Miyano Onsen

Miyano Onsen—Shrine Plain Spring—rises in Shiga Prefecture, the prefecture that encircles Lake Biwa—Japan's largest freshwater lake and a body of water of extraordinary ecological, cultural, and geological importance whose watersheds define the hydrology of western Japan and whose shores have been settled and spiritually cultivated for millennia. The bicarbonate and carbonated waters deliver an effervescent, skin-stimulating mineral soak in a region whose shrine plain name connects the spring to Shiga's rich Shinto heritage—the prefecture hosts some of Japan's most ancient shrine traditions, including the Hiyoshi Taisha and Taga Taisha, whose worship of mountain deities and the sacred waters of Lake Biwa has continued uninterrupted since Japan's earliest recorded history. Bathing at this shrine plain spring combines an effervescent mineral soak with the sacred water heritage of Japan's most lake-defined prefecture, within a long thermal tradition.