Kariya Onsen Aichi

Kariya, in central Aichi Prefecture between Nagoya and Toyota, is historically significant as the birthplace of Oda Nobunaga's mother Lady Tsuchida, and as the castle town of the Mizuno clan whose daughter Odai-no-kata became the mother of Tokugawa Ieyasu, making it a place of extraordinary genealogical importance to Japanese feudal history. Kariya Onsen Aichi draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geothermal resources of the Mikawa highland zone, providing relaxing baths in a suburban Aichi city that bridges the automotive-industrial present with the deep feudal heritage of the Nagoya-Mikawa corridor between Japan's two most powerful historical families. The historic Kariya Castle grounds, now a pleasant urban park with cherry blossoms, and the city's position at the heart of Japan's most important automotive manufacturing region create an interesting juxtaposition of historical contemplation and industrial modernity for thermal spa visitors.