Inatori Onsen

Inatori Onsen in Higashiizu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture on the eastern Izu Peninsula is celebrated throughout Japan for the Hinakazari festival held from January 20 through March 31, during which thousands of traditional hanging doll decorations — tsurushi-kazari — are displayed in the streets and inns of the onsen town, creating one of the country's most visually spectacular seasonal winter celebrations that draws visitors from across Japan to experience both the folk craft tradition and the thermal bathing of this Izu coastal community. The spring occupies a setting on the Pacific-facing coast of the Izu Peninsula where the geothermal energy of the peninsula's volcanic heritage produces naturally heated mineral waters near the fishing harbor, creating a distinctive coastal onsen atmosphere that combines the maritime traditions of the Izu fishing community with the inland pleasures of volcanic thermal bathing. Inatori Onsen's seasonal festival identity and its coastal thermal setting make it one of the Izu Peninsula's most atmospherically distinctive destinations, offering the pleasures of folk art, community celebration, Pacific Ocean coastal scenery, and volcanic spring bathing in a single winter-season destination of unusual cultural and natural richness.