Shirone Onsen Niigata

Shirone Onsen Niigata is a natural hot spring in Shirone, a district of Niigata City in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, famous as the origin of the spectacular Shirone Giant Kite Battle (Shirone Ōdako Gassen) — a centuries-old traditional festival where teams from either side of the Nakanokuchi River engage in dramatic aerial kite combat, with kites up to 15 meters tall crashing into each other over the water in one of Japan's most distinctive folk festivals. The naturally chloride-ferruginous spring waters here combine the warming saline character of chloride-sodium springs with the iron-rich character of ferruginous waters, and within a long thermal tradition are associated with well-being, relaxation, and the distinctive glow that iron-mineral thermal baths leave on the skin. Combining the extraordinary folk culture of Niigata's giant kite festival, the productive rice landscape of the Echigo Plain, and the dual mineral character of chloride-ferruginous spring bathing, Shirone Onsen offers a characterfully local Niigata thermal experience.