Yaizu Onsen

Yaizu Onsen serves one of Japan's most important fishing ports, where massive tuna and bonito fleets land catches that supply sashimi restaurants and katsuobushi producers across the entire country, making Yaizu Port a beating heart of Japan's seafood economy. The city also holds an unexpected artistic distinction as the longtime home of Ota Hisa — known in Europe as Hanako — the Japanese performer who modeled for the sculptor Auguste Rodin in Paris and maintained a decades-long correspondence with him that left a remarkable mark on European art history. The onsen's mineral-rich waters provide warm recovery after days spent at the fish market docks or exploring the unlikely international story that unfolded in this unassuming Pacific port city.