Editors' Selection — Sapporo
Photo: Jozankei Yuraku Soan
Sapporo’s onsen fall into two groups: those in the city center, and those in Jozankei, an onsen town in the mountains within the same city. A hotel downtown lets you soak in an onsen while staying at your base for sightseeing and dining. In Jozankei, you can spend the night at an inn close to the forest. The experience differs greatly even within Sapporo, and some inns are open only to overnight guests, so it’s an easy place to get lost in the options. From both areas, our editors have chosen inns and hotels whose onsen have a distinct character. Start with whichever suits your itinerary.
Hokkaido Sapporo City
Silky natural onsen water in a bath of wood and stone
A beautiful main bathhouse by Kentaro Imai, a leading designer of sento, where the warmth of wood and stone come together. It brims with a silky-smooth alkaline simple spring that gently wraps the whole body. In a refined space that evokes the nature of Hokkaido, step away from the bustle of daily life and give yourself to the water, and the weariness of travel melts away from deep within.
Editors' comment
The main bathhouse, on the ground floor of a hotel in Chuo Ward, was designed by an architect known for designing sento. The bathing area combines wood and stone in a calm design inspired by Hokkaido’s nature. The baths are filled with natural onsen water from a simple alkaline spring. It feels silky on the skin, and you can sink in slowly and let the water hold you. Only overnight guests can use the main bathhouse. Some rooms come with their own sauna, so you can also plan a stay that leaves plenty of time in your room.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
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Hokkaido Sapporo City
Looking down on the gorge from an open-air bath 60 m (197 ft) up
An onsen paradise where a spacious hall holds a wide variety of baths, including an open-air bath and a jacuzzi. The sodium chloride spring, known for holding its warmth, envelops a chilled body and warms it to the core. From the open-air bath you can feel Jozankei’s rich nature up close, and enjoy a rustic soak to birdsong and the sound of wind passing through the forest.
A spectacular open-air bath in the sky on the hotel’s top floor, 60 m (197 ft) above the ground. A beautiful gorge spreads out below, and at night you can have a romantic view of a sky full of stars all to yourself. Soak in the renowned water as time drifts quietly by, and spend a luxurious moment far from everyday life.
Editors' comment
The panoramic open-air bath on the top floor, Seiten, sits 60 m (197 ft) above the ground. The gorge spreads out below, and at night you can soak in the onsen while looking up at the stars. In the basement is the main bathhouse, Yusuikyo, with many kinds of baths, including an open-air bath and a Jacuzzi. This open-air bath is close to the forest, within reach of birdsong and the sound of the wind. The onsen is a sodium chloride spring that holds heat well. With two open-air baths at different heights and with different views, you can savor the same onsen in two distinct ways. The hotel also has a sauna area and an indoor heated pool.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
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Hokkaido Sapporo City
A main bathhouse fed by its own source, with a wall of glass onto the gorge
The main bathhouse draws water from Hoe-no-Izumi, its own source, which the previous owner spent many years discovering. Huge windows spanning an entire wall open onto the sweeping panorama of Jozankei, so you can soak while taking in beautiful scenery that changes with the seasons. Known for holding in warmth, the chloride spring is also known as a “heat spring,” and the cozy feeling of being warmed to the core lingers. Moving back and forth between the airy indoor bath and the open-air bath, where you can hear the murmur of the stream and smell the trees, you can savor exceptional relaxation at one with nature.
A private panoramic onsen bath set by the window in the gorge-side rooms. Beyond huge windows spanning an entire wall, untouched nature such as the greenery or snowscapes of Jozankei spreads out like a painting. It is a luxury to sink into water from the hotel’s own source whenever you like, for as long as you like, with no one to disturb you. With the view of the great outdoors all to yourselves, you can enjoy blissful, carefree relaxation.
Editors' comment
Water from its own source, Hoe-no-Izumi, is piped to the main bathhouse and to the panoramic baths in many of the rooms. It is a chloride spring, and the feeling of warmth from deep inside the body lasts. In the main bathhouse, one entire wall of the indoor bath is glass, so the mountain scenery of Jozankei spreads out right before you. In the open-air bath, you can take in the sound of the mountain stream and the scent of the trees, moving back and forth to the indoor bath. Every room faces the gorge, and in rooms with a panoramic bath you can soak in water from the same source whenever you like while looking out at the greenery or snowy scenery beyond the window.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
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Hokkaido Sapporo City
A gorge-side inn of baths, from hinoki indoors to ceramic urns outside
The main bathhouse is filled with sodium chloride spring water nurtured by the forests of Jozankei. The clear, colorless water feels soft on the skin, and because the salt keeps sweat from evaporating, the warmth lingers long after you get out. The baths come in many forms: an indoor bath filled with the scent of hinoki, a solid rock bath, and outdoors in the open air a reclining bath, a hot-water cascade and ceramic urn baths. You can make your way around them all while gazing at the mountains spread out before you.
Private open-air baths that need no reservation and can be used free of charge as many times as you like whenever they are available. Each tub has its own character, in hinoki, ceramic, hiba and rock, and once you close the door the world is yours alone. Sinking into the water without worrying about anyone else, wrapped in the valley breeze and the rustle of the trees, is a luxury you can only find at this inn. During your stay, you’ll want to switch tubs and soak again and again.
Editors' comment
At this inn in the Jozankei gorge, the main bathhouse has a hinoki indoor bath alongside a rock bath, while outdoors there are a reclining bath, a hot-water cascade and a ceramic urn bath. The onsen is a clear, colorless sodium chloride spring. It feels soft on the skin, and because the salt slows the evaporation of sweat, the warmth lingers after you get out. You can move from bath to bath while gazing at the mountains. The four private open-air baths, made of hinoki, ceramic, hiba and rock, need no reservation and are free to use as often as you like whenever they’re available. Every room also has a hiba bath filled with natural onsen water, so you can soak whenever the mood strikes, even in the middle of the night or at dawn.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
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Hokkaido Sapporo City
Warming up while gazing at Sapporo through high-floor glass
Natural onsen water from a heat-retaining chloride spring rising from deep underground. You can refresh in a variety of baths, including a glass-walled indoor bath looking out over Sapporo, a semi-open-air bath where you can feel the cool breeze, and a herbal bath that changes daily. The men’s bath has an indulgent ceramic urn bath fed straight from the source, never recirculated, and the women’s bath a relaxing reclining bath, for a refined bathing experience.
Editors' comment
The indoor bath of the main bathhouse, on a high floor, is walled in glass, so you can look out over the city of Sapporo from the water. There is also a semi-open-air bath that lets in the breeze from outside, and an herbal bath that changes daily. The onsen is a chloride spring that rises from deep underground and holds heat well. The men’s bath has a ceramic urn bath fed straight from the source, never recirculated, and the women’s bath has a reclining bath. The bathing area also has a sauna overlooking the city, and after your bath you can rest in a lounge reserved for bathers. Within walking distance of Sapporo Station, it lets you stay in the heart of the city and still soak in natural onsen water.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
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Hokkaido Sapporo City
Warm to the core in an open-air bath in old-growth forest full of birdsong
Bright light pours in through the high ceiling and large windows of this soothing main bathhouse, where it feels as if you are forest bathing. It is filled with a colorless, clear sodium chloride spring known for its mellow saltiness; the salt that clings to the skin keeps sweat from evaporating and warms you from the core. Beyond the indoor bath there is also an open-air bath surrounded by Jozankei’s old-growth forest. With birdsong and rustling leaves as your soundtrack, feel the nature of each season and let body and mind go in a blissful soak.
Private open-air baths that come with the separate cottages and some of the guest rooms. Set on a spacious wooden deck, each tub is generously filled with fine onsen water. In a quiet space where no one will disturb you, take in the soft scent of the forest and pleasant sunshine as you enjoy a special soak with Jozankei’s rich nature all to yourself.
Editors' comment
The main bathhouse has a bright indoor bath with a high ceiling and large windows that let in the light. Outside, an open-air bath is surrounded by Jozankei’s old-growth forest, where you can hear birdsong and the rustling of leaves. The onsen is a clear, colorless sodium chloride spring with a mellow saltiness. The salt left on your skin keeps sweat from evaporating, so the warmth stays with you long after you get out. The separate cottages and some rooms have their own open-air bath on a wooden deck terrace. The sauna offers löyly you pour yourself.
Availability and rates are shown on each booking site.
This page contains affiliate links. Booking through them costs you nothing extra.
Chosen by our editors from facilities that have granted us publication permission. We do not rank them.
