A Guide to Japan’s Onsen Towns: Hakone, Shima Onsen & Kusatsu Onsen

Let’s start here. If you go to Japan and only do the “onsen experience” once, at some big fancy ryokan near Tokyo, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Onsen culture is not a one and done thing. It’s a whole vibe that shifts depending on where you are, and honestly some of my favorite days in the entire country happened in towns most tourists never even hear about.

I did three onsen towns back to back on my sabbatical: Hakone, Shima Onsen, and Kusatsu Onsen. Same general concept (natural hot spring water, small mountain towns, slower pace) but three completely different personalities. Here’s the full breakdown so you can figure out which ones are worth your time, or if you’re an overachiever like me, all three.

Quick Onsen 101 Before We Get Into It

If you’ve never done an onsen before, a few things to know so you don’t panic mid soak:

You go in fully nude. No swimsuits. I know, I know, but everyone’s doing it and nobody cares, and after your first five minutes you stop caring too.
Wash before you get in. There’s always a shower station with little stools and handheld showerheads. Scrub down completely before you enter the water. This isn’t optional, it’s basically the whole etiquette system.
Tattoos can be an issue. A lot of traditional onsen still ban visible tattoos because of the old association with organized crime. If you’ve got ink, look up tattoo friendly spots ahead of time or book a ryokan with a private onsen you can reserve for just your room.
Public onsen vs ryokan onsen vs private “kashikiri” baths. Public bathhouses are cheap and social, ryokan onsen are usually included with your stay and often nicer, and kashikiri baths are private rentals you book by the hour if you want zero strangers involved. All three exist in the towns below.
Keep your voice down and don’t dunk your towel in the water. Small towel goes on your head or beside the bath, not in it.

Okay. Onto the towns.

Hakone: The Easy, Polished Introduction

Hakone is the onsen town people actually know about, and for good reason. It’s close to Tokyo, it’s easy to get to, and it packs in art museums, a volcanic valley, and a lake cruise on top of the hot spring stuff. This is the one to do if it’s your first time in this part of Japan or if you’re short on time.

Getting there: The Romancecar runs straight from Shinjuku Station to Hakone Yumoto in about 90 minutes. No transfers, reserved seats, snacks if you want them. Genuinely one of the most relaxing train rides of my whole trip. Once you’re there, buy the Hakone Freepass, it covers the local trains, buses, ropeway, and cable car you’ll need to actually do the Hakone loop, and it pays for itself fast.

What it’s actually like: Polished. Hakone feels curated in a good way, like someone designed a perfect long weekend and you’re just following the path. You’ve got the Hakone Open Air Museum (the Picasso Pavilion alone is worth it), the Owakudani ropeway over an active volcanic valley, a pirate ship style lake cruise, and Hakone Shrine’s famous (if occasionally closed for maintenance, RIP) floating torii gate.

Onsen vibe: A mix of upscale ryokan with private baths and day use spots like Tenzan Onsen and Hakone Yuryo if you don’t want to commit to a full overnight stay somewhere. This is the town where you’re most likely to end up in a nice robe drinking tea after your soak.

Pros:

Closest to Tokyo, easiest logistics of the three by a mile
The most “stuff to do” outside of the onsen itself
Great if you’re traveling with someone who wants art museums and volcanic valleys, not just baths
The Freepass makes getting around genuinely simple

Cons:

It’s popular, which means it’s crowded, especially on weekends
Feels less “authentic hot spring town” and more “well run tourist circuit”
Two nights is the sweet spot, but you will not see everything, don’t try

Shima Onsen: The One Nobody Talks About

Okay this is my favorite of the three and I will die on this hill. Shima Onsen is barely a town. It’s a scattering of ryokan along a river gorge in Gunma, and that’s basically it. No major sights, no crowds, mostly Japanese speaking only. It’s the version of an onsen trip you picture in your head before you actually go to Japan and realize most of it is crowded and English friendly.

Getting there: This is where it gets less convenient. From Hakone you’re looking at a mix of local trains and buses, and honestly the schedules have real gaps in them. Budget significantly more time than Google Maps tells you, and don’t book anything tight on either end of your travel day. This isn’t a Romancecar situation, it’s a “figure it out as you go” situation.

