Tenryūkyō Onsen

Tenryūkyō Onsen is a hot spring resort in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, alongside the dramatic Tenryu Gorge where the Tenryu River has cut through the southern Akaishi Mountains in a spectacular series of cliffs and rapids, combining the therapeutic bicarbonate and simple mineral waters of the spring with one of the most scenic river gorge settings in inland Honshu. The Tenryu River, the fifth longest river in Japan, flows from the outlet of Lake Suwa in the Nagano basin to the Pacific Ocean at Hamamatsu in Shizuoka, and the Ina Valley section of the river around Iida is celebrated for its apple orchards, traditional Iida puppet theater known as Iida Ningyo Joruri, and the raw beauty of the Tenryu Gorge that attracts river cruisers and hikers to the dramatic canyon landscape. The bicarbonate mineral character of the Tenryūkyō spring waters provides the gentle alkaline cleansing and metabolic benefits associated with this spring type, while the gorge setting creates an atmospheric backdrop for thermal bathing that makes this one of the more scenically distinctive hot spring experiences in the mountain interior of Nagano Prefecture.