Kotohira Onsen

Kotohira Onsen is a thermal facility in Kotohira town in Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku Island, located in the same small town as the celebrated Kompirasan shrine complex — one of Japan's most beloved Shinto shrines dedicated to sea voyagers and fishermen, approached via a famous staircase of 785 stone steps ascending through the forested hillside. The siliceous thermal waters of Kotohira provide a soothing counterpoint to the physical exertion of the Kompirasan pilgrimage steps, with many of the town's ryokan offering onsen baths to visiting pilgrims in a tradition of combining spiritual devotion and bodily renewal that is fundamental to Japanese religious culture. The combination of the sacred atmosphere of Kompirasan, the elegant temple gate approach streets of Kotohira, and the skin-conditioning siliceous onsen makes this compact Shikoku town one of the most authentically Japanese thermal pilgrim destinations in the country.