Otsuki Onsen Yamanashi

Otsuki, at the eastern gateway of Yamanashi Prefecture where the Katsura River emerges from the Fuji-Mitten mountains, is the junction city of the Chuo and Fujikyu Railway lines through which all rail travellers from Tokyo pass en route to the Fuji Five Lakes and the mountain hot spring resorts of Yamanashi Prefecture. Otsuki Onsen Yamanashi draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geothermal resources of the Katsura River valley, providing restorative baths in a city whose mountain gateway position makes it an ideal stopping point for travellers between Tokyo and the Fuji region's thermal spa culture of Kawaguchiko and Fuji Yoshida. The striking Saruhashi stone bridge over the Katsura Gorge — one of Japan's three famous natural stone bridges — the riverside ryokan culture of the Otsuki gorge, and the forested Mitsutoge mountain hiking trails above the valley make Otsuki a rewarding transitional spa destination in the eastern Yamanashi mountains.