All products and listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
This is part of Uncovering Japan, a collection of stories that spotlight the lesser known gems that belong on your Japan itinerary, offering everything from a wellspring of local craft and a vibrant street-food culture to traditional wellness. Read more here.
From the perennially roiling waves of Kanagawa’s seas to Mount Fuji’s snow-capped seat in the sky, some of Japan’s most iconic natural sights claim their status through their striking appearances. But peer past those wonders, since immortalized odes and ukiyo-e woodblock prints, to find Gero, a quiet onsen town in Gifu prefecture with the placid, pastoral charm of a Studio Ghibli movie. Though the town may not seem like much upon first look, it’s part of a celebrated trinity of hot springs dating back to the 17th-century Edo period, when prominent poet Hayashi Razan first dubbed Kusatsu, Arima, and Gero's hot springs the best in the country. Ever since, generations of locals have sought to experience the legendary waters for themselves.
Tokyo-based chef, sommelier, and writer Yukari Sakamoto has been making the four-and-a-half hour journey to Gero every year since the '80s. Below, she shares why she comes back time after time to soak in the waters, plus her favorite things to do in Gero, and how she makes the most of her time at the onsen town.
Gero, the Goldilocks onsen
Kusatu, Arima, and Gero all possess distinctive charms that make for three unique onsen experiences. Kusatsu sits in a remote region of Gunma prefecture, a little over 100 miles north of Tokyo. “It’s like, once you're there, you're there, you're in the middle of the wilderness,” says Sakamoto.
The town’s 13 locally maintained public baths source their water from volcanic origin, particularly from Mount Kusatsu-Shirane. As a result, the springs range from cloudy to clear depending on their acidity and mineral composition, properties which were championed by 19th-century physician to the imperial family Erwin Bälz for their seeming health benefits, ushering in a new wave of popularity for the onsen during the 1800s.
Located about an hour’s drive to the southeast of Kusatsu, Arima has a far less demanding transit. The onsen is known for its famous duo of golden (kinsen—named after the sienna hue of the iron-rich water) and silver (ginsen—which is actually colorless) waters and being one of the oldest known onsens in the country with a history tracing back at least 1,300 years. “The onsen is nice, but it's in quite an urban area, so the surroundings aren’t quite as bucolic,” says Sakamoto.
For an onsen that is conveniently located and immersed in natural scenery, Sakamoto finds that Gero strikes the just-right balance. “What I love about Gero is that you're in the Japanese Alps,” she says. “You're located inside a valley with mountains on both sides and a river running between them.” From Tokyo, Gero is just two trains away, with the passage after Nagoya being Sakamoto's particular favorite as rolling hills gradually transition into the mountainside and the river runs parallel.
Gero’s waters leave an inimitable impression. “We say in Japanese, tsuru tsuru,” Sakamoto says, “You sit in the water, and after two or three minutes, you start rubbing your skin, and you feel silky. Even after you've gotten out of the onsen and you're dried up, you still feel that silkiness.” The characteristic custard-smooth feeling the water leaves visitors with is owed to its high alkalinity. Sitting around 9.2 on the pH scale, the water takes on a gently exfoliative, soap-like property.
The joys of taking things slow in Gero
The onsen is a nearly year-round destination, though Sakamoto cautions against visiting in the summertime as it gets a bit too hot to fully immerse in a warm onsen experience. “Once you get to the city, there are many baths where you can take your shoes off, soak your feet,” Sakamoto says, "and there are always the onsens, the hot springs at the ryokan or the hotel that you're staying at, but there's also a public foot bath that's on the river.” Sitting right next to the city's main bridge, she says its part of the area's everyday life to see somebody stop to soak their feet in the waters.
Sakamoto encourages all visitors to Gero to match its slow pace while taking it all in. “Appreciate that you're out in nature," she says, "Feel the wind. You can see it blowing through the trees, moving the leaves. Life is much slower in Gero onsen, which is fun as someone based in Tokyo. I love Tokyo, but it's nice to be removed from that.”
Going locavore in Gifu's remote mountain region
Whether it's Osaka's takoyaki and okanomiyaki, the ramen and sushi in Tokyo, or even your average tamago sando in one of its ubiquitous konbinis, food is a big draw for travelers to Japan. When it comes to Gero, visitors have the opportunity to sample the hyperlocal dishes of Gifu's landlocked mountain region. Unlike sashimi, uni, and other ocean-sourced dishes associated with Japanese cuisine, the seafood in Gero is harvested directly from the town's river and prepared through cooking and grilling. Another regional specialty is hoba miso, a grilled beef dish comprised of Wagyu beef wrapped in a magnolia leaf coated with a layer of sweet miso, which is usually cooked directly at the table. "You smell the miso starting to roast, and it's this sweet, barbecue-like, aroma you find in this area of the south,” she says. Traditional accompaniments include local mountain vegetables prepared as tempura and bouncy soba noodles made from the buckwheat harvested in the region.
Where the air is delicious
Sakamoto especially enjoys the fact that once you're checked into a ryokan in Gero, you can essentially spend your whole vacation on-property. For those keen on a quick day trip, she recommends popping by Shirakawa-go, a gassho-zukuri village and UNESCO World Heritage Site, that offers its visitors a glimpse into traditional agrestic life in Japan. Populating its landscape are the gassho-zukuri farmhouses, whose the thatched roofs are constructed such that they resemble steepled hands. Afterwards, you might take a mini-crawl through Gero's six sake breweries, though Sakamoto advises that Gero is the type of place best experienced whilst attuned with the present rather than locked into an itinerary.
Upon check-in, most onsen hotels provide basic clothing such as a cotton yukata, which most guests wear until check-out. If you do go out to explore the town, you'll likely bump into fellow onsen-goers in their yukata, which can serve as a surprisingly great conversation starter.
For families with young kids, solo travelers, business types, and couples alike, Sakamoto describes the democratized ethos of Gero onsen as a place where everyone can relax. “I don't care what you look like, you don't care what I look like. Let's just wash ourselves and soak in the tubs.”
Her favorite moments in her several trips to the area? She fondly describes the very first moment of stepping off the train. “When we get off the train we all talk about the air," Sakamoto says. "You hear people on the platform saying, ‘the air is delicious.’ Once you get on the train in Tokyo, you're basically on the train for a while, except for that quick transfer in Nagoya, so finally, when you get off the train you just want to celebrate that the air is so delicious!"
Where to eat
The family-run, rustic Yamabiko has been popular amongst locals for 50 years. There's a sweet, grandmotherly quality to the decor with old-fashioned square-seated cushions run thin from hosting loyal patrons for decades. Local dishes include keichan teppanyaki, which is comprised of chicken, cabbage, and vegetables cooked directly at the seat on a small portable gas burner.
A casual shokudo cafeteria serving teishoku set meals. Don't leave Gero without trying the classic hida beef grilled with a sweet miso over a dried hoba magnolia leaf. The menu includes a variety of tofu dishes and vegetable tempura harvested directly from the surrounding land.
Where to stay
Located just minutes from Gero Onsen Station, Suimeikan is a local institution. With 264 rooms, including some with their own private onsen bath. There are four restaurants and the option to have traditional Japanese meals in your room. The public onsen baths are large, including one on the ninth floor with panoramic views of the city and mountains. Doubles start from $200.
The smaller Ogawaya ryokan is a quick 10-minute walk from the station. Like Sumeikan, there are several room types, including some with a private bath. There are five smaller public baths and several private ones for a small fee. Doubles start from $200.
