Soak Away Your Worries in Kinosaki Onsen

What?
Kinosaki (城崎) is an onsen town centered around 7 public baths. Unlike many other onsen towns, ryokans do not have big private baths and urge customers to visit all the seven baths in an “onsen-meguri”. Apart from the baths, the area is famous for its winter crab and Tajima beef which are served by most ryokans. In the evening the place comes alive with people wearing traditional Japanese wear and enjoying unadulterated fun in retro game arcades. A little north of Kinosaki Onsen lies Marine World (マリーンワールド), an aquarium with a big focus on attractions and shows and with a view on the impressive Hiyoriyama Coast (日和山海岸).
Where?
Kinosaki Onsen is (城崎温泉) part of Toyooka City (豊岡市) in northern Hyogo Prefecture (兵庫県). It takes a little less than 3 hours with the Hamakaze or Konotori Limited Express trains from Osaka, both of them covered by the JR rail pass if you reserve a seat in advance. There are also buses from Osaka and Kyoto that take only a little more time for decidedly less money.
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Japan Guide Outline Visit Kinosaki Kinosaki Marine World

If you think about it, an onsen town is something strange. You pay money to stay put and take baths. Sounds like a regular hygienic day to me.
So what is eventually the appeal?
The appeal is in the peculiar atmosphere of such towns with people walking around in yukata and steam rising up from chimneys. The appeal is in the way a soak in a hot bath can take away fatigue, and how it can be shamelessly combined with a decadent amount of traditional Japanese cuisine.

In that sense Kinosaki Onsen is s as great onsen town. While basically not bigger than two streets and a river, it has a lot of charm thanks to the many quaint small bridges and the absence of big chain hotels. Everything feels authentic, everything invites you to take things slowly and relax.
Do you want a boiled egg? Just put it in the hot water and take fifteen minutes just admiring the ridiculously fat koi fish in the river.
Do you want to go out for some enjoyment? Just down the yukata your accommodation provides for and you are welcome everywhere in town - from the convenience store over the nostalgic arcade to the local British pub.

What’s more though, is that usually I would advise you to just stay away from an onsen if you don’t like the idea of communal bathing.
Not so with Kinosaki. The whole town is built around seven communal baths. To avoid overlapping of interest and interference with the next door’s shop business, each place sticks to their core activities. An onsen is for bathing only, so you won’t find souvenirs there. A ryokan or hotel is for overnighting, so they advise you to go to one of the seven baths.
But because a hotel without a bath barely attracts any customers, most of the traditional ryokans have developed small private baths that uses the actual onsen water. These can be privately used, so they are a perfect way to enjoy an onsen and onsen town without the aspect of public of public bathing.

Truth to be told, I tried two of the seven onsen in town ( Konoyu and Jizonoyu) but they weren’t very spectacular. They look pretty neat from the outside, but inside there’s not much that really sets them apart. The three private baths in our Ryokan (Tajimaya) on the other hand were pretty impressive despite their small size.
And then there is the amazing food that is served! I could have just stayed indoors and relax - which wouldn’t have been so bad given the horrible weather, but I would have missed out on the beautiful illuminations along the river and the charming and quiet bustle in the streets, even late at night; getas clacking on the streets, couples feeding the koi fish in the river, kids shooting the carnival guns in the arcade, residents chatting away after closing their souvenir shops, …

The romantic little canal.

These little crabs are not for eating.

The tragic fate of an onsen egg.

Geta are traditional footwear which are casually worn in Kinosaki.

Just a ten minute bus ride away from the center of the onsen town is the Kinosaki Marine World, an aquarium built along the coast of the Japanese sea. They have one big thank and a dozen of smaller ones that house a variety of fish, but the main attraction is their outdoor area with room for dolphins, sea lions and penguins (and their shows), an area where you can feed and touch fish, and an area where you can fish for small mackerel and have them fried that instance. Sounds maybe strange to western earns, but it is hugely popular among the locals, and let’s be honest... it’s also tasty.
All these outdoor areas are located along the coastline with some impressive views on the rugged shoreline.

The whole park - aquarium is not really the right word - is fun and worth a visit, although I personally would like to see it upgrade the space for their bigger animals to take away most of that sad feeling that is always present somehow when visiting a kind of zoo.
Anyway, Kinosaki Marine World is a perfect way to fill a day in Kinosaki apart from the actual onsen - going.

That being said, Kinosaki Onsen is very famous for its snow crab and that’s a winter’s delicacy. And personally, I find a hot bath so much more relaxing when it’s cold and dark outside. Just to say that we went during what I think is far from the ideal season. But I enjoyed the trip very much anyway.