Is Atami Worth Visiting Now? "Atami Used to Be Practically the Byword for a Ghost Town"

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 200 of 269 comments

• It's a place that has always lived off tourism, so it knows how to pull people in. It has been hit again and again, by COVID, by disaster, and I think the way it just keeps walking instead of standing still is admirable.

  元々観光産業で食べてきた場所なだけあって、人を呼び込む能力が高い。 コロナであったり災害であったりと、幾度となく見舞われてきたけど、立ち止まらず歩こうというこの姿勢は素晴らしいと思う。

  — @梓川蟻ヶ崎41 likes

• Atami has the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Tokaido Line, so the location is unbeatable. Even within the Kanto region it has an overwhelming edge over Kinugawa.

  熱海は東海道新幹線と東海道線が有り立地条件は最強。同じ関東地方でも鬼怒川より圧倒的に有利。

  — @t3sutatra38814 likes

• Young people drifting away from Disney probably plays a part too. There are cheap tours for both day trips and overnights. If you're a college student, renting a car and driving around the Izu Peninsula would be fun as well.

  若者のディズニー離れの影響もありそう 日帰りでも泊まりでも安いツアーもある 大学生ならレンタカーで伊豆半島回るのも楽しいかもね

  — @ルチル-o7j36 likes

• We're living through the transition from "old, so it's bad" to "old, so it's good." Interesting.

  「古くて嫌だ」から「古くて良い」に変わる過渡期を体験しつつある、面白い

  — @netetahito522322 likes

• Funny how a place suddenly looks lovely the moment it becomes a boom.

  ブームになると急に素敵に見えるの不思議

  — @るるらら-h9r79 likes

• Atami is nothing but shops aimed at tourists now. There are no truly good restaurants left.

  熱海は観光客目当ての店ばかりで本当に美味しい店はもうない。

  — @yasshot22 likes

• Napolitan spaghetti, 900 yen 🤭

  ナポリタン900円🤭

  — @ふみさん-akm7 likes

• Atami Station was crowded. You'd never think the town had declined. But at night there's nobody walking around the station. It's just not a nightlife district.

  熱海駅は混んでいましたね。衰退したとは思えない。ただ、夜になると熱海駅には誰も歩いていない。繁華街とはやっぱり違う

  — @hanatosi283421 likes

• I went on a weekday in November, and the shopping street in front of the station all closed at once in the late afternoon. By around 18:00 it was completely deserted. Even the izakaya only did daytime drinking, which was a bit underwhelming 😂. Is this really a tourist town that has come back?

  11月の平日に出かけましたけど、駅前商店街が夕方に一斉に閉店して、18時頃までにはすっかりもぬけの殻状態になってました。居酒屋ですら、昼飲み対応しかしないのが何ともビミョー😂。これで本当に観光地復活なの?

  — @karat24mik3 likes

• In places like this, guests eat dinner at their inn, so I hear the shops close early.

  こういうところは、夕食は宿で取るとのことなので、お店は早い時間に閉まってしまうそうです。

  — @jammix53222 likes

• I went last year and the hotel rates didn't feel overheated. I had a good time on a modest budget.

  去年行ったけど宿の相場が過熱してる感じが無くて、そこそこの予算で楽しめた。

  — @haduki89618 likes

• For ordinary families living around Tokyo, it's the last seaside resort that is neither far nor expensive and is easy to enjoy... I hope it doesn't go too upscale.

  東京近郊で暮らす一般家庭には、遠くないし高くないし、手軽に楽しめる最後の海辺観光地…あまり高級化しないでほしいですね。

  — @easycomeeasygo555519 likes

• New Akao was very good. Easy to get to as well, and I'd like to go again.

  ニューアカオはとても良かった アクセスも良好だしまた行きたいですね

  — @iiiiiiiii29733 likes

• I love Fuua in Atami, I've been more than ten times.

  熱海のFuua好きで10回以上行ってる

  — @pacchannn15 likes

• A place you must never drive to on a weekend. Take the train.

  車で土日に絶対行ってはいけない場所。電車でどうぞ。

  — @biwako_life6 likes

• I hope Kinugawa comes back someday too.

  鬼怒川もいつか復活して欲しい

  — @user-qs2bt6tt7dMost liked106 likes

• Atami is cluttered, so going a little further south is just right. In Ito or Izu-Kogen the sights are easy to reach and there are hotels with good value too.

