Shimabara Onsen

Shimabara Onsen is situated in Shimabara, a castle town on the Shimabara Peninsula of Nagasaki Prefecture at the foot of the active Unzen volcano, a city whose history is marked by two of Japan's most dramatic events — the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, when approximately 37,000 Christian peasants and ronin led by the teenage Amakusa Shiro made their last stand at Hara Castle against Tokugawa forces, an uprising that led directly to the complete suppression of Christianity in Japan and the institution of the sakoku closed-country policy, and the catastrophic eruption of Mount Unzen in 1991, which sent pyroclastic flows that killed 43 people including three volcanologists. The city is also known for its charming watercourse of natural spring water (Shimabara Shiromizu) that flows through stone channels along the main streets, and its carp-filled moat and castle grounds that create one of Kyushu's most atmospheric small castle towns. The onsen draw on geothermal springs heated by the ongoing volcanic activity of Unzen, providing mineral bathing in a city shaped by both volcanic power and the courage of its martyred Christian community.