Naruko Onsen Kaya

Naruko Onsen Kaya is part of the celebrated Naruko Onsen district in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, one of the five great hot spring resorts of the Tohoku region and Japan's undisputed kokeshi doll capital, where the tradition of hand-turning these simple, limbless wooden dolls with painted faces originated among onsen resort craftsmen in the early 19th century and has produced over a dozen regional kokeshi styles that are now Japan's most collected folk craft objects and the subject of passionate connoisseurship among enthusiasts worldwide. The Naruko Gorge, a spectacular ravine of deeply eroded rock draped in brilliant autumn foliage renowned throughout Japan, provides the natural backdrop to the resort district, and the variety of spring types available across the Naruko area — including sulfurous, sodium bicarbonate, and saline waters — is extraordinarily diverse for a single hot spring district. Bathing in the Naruko waters while surrounded by the workshops where kokeshi artisans hand-turn and paint their distinctive dolls provides one of Tohoku's most culturally immersive and aesthetically rich onsen experiences.