Odate Onsen

Odate Onsen is located in Odate City in northern Akita Prefecture, universally recognized in Japan as the ancestral home of the Akita Inu, the majestic and loyal spitz breed whose most famous representative, Hachiko, waited faithfully for his deceased owner at Tokyo's Shibuya station for nearly ten years and became a global symbol of devotion. The city's Akita Inu Museum celebrates the breed's history and presents living dogs for visitors to meet, while the surrounding countryside features traditional L-shaped Magariya farmhouses built to house both family and livestock under one massive thatched roof against Akita's brutal winters. Bathing in the warm sodium-bicarbonate springs here is a deeply relaxing experience in a city whose cultural identity is warmly, inseparably bonded to Japan's most loyal companion.