is a

hot spring 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 ...

resort in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi,

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 ...

. The place is named after the

Kinugawa River , is a river on the main island of Honshu in Japan. It flows from the north to the south on the Kantō plain, merging with . At 176.7 km in length, it is the longest tributary of Tone-gawa. From ancient times, it has been known to cause flood ...

(literally "angry demon river"), which flows through it.

History

Two hours by train from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, hot springs were first found in the area in the early

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

. The area was extensively developed for tourism in the 1970s, but has since experienced severe economic difficulties after a downturn caused by the 1990s recession, exacerbated by troubles at the insolvent Ashikaga Bank, a major local lender. In 2005, Waseda University urban planning professor Shigeru Itoh's ( :ja:伊藤滋) ''Ugly Japan'' (悪い景観100景) listed Kinugawa Onsen as the third-ugliest place in the country.Leo Lewis, "Monuments to Ugliness and the Triumph of Cash over Culture," The ondonTimes, 31 December 2005. However, in 2008 the city's tourism industry received a boost as high car and airplane fuel costs have caused travelers to seek tourist destinations more easily reachable by train, such as the Kinugawa Onsen.

Local attractions

Close by is

Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura is a Japanese cultural theme park in the Kinugawa Onsen area of Nikkō, Tochigi. The park resurrects and showcases the life and culture of the Edo period. Edo Wonderland spans a site area of 122.3 acres (49.5 hectares). The park's design is ...

, a traditionally themed culture and amusement park containing theatres, workshops, games, ninja and

oiran is a collective term for the highest-ranking courtesans in Japanese history, who were considered to be above common prostitutes (known as ) for their more refined entertainment skills and training in the traditional arts. Divided into a numb ...

shows. It is populated with samurai, ninja, geisha and common folk. Within 8-minute walking distance from Kinugawa is the Tobu World Square which boasts 102 exquisitely crafted 1:25 scale models of the most famous, UNESCO-designated World Cultural and Heritage Sites, complete with 140,000 1:25 miniature people.

Transportation

Both train lines run in parallel and stop at Kinugawa Onsen Station * Tōbu Kinugawa Line * Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line

External links

* *
Nikko Official Guide

Kinugawa River rapids ride
Tourist attractions in Tochigi Prefecture Spa towns in Japan Hot springs of Japan Landforms of Tochigi Prefecture {{Tochigi-geo-stub