Nerima Onsen

Nerima Onsen provides siliceous mineral bathing in Nerima Ward in northwestern Tokyo, whose remarkable cultural identity as the birthplace of Japanese anime—the first postwar animation studio, Toei Animation and later Mushi Production, were established here in the 1950s and 60s—gave rise to an animation industry tradition that continues in the many production studios clustered in Nerima's residential streets, making this ward the spiritual home of Japanese animated art from Astro Boy and Dragon Ball to Doraemon and Pokémon. The thermal waters serve a ward whose anime heritage is celebrated at the Nerima City Museum and Tezuka Osamu exhibition spaces, where the life work of Japan's 'god of manga' Osamu Tezuka is honored in a ward that nurtured his studio and the careers of the animators who defined Japanese visual storytelling for the world. The deep anime heritage of Nerima's cultural identity, Shakujii Park's forested calm, and the warm mineral waters of the neighborhood onsen create a bath experience embedded in the creative tradition that gave the world Japan's most globally influential art form.