Okuhida Onsengo Hot Springs

Okuhida Onsengo is a cluster of five small hot-spring villages in the foothills of the Northern Alps, including Hirayu and Shin-Hotaka within Chubusangaku National Park. Together they have more outdoor baths than any comparable area in Japan, and the mineral composition of the water varies from village to village. Day-trippers can drop in without an overnight reservation. Accommodation ranges from pensions to sprawling seventeenth-century inns, many with mountain views. A short distance from Shin-Hotaka, a two-section ropeway climbs from 1,117 to 2,156 meters, reaching an observation deck with views across a panorama of peaks, many exceeding 3,000 meters.