170811 Rokko-Arima Ropeway Kobe Japan00n

is an

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

, or

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

in Kita-ku, Kobe,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. This Onsen is still a hidden treasure of modern Kobe, behind Mount Rokkō. It attracts many Japanese who want tranquility with beautiful natural surroundings and yet easy access from the busy cities in the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

metropolitan area including Osaka. Arima Onsen was named in "The Pillow Book", a famous Heian Era book, as one of the three famous springs in Japan. It was selected as the most prestigious hot spring during the Edo Era.

History

This onsen is the one of

's oldest, with Dōgo Onsen in Ehime Prefecture and Shirahama Onsen in Wakayama Prefecture. Many documents since the 8th century AD 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 and carbonate.

Accommodation

In 2007, there were more than 20 hotels and inns in the Arima Onsen area, with Arima Grand Hotel being one of the largest in the area.

Gallery

File:Kin-no-yu Arima Onsen 2013.jpg, File:Zuihoji park14n4272.jpg, File:Tudumi-ga-taki Park Kobe01s4272.jpg, File:Arima Grand Hotel01s4s4272.jpg, File:Arima Onsen Gosho-bessho02s5s4272.jpg, File:XIV Arima Rikyu Kobe01n.jpg,

References

External links