What it’s actually like: Quiet. Like, genuinely quiet. There’s a handful of public bathhouses you can hop between, Kami no yu and Kawara no yu among them, plus a short walk to the Lake Okushima observation deck and the Momotaro Waterfall if you want a tiny bit of sightseeing. But mostly you’re just existing in a river gorge town with nothing to do but soak, eat, and sleep. It’s a hard reset after Hakone’s polish.

Onsen vibe: Rustic, mostly public bathhouses, very few frills. This is where you go if you want the “old Japan hot spring town” fantasy without a curated experience wrapped around it.

Pros:

Almost nobody else is there, it’s genuinely peaceful
Feels like a real town, not a tourist circuit
Cheap compared to Hakone
Great if you’re coming from somewhere hectic (looking at you, Tokyo) and need an actual reset

Cons:

Transit is a pain, plan extra time and don’t rush it
Very little English signage or spoken English
If you need “things to do,” this is not your town, there isn’t much beyond the baths
Two nights felt right, I wouldn’t go longer unless you really love doing nothing

Kusatsu Onsen: The Locally Famous One With a Show

Kusatsu is the middle ground between Hakone’s polish and Shima’s total quiet. It’s genuinely famous within Japan, largely because of Yubatake, the “hot water field” that’s basically the town’s whole identity, a steaming wooden channel system right in the center of everything.

Getting there: Also a bit of a haul from Shima Onsen, again a mix of local trains and buses. Same advice applies, pad your transit time and don’t book anything back to back.

What it’s actually like: Lively for an onsen town, but still small and walkable. Yubatake is lit up at night and it’s honestly a really pretty centerpiece to wander around. The move here is timing your visit around a yumomi performance, where locals cool the scalding spring water using giant wooden paddles set to a traditional folk song. It’s touristy, sure, but it’s touristy in the best way, a genuinely old practice that also happens to be a great show. There’s also Sainokawara Park with an open air bath if you want your soak with a side of nature.

Onsen vibe: A really good mix of public bathhouses (Ōtaki no Yu and Kusatsu Onsen Netsunoyu among them) and hotel or ryokan onsen. More going on than Shima, less curated than Hakone.

Pros:

The yumomi performance is genuinely worth building your day around
Yubatake at night is one of the prettiest things I saw on the whole trip
More going on than Shima but still small and easy to walk everywhere
Good balance if you want “real onsen town” energy without total isolation

Cons:

Transit here is just as annoying as Shima, don’t expect Hakone level convenience
Gets more visitors than Shima, though nowhere near Hakone’s crowds
If you want art museums or lake cruises, this isn’t that town, it’s pretty singularly focused on the hot spring experience

So Which One Do You Actually Pick

If you can only do one, here’s my honest take. Hakone if you’re short on time or it’s your first trip to Japan and you want a bit of everything alongside the baths. Kusatsu Onsen if you want the classic onsen town experience with a little more life to it, plus that yumomi show is genuinely special. Shima Onsen if you want to disappear for two days and don’t need a single thing to do besides soak.

But if you have the time, do all three back to back like I did. The contrast is honestly the whole point. Hakone eases you in, Shima strips everything away, and Kusatsu brings a little bit of life back before you head onward. Going from six lane crossings in Tokyo to a wooden bathhouse in a river gorge in the span of a few days is a genuinely wild transition and I’d recommend it to literally anyone.

The Transit Reality Check, One More Time

I’ll say this again because I learned it the hard way. Hakone is easy. The Romancecar from Shinjuku is direct, comfortable, and predictable, and the Freepass handles everything once you’re there.

Shima Onsen and Kusatsu are a different story. You’re dealing with a mix of local trains and buses with real gaps in the schedule, and it’s easy to underestimate how long it’ll take to get between these smaller towns. My rule after this trip: whatever Google Maps says, add at least 30 to 45 minutes of buffer, and never schedule a check in or check out tight against a train connection. You will regret it exactly once, and then you’ll learn.

Pack layers, bring a small towel that isn’t your good one (onsen towels get gross fast), and go in with zero plans beyond soaking, eating, and sleeping. That’s genuinely the whole assignment in these towns, and it’s one of the best assignments Japan has to offer.