Ohzu Onsen
Illustration photo — not a verified picture of this exact spot.
- Location
- Ozu, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan
- Water type
- sodium chloride
- Temperature
- 41 °C
- pH
- 7.3
Water profile
Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Dense, salty water — you float without effort.
Ohzu Onsen is located in Ozu, a small city in the Hiji River valley of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, home to Ozu Castle — known as 'Garyuzan no Shiro' (Castle of the Recumbent Dragon) for its dramatic position atop a rocky riverside pinnacle, one of Shikoku's most atmospheric castle sites, reconstructed in 2004 from original Edo-period blueprints in a project of exceptional historical authenticity. Adjacent to the castle stands the remarkable Garyu Sanso villa, a Meiji-era private retreat designed and built without a single nail by master carpenters according to the philosophical principles of sukiya (refined Japanese aesthetic), creating one of Japan's finest examples of the wabi-sabi mansion tradition in a suspended garden perch above the Hiji River gorge. The river itself is one of Shikoku's most scenic, with traditional cormorant fishing (ukai) performed on its waters in summer, adding another living cultural heritage to Ozu's remarkable concentration of architectural and natural beauty. The onsen here provide silica-rich mineral bathing in a castle town of exceptional cultural richness.