Use the
Planning a Trip to Japan?
Share your travel photos with us by hashtagging your images with #visitjapanjp
HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Gunma off the Grid
Avoid the crowds and relax with an onsen hot spring break
Gunma Prefecture
The little-known hot spring resorts of Gunma offer the perfect location to get away from the crowds and spend some time reflecting. Literally in the centre of Japan, the land-locked prefecture of Gunma is surrounded by mountains, volcanoes and packed full of nature.
Located in Jōshin'etsu-kōgen National Park, the historic 140-year-old Hoshi Onsen inn creates a world entirely different from city lifestyle with the babbling of its nearby river and the twittering of birds perched in the surrounding trees. Here you can soak in 100% pure spring water that bubbles up from between the rocks set in the bottom of the baths. Choose from a wide range of baths, including mixed gender bathing, known as konyoku onsen. Gunma is one of the prefectures that still celebrates this traditional way of bathing. Please note that Hoshi Onsen does offer men-only and women-only onsen, if that is what you prefer!
If you’re looking for a liberating open-air rotenburo bath, head to Manza Onsen that pours out in an alpine region 1,800 meters up in the mountains. Soak in its milky-white waters while you enjoy the surrounding natural landscape covered in the colors of autumn or the snowfall of winter or gaze up at the star-filled sky.
Gunma is full of amazing hot spring resorts. Why not go onsen hopping for a truly relaxing break?
How to get there
Access to Hoshi Onsen: About 50 minutes by bus from Jomo-Kogen Station with a transfer at Sarugakyo. You can reach Jomokogen Station in about an hour from the Tokyo area (Tokyo Station or Ueno Station) by the Joetsu Shinkansen.
