Zama Onsen

Zama Onsen offers siliceous mineral bathing in the compact city of Zama in the Sagami plain of Kanagawa Prefecture, a city whose contemporary identity is defined by its long-standing role as host to the United States Army Garrison Japan headquarters—Camp Zama, a major US military base established in 1945 that has shaped Zama's bicultural character for over seven decades of US-Japan alliance. The thermal mineral waters provide warm, accessible relaxation for the bilingual community of Japanese residents and American military personnel who share this small Kanagawa city, where the cultural exchange between Japanese and American traditions has created a uniquely bicultural urban environment of English-language shopping districts, American-style diners, and Japanese onsen culture coexisting in surprising harmony. The nearby Tanzawa-Oyama mountains, the Sagami River's floodplain parks, and the Zama Chrysanthemum Festival give this bicultural onsen city a seasonal natural beauty that transcends its geopolitical significance.