170811 Rokko-Arima Ropeway Kobe Japan00n

is an

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

, or

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

in Kita-ku, Kobe,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, located near Mount Rokkō. This onsen attracts many Japanese because of its easy access from the busy cities in the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

metropolitan area including

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and Kobe. Arima Onsen was named in the Heian-period ''

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Fujiwara no Teishi, Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The wor ...

'' as one of the three famous springs in Japan. It was selected as the most prestigious hot spring during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

History

This onsen is one of

's oldest, with

Dōgo Onsen is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

and Nanki-Shirahama Onsen in

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

. Many documents since the 8th century AD, such as ''

'', mention this onsen. According to these documents, among the many visitors to Arima Onsen are Gyoki (行基), a charismatic Buddhist monk in the 7th century, and Ninsai (仁西), another monk in the 12th century. Ninsai was said to greatly admire Arima Onsen and helped develop it. Hideyoshi Toyotomi visited this onsen several times in the 16th century.

Springs

Arima Onsen has two kinds of springs. One is , which has water colored yellow-brown from iron and salt. The other is , which is colorless and contains

radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...

and

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

Accommodation

In 2007, there were more than 20 hotels and inns in the Arima Onsen area.

Gallery

File:Arima Onsen River 2013.jpg, Arima Onsen River 2013 File:Zuihoji park14n4272.jpg, Zuihoji Park File:Tudumi-ga-taki Park Kobe01s4272.jpg, Tudumi-ga-taki Park File:Arima Onsen Tenjin Sengen.JPG, Arima Onsen Tenjin Sengen File:141108 Gekkoen Yugetsusanso Arima Onsen Kobe Japan04bs3.jpg, Gekkoen Yugetsusanso, Arima Onsen File:Feet bath Arima onsen.jpg, Public foot bath Arima Onsen File:Taiko-no-yudonokan01s3872.jpg, Taiko-no-yudonokan municipal museum File:Arima Onsen Gosho-bessho02s5s4272.jpg, Typical '' ryokan'' in Arima

References

External links