry if this post elicits any eye-rolls for any reason I’m overlooking..
4 comments
**Please check our front page for the stickied** [**Tourism Information Megathread**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/) **for current information on re-opening.**
Thank you!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/JapanTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hate it to break it to you, but economy of mid-tier onsen towns with a mountain view will, by default, revolve around tourists.
Bessho Onsen, Shirahone Onsen, Unazuki Onsen or even Kaminoyama Onsen may meet your critieria, but be aware that most famous or tourist-friendly onsen towns in Japan (Kinosaki Onsen, Gero Onsen, Hakone, Kusatsu, Ginzan Onsen, Hirayu Onsen) are famous for a reason.
The only one I’ve been to that would meet some of that criteria is Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen. Yes it is the entry point to Jigokudani Monkey Park but I found the tourist crowd just catch the bus from Yudanaka station to the park. I stayed there for a couple of nights and found it a pleasant town to wander around with numerous public baths – not sure if any of the public or private ones will have the views you want though.
Walking around it did feel like rural Japan with random eateries and shops littered around down. It is also close enough to a few other interesting towns should you want to explore a bit more.
What you’re looking matches exactly what domestic tourists look for in an onsen. So finding a place like that that is not touristic is almost impossible. Particularly when you want some nice mountain view, that’s definitely the rarest feature of onsen in general.
I’d even say 95-98% of all public onsen in Japan exist/survive only thanks to tourism. There’s not that many that are non-touristy but at the same time open to tourists.
That said, if you’re going on a weekday and/or out of season for the region, you can be (almost) alone even in a very touristy onsen. In villages/towns, going throughout the day rather then in the evening can also ve very beneficial. I’ve once been almost alone in the Benifuji no Yu in Yamanakako Onsen, with its great views of Mt Fuji, so anything is possible.
And I guess it also depends what you dislike about the onsen being touristy: the amount of people or the feel of it.