Menuma Onsen Saitama

Kumagaya, in the northern Saitama Prefecture along the Arakawa River, holds the Japanese temperature record at 41.1 degrees Celsius recorded in 2018, its position in the enclosed Kanto plain receiving hot descending winds from the surrounding mountains creating Japan's most extreme summer heat, earning the city the somewhat notorious nickname of Japan's hottest city. Menuma Onsen Saitama, in the Kumagaya area, draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geological resources of the northern Saitama lowland zone, offering restorative baths in a community known for the magnificent Menuma Shodenzan Kangiin Temple — whose Zuihoden-style main hall decorated with extraordinary elaborate lacquerwork and gold leaf is considered the most lavishly decorated wooden structure in the Kanto region outside of Nikko. The Kangiin Temple main hall's extraordinary decorative arts rivalling Nikko in opulence, the Arakawa River cycling paths, and the Kumagaya rugby culture as the birthplace of Japanese rugby create a surprisingly multifaceted spa destination in the northern Saitama plain.