Rebun Island Onsen

Rebun Island Onsen, on the remote island of Rebun accessible by ferry from Wakkanai in northernmost Hokkaido, offers chloride thermal bathing at one of Japan's most extraordinary natural sanctuaries — a narrow island rising from the Sea of Japan just 60 kilometres south of Sakhalin, where over 300 species of alpine wildflowers bloom at sea level due to the subarctic climate, earning Rebun the poetic title 'Island of Flowers floating in the sea.' The saline chloride thermal waters provide restorative bathing in a fishing community where the traditional lifestyle of sea urchin and kelp harvesting continues largely unchanged, and where the surrounding waters produce some of Japan's finest uni (sea urchin) and konbu seaweed. The combination of dramatic cliff coastlines, the long-distance Hana no Rebun trekking trail, and remarkable wildflower meadows makes Rebun Island Onsen one of Japan's most scenically extraordinary and remote thermal destinations.