Makino Onsen

Makino, Shiga, Japan

Location: Makino, Shiga, Japan
Water type: silica
Temperature: 42 °C
pH: 7.2

Water profile

Thermicity

Sedative

42 °C

LowHigh

Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.

Mineralisation

Balancing

LowHigh

Rich in trace elements — gentle on the skin.

Buoyancy

Standard buoyancy

LowHigh

Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.

SiliceSodiumBicarbonates

Makino Onsen is a mountain thermal facility in the Makino area of northern Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, set near the celebrated Makino Metasequoia Road—a 2.4-kilometer avenue flanked by 500 metasequoia trees that transforms each season into a spectacular procession of green canopy in summer, fiery orange in autumn, and bare silver branches against winter snow, drawing visitors from across Japan to photograph one of the country's most photogenic tree-lined roads. The siliceous mineral waters provide restorative bathing for travelers who have walked the metasequoia boulevard and explored the surrounding highland agricultural landscape of Makino's cabbage and sweet corn farms bordering the western Lake Biwa shore. The combination of Japan's most beautiful metasequoia avenue, Lake Biwa's northern lakeside scenery, and warm mineral immersion makes Makino Onsen a destination of remarkable photographic and restorative completeness.

Insider tip — Makino Onsen emerges at the edge of Japan's most celebrated metasequoia avenue, a kilometre-long canopy of towering dawn redwoods planted along a rural road north of Lake Biwa. The silica-rich water is soft and warming, ideal after cycling or skiing in the nearby highlands. The bathhouse is modest but the setting is extraordinary, surrounded by snow-covered trees in winter. Spring meltwater from the Hira mountains boosts the mineral content slightly, giving the water a faint iron tinge in March.

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