  熱海はごちゃごちゃしてるから少し南下するとちょうどいい。伊東や伊豆高原なら観光地のアクセスも良いし宿もコスパ良いとこあるよ

  — @今正-l2o84 likes

• Shimoda, further down from Atami, was relaxing and nice too.

  熱海の下にある下田もゆっくりできてよかったな

  — @xxgoon549123 likes

Some links on this page are affiliate links — if you book through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Which places appear here is decided by the source comments only.

• SaveHotel New Akao↗ホテルニューアカオAtami, Shizuoka

  The hotel visitors single out (33 likes: "New Akao was very good. Easy to get to as well, and I'd like to go again."). A 1973 cliffside resort south of the station; it closed in November 2021, reopened in stages from December 2022 with the full reopening in July 2023, and is being renovated in phases from April 2026 to February 2027 while staying open.

  Sources: travel.watch.impress.co.jp · travel.watch.impress.co.jp · hotel-new-akao.com — checked 2026-08-31

  4.26★ from 3,324 guest reviews on Rakuten Travel (as of Sep 2026)

• SaveOcean Spa Fuua↗オーシャンスパ FuuaAtami, Shizuoka

  The day spa one commenter has been to more than ten times (15 likes). Inside ATAMI BAY RESORT KORAKUEN, about 10 minutes from Atami Station on the free shuttle; adult day admission is 3,080 yen on weekdays, 330 yen more on weekends and holidays, and 2,310 yen after 17:00, open 10:00 to 22:00 as of 2026.

  Sources: ataminews.gr.jp — checked 2026-08-31

• SaveIto Onsen↗伊東温泉Ito, Shizuoka

  The top instead (84 likes): a little further south, where the sights are easy to reach and hotels are better value.

• SaveIzu-Kogen↗伊豆高原Ito, Shizuoka

  Named alongside Ito in the same 84-like comment as the just-right distance south of cluttered Atami.

• SaveShimoda↗下田Shimoda, Shizuoka

  "Shimoda, further down from Atami, was relaxing and nice too." (23 likes)

• SaveYugawara Onsen↗湯河原温泉Yugawara, Kanagawa

  The quieter soak one stop toward Tokyo, named as the calmer alternative (7 likes) and paired with Atami for atmosphere in a 38-like comment about the summer fireworks.

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is Atami worth visiting?

Yes, and it is one of the easiest onsen trips from Tokyo: Kodama shinkansen services take 43 to 48 minutes for 3,740 yen with an unreserved seat, and the case Japanese visitors make for the town starts right there (14 likes: it sits on both the Tokaido Shinkansen and the regular Tokaido Line). They describe a place that is genuinely busy again, with new shops aimed at younger visitors (20 likes), fireworks all summer (38 likes) and hotel rates that have not overheated (18 likes). The caveats are weekend crowds and a town center that closes early.

Sources: ekitan.com — checked 2026-08-31

Why did Atami become popular again?

Trains and a generational shift, according to the comments, more than any single project. Young adults around Tokyo who don't own cars can be there in under an hour (36 likes on the comment tying it to young people drifting away from Disney), and the Showa-era hotels and coffee shops that once read as run-down now read as retro (22 likes). The numbers back the turnaround: Atami counted 3,064,731 overnight guests in 2024, back above three million for the first time in five years, after the pandemic and the 2021 Izusan mudslide had cut the figure to 1.53 million.

Sources: atami.keizai.biz · business.nikkei.com — checked 2026-08-31

Is Atami crowded, and when should you go?

Weekends are the problem. One visitor's rule is never to drive in on a Saturday or Sunday and to take the train instead (6 likes). The area around the station is busy all day, but the town empties after dark (21 likes): on one November weekday the shopping street in front of the station closed en masse in the late afternoon and was deserted by around 18:00 (3 likes), which another commenter explains by most guests eating dinner at their ryokan. Book a dinner plan or eat early.

Where do Japanese visitors go instead when Atami is too busy?

South along the same coast. The most-liked alternative (84 likes) is to continue a little further to Ito or Izu-Kogen, where the sights are easy to reach and hotels are better value; others name Shimoda at the tip of the peninsula (23 likes) and Yugawara, one stop before Atami coming from Tokyo, as the quieter soak (7 likes). Inside Atami itself the two names that draw the most enthusiasm are Hotel New Akao (33 likes) and the day spa Ocean Spa Fuua (15 likes).