Maki no To Onsen

Maki no To Onsen lies in Kokonoe-machi, Oita Prefecture, within the volcanic Kuju highland plateau where Japan's largest caldera system creates one of the country's richest concentrations of thermal springs, hot gas vents, and mud pools across a dramatic highland landscape. The name Maki no To—Grazing Pasture Gate—evokes the highland pastoral character of the Kuju plateau, where cattle graze on volcanic grasslands above the treeline and views extend to the caldera rims of the broader Aso volcanic complex. Simple alkaline waters provide the accessible, restorative soak that draws visitors to this corner of Oita, one of Japan's great thermal spring prefectures, in an atmosphere of highland pastoral tranquility and volcanic grandeur.