Tokyo Onsen: The Editorial Team's 8 Best Picks

Editors' comment

In a corner of the open-air bathing area overlooking the Tama River sits a tub filled directly with source water pumped from underground and gently heated. This sodium chloride spring feels soft on the skin from the very first touch, and its salt content forms a thin film that traps heat, keeping the body warm long after bathing. Sink into the tub and there's nothing to block the view\u2014on clear days, the ridgeline of Mt. Fuji rises in the distance. Indoors, a highly carbonated bath with fine bubbles clinging to the skin is kept at a mild temperature for long soaks. A sauna is also available.

Editors' comment

An alkaline simple onsen drawn from 1,500 meters underground forms the core of this facility. With water that leaves the skin feeling smooth, the main bathing area holds 14 different tubs, including a highly carbonated bath said to be among the largest in the city, a reclining carbonated bath in the open air where you soak while lying flat, and a jar-shaped tub filled with countless fine bubbles for a silky finish. Even with the same carbonation, the sensation changes with posture and with whether you're indoors or out. This is one of the largest day-use onsen facilities in the Kanto region, and it also has a sauna. The reason to travel out to the Hachioji suburbs lies in this sheer number and variety of baths.

Editors' comment

An onsen clouded to a nightingale-green hue fills the open-air bath without any dilution with tap water. This is a highly concentrated iodine-sodium chloride spring, and its salinity soaks directly into the skin, leaving a lasting warmth deep in the body long after you get out. The core appeal of this facility lies in the simple fact that water of this color and concentration wells up from beneath a residential neighborhood in Itabashi. The bath is surrounded by a Japanese garden that changes expression with the seasons, letting you cool down amid greenery and the sound of the wind. There's also a quiet, semi-open-air private bath called Tomoshibi tucked into the garden, and the facility has a sauna as well.

Editors' comment

Slip through a narrow alley in Sugamo and a Japanese garden opens up, with the bathhouse tucked beyond it. The onsen rises from deep underground in the birthplace of the Somei-yoshino cherry, and shimmers amber as it fills the tub. The salt-bearing water wraps the skin smoothly, and the warmth lingers long after bathing. The indoor cypress bath is kept at a mild temperature, ideal for long soaks. The open-air bath is ringed by stone and bamboo, opening to the sky above. Few places in the city offer such deeply colored onsen water tucked at the end of a quiet alley. A high-temperature sauna and cold plunge bath are also available.

Editors' comment

The baths in Machida are filled with onsen water trucked in daily by tanker from Yugawara. The very shape of this facility comes from the fact that, far from the source itself, you can soak in genuine Yugawara-quality water in the middle of the city. Alongside a spacious indoor bath and an open-air bath, there are also a highly concentrated nano-carbonated bath and a hydrogen bath. On the rooftop, a foot-bath garden lets you warm just your feet while gazing at Mt. Fuji on clear days. Overnight guests are offered private baths filled with the same onsen water. A sauna is also available.

Editors' comment

The top-floor bathing area opens toward Tokyo Bay and its skyline of towers. The indoor bath is filled with a highly concentrated sodium chloride onsen brought in by tanker. Though it isn't drawn from a spring on-site, the salt-rich water wraps the skin softly, and the warmth lingers deep in the body long after bathing\u2014this is the character of the place: that kind of warmth, achieved high above the city center. Open-air baths, jar-shaped tubs, and reclining baths line up, letting you move between them as the city lights shift from dusk into night. A dry sauna and cold plunge bath are also available.

Editors' comment

Tucked into a residential neighborhood in Chofu's Sengawa area, the open-air section holds a natural onsen rock bath. The water is clear and colorless, rich in metasilicic acid, a natural moisturizing component. The roof is made of plain wood, opening to blue sky by day and moonlight by night, with the tub positioned to catch the outdoor breeze on your skin. Within the same bathing area you'll also find a silky bath enveloped in fine bubbles and a highly concentrated carbonated bath said to ease muscle tension. What sets this place apart is how it separates natural onsen water from artificially prepared baths, each suited to a different purpose. A sauna is also available.

Editors' comment

In a residential area of Higashikurume stands a three-story building resembling a ballpark. In contrast to the black-colored waters common across the Kanto region, Musashino Onsen is a clear, colorless sodium bicarbonate spring. Soaking in it coats the body with fine bubbles, and warmth reaches the core within minutes. It contains ingredients for exfoliation and moisturizing, leaving skin smooth for a while after bathing. Most of the 15 baths inside are filled with this same onsen, letting you experience the same source water in different forms, indoors and outdoors alike. Settle into a lounge chair in the open-air area and the sunlight can carry your mind away. A sauna is also available. Expect a line at the entrance on busy days.

Read our first-hand visit from February 2026 →