Miyajima Onsen: Four Hot-Spring Inns and Day-Use Baths Nearby

There are hot springs on Miyajima, but fewer than most visitors expect. Four inns on the island have hot-spring baths: Kinsuikan, Iwaso, Miyajima Grand Hotel Arimoto and LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima. The first three, the inns the