Last Updated: Jan 3, 2024

Yugawara Onsen

Kanagawa’s Town of Poems & Hot Springs

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium

“While this article was originally written during the pandemic, all of the locations and information featured are still valid…”

— Donny Kimball

Fellow travelers, I have some great news! I am finally back on the road again! I’m still playing things relatively cautiously in regards to overnight adventures (basically only to alleviate fears of overly cavalier Tokyoites invading rural areas) yet I’ve been making day trips whenever possible. While it looks like I won’t be able to accomplish my goal of visiting all 47 prefectures within the year, it’s great to finally be able to sate the ever-growing wanderlust. Hopefully, I can start venturing outside of the Greater Tokyo Region once again in the coming weeks.

Given I am confined to what can be done in a mere single day, I want to take this opportunity to introduce an often skipped hot spring town that I’ve been meaning to feature for some time. Known as Yugawara Onsen, this little hamlet can be found right on the western border of Kanagawa Prefecture. Though by no means an unknown, Yugawara Onsen often gets neglected in favor of its neighbor, the timeworn town of Atami…