Yawata Onsen Kyoto

Yawata, in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture where the Katsura and Uji rivers join before entering Osaka Bay, is celebrated as the location of the Iwashimizu Hachimangu — one of Japan's three great Hachiman shrines, enshrined on Mount Otoko since 860 AD, the tutelary shrine of the Imperial family and the samurai class — whose mountain summit approach via cable car or hiking trail offers panoramic views across the Kyoto-Osaka river basin. Yawata Onsen Kyoto draws on chloride-rich thermal waters from the geological resources of the southern Kyoto basin, offering restorative baths in a small city of exceptional shrine heritage whose Iwashimizu Hachimangu, the traditional Yawata matsuri festival, and the Yodo River cycling paths create a surprisingly distinguished spa destination in the southern Kyoto-Osaka corridor. The Iwashimizu Hachimangu's mountain summit shrine and cable car ascent, the traditional Yawata basket weaving using the local bamboo harvested from the hill slopes, and the Yodo River waterway cycling path between Kyoto and Osaka create an appealingly historic and naturally connected thermal destination in southern Kyoto Prefecture.