Are Japan's Famous Onsen Towns Overrated? Locals Push Back on a 'Worst Onsen' List (Beppu, Kusatsu, Kinugawa)

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What locals said (excerpted from 371)

• These are all nationally famous onsen towns being ranked, but I can't help feeling the video is just nitpicking to find fault.

  全国的に有名な温泉地がランキングにされてるけど　あら探しをしてるような雰囲気を感じることを禁じ得ません😮‍💨

  — @木原浩-l2y87 likes

• I've visited around 300 hot springs nationwide. They all have their own good points, so I'd call this a popularity ranking. Beppu is a collective name for eight hot-spring areas, so it's dangerous to judge it from just one spot.

  全国３００カ所くらい巡ってます どこもそれぞれ良さがある訳で、このランキングは人気ランキングと言っていいと思いますね 別府温泉は８つの温泉の総称なので、1ヵ所だけで評価を決めるのは危険です

  — @aonori64111442 likes

• I've been to the towns ranked 1 and 3–6, and they were all good onsen — it's just that where there are more people, more negative opinions come out, exactly as the uploader says. Too much to see and you get "too many tourists," too little and you get "nothing there," just right and you get "boring and average." It's a bit unfair on the towns.

  1・3～6位の温泉は全部行きましたがどれも良い温泉でしたけど、人が多いからネガティブな意見も多く出てくるといううp主さんの意見通りかなと思います。 見る場所が多ければ観光客が多すぎたり外国人が多いと言われ、少なすぎれば魅力がないと言われるし、程よくバランスが取れてれば平凡で詰まらないと言われるのは流石に各温泉地が気の毒ですね・・・。

  — @31knot_Burke22 likes

• They call it a "worst" list, but it's really just casually running down onsen everyone already knows.

  ワーストと言っているけど、皆が知っている温泉を適当に、こき下ろしているだけじゃない。

  — @m.yamamoto.212958 likes

• I think Beppu is the best. The bath at my hotel had hot water gushing and pouring so loudly it surprised me, and the drop-in baths had mud-bath types too — really fun. The local sushi restaurant the hotel recommended served the best mackerel I've ever eaten.

  別府は最高だとおもうが、ホテルの浴室はお湯がザアザア音を立てて盛大にながれていて驚いた。立ち寄り温泉も泥湯的なものなどあって楽しかった。ホテルの紹介で行った料理屋の関サバ高価でしたが、あんなうまいサバ食べたの初めてだった。

  — @masanobu443396 likes

• At a decent place in Beppu there's no ripoff, the food is good, the water quality is great, and districts like Kannawa and Myoban have real atmosphere. Add the sand baths and easy access — there's no way it's the number-one onsen you'd never revisit.

  別府はまともなところならぼったくりもないし、食事も美味しい。泉質もいいし、鉄輪温泉や明礬温泉などは雰囲気もいい。おまけに砂蒸し風呂も複数ある。交通の便もいい。少なくとも二度と行きたくない温泉の1位ってことはないだろう。

  — @peliatanbidani857378 likes

• Kinugawa Onsen is a town with wasted potential. It's a shame the bubble-era ruins spoil the scenery — it's close to Nikko and has so much more going for it. Even the old Showa-era hotel I stayed at was doing its best to be welcoming. It's a bit far, but I'd go again.

  鬼怒川温泉は先日行ったけど勿体ないスペックの温泉地だよな。バブルの頃の残骸のせいで景観が悪いの勿体ない。日光にも近いしもっと可能性がある温泉地と思うんよね。泊まったホテルも昭和頃の古い建物だけど精一杯もてなそうという空気があった。ちと遠いがまた行きたい温泉地だ。

  — @gosyonoyama42 likes

• I used to go to Kinosaki Onsen a lot, but the quality of the crowd really dropped after the GoTo travel campaign.

  城崎温泉は昔はよく行ってたけど GoTo以降客質がかなり下がってしまった

  — @コマ爺32 likes

• The only impression I have of Arima Onsen is that lodging is expensive.

  有馬温泉は宿泊費が高いイメージしかない

  — @かんさばかん22 likes

• The onsen I personally swore never to revisit was Yamashiro in Kaga — less the town than the ryokan I stayed at. It was a well-known luxury resort brand, over ¥40,000 per person a night, one of the priciest stays of my life, and the food was feeble: dainty little portions served one plate at a time, and often left waiting nearly ten minutes because there weren't enough servers.

  個人的に「二度と行くか！」と思った温泉地は、加賀の山代温泉がダントツだな。山代温泉がダメというよりは、泊まった宿がかなりクソだったんだけど。 某・★野リゾートの宿で、一人1泊4万円超（二人で行ったので計8万円超）と、俺の旅行の中でも1泊の宿泊費としてはかなり高い部類だったんだけど、まあ食事がしょぼい。お上品にチビチビ盛った食事を1皿ずつ配膳されるんだけど、量が少ないから腹に溜まらない上に、配膳係が足りていないのか10分近く放置されることもしばしば。 時期的に蟹のシーズンで、蟹は翌日に別の店で食う予定だったので、宿では蟹のコースを選ばなかったんだけど、蟹を注文していた客とは配膳のスピードやきめ細かさが随分違うように感じたな。蟹を注文しない客は客じゃねえ、くらいの印象。 本当に、食後にラーメンでも食いに行こうかと思いながら晩飯を食ったのは、後にも先にもこの宿だけ。 しかしポーションの少ない食事でも、そんな感じでダラダラ出されては中途半端に満腹感も出て来て、何よりラーメン屋の営業時間もギリギリくらいになってしまったので、結局その晩は中途半端に腹の減った状態で寝ることになった。 食事に関してはこんな感じでダメダメだったんだけど、それ以上にクソなのが温泉で、宿の大浴場は12時になると閉め、翌日チェックアウトの時間まで清掃中で入れないという。朝風呂に入りたければ向かいの総湯に行けと。 これが山代温泉の★野リゾートの宿です。

  — @東京漢とんちんかん68 likes

• If I were heading for Kinugawa, I'd go to somewhere small and a bit inconvenient instead — Kawaji, Yunishikawa or Kawamata.

  個人的には鬼怒川へ行こうとするなら、少し不便でも、川治、湯西川、川俣と言ったこじんまりとしたところへ行く。

  — @坂田庄司-g6n25 likes

• The most fun way to do Beppu is to stay at a business hotel and go hopping between the cheap local baths.

  別府はビジホに泊まってジモ泉ハシゴが一番楽しめる

  — @TakashiIIofficial15 likes

• I'm a pensioner now, so instead of overnight onsen trips I enjoy the hot springs I can day-trip to from Tokyo, and eat at the local diners — I almost never get a dud. I just buy vegetables and fruit at the roadside station on the way home.

  年金生活の老人だから現役時代は宿泊を伴う温泉地へ行ってたけど、現在は東京から日帰りで行ける温泉を楽しんでるし食事も地元の食堂で楽しんでるからハズレはほとんどありません。また地元の道の駅で野菜や果物を買ってくるから強いて言えば高い高速代とガソリン代かな‼️

  — @こうじ-m1v24 likes

• Kannawa Onsen↗鉄輪温泉Beppu

  The steam-filled district commenters name as Beppu's most atmospheric, with its jigoku hells and steam cooking.

• Myoban Onsen↗明礬温泉Beppu

  Beppu's hillside sulfur-bath district, singled out for atmosphere alongside its milky baths.

• Kawaji Onsen↗川治温泉Tochigi

  A small, quieter hot-spring town commenters suggest instead of nearby Kinugawa.

• Yunishikawa Onsen↗湯西川温泉Tochigi

  A remote, traditional onsen village recommended as a calmer alternative to Kinugawa.

Named in the source comments — hours, prices, and openings change, so check each map listing before you go.

Is Beppu worth visiting?

The comments strongly defend it. One regular calls ranking Beppu a "worst onsen" absurd, citing its sand baths, the atmospheric Kannawa and Myoban districts, cheap local baths and easy access. A visitor to 300 hot springs notes Beppu is really eight hot-spring areas in one, so don't judge it from a single bath.

What's the most overrated onsen town in Japan?

There's no real agreement — commenters argue "worst onsen" lists just target whatever's most famous, since crowds generate complaints. The caveats that hold up: Kinugawa's abandoned bubble-era hotels hurt the scenery, and Arima is known mainly for high lodging prices.

Are expensive luxury ryokan worth it?

Not automatically. One commenter's "never again" was a ¥40,000-plus night at a famous luxury resort brand where the kaiseki was skimpy and the service slow — a reminder that price alone doesn't guarantee a good stay. Read recent reviews before booking a high-end ryokan.

How do locals avoid crowded onsen towns?

Two moves recur. In Beppu, stay at a cheap business hotel and hop the local public baths (jimo-sen) rather than one pricey ryokan. And near famous spots, pick a smaller neighbor — commenters send Kinugawa-bound travelers to Kawaji, Yunishikawa or Kawamata instead.

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