Koka Onsen Shiga

Koka, in the southern tip of Shiga Prefecture bordering Mie and Nara, is one of Japan's two legendary ninja provinces alongside Iga, its mountain valley geography fostering the development of the Koka-ryu ninjutsu school whose practitioners became some of the most sought-after espionage and intelligence agents in Warring States Japan. Koka Onsen Shiga draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geothermal resources of the Koka valley, offering restorative baths in a city that takes tremendous pride in its ninja heritage, celebrated at the Koka Ninja Village outdoor museum where visitors can experience shuriken throwing and the techniques of feudal Japan's shadow warriors firsthand. The historic Minakuchi medicine wholesale town — Japan's oldest pharmaceutical trading centre — the ancient Shigaraki ceramic tradition of the forested Shigaraki highlands, and the proximity to Kyoto's Uji tea-producing landscape create a distinctively multi-layered destination for thermal spa visitors in southernmost Shiga Prefecture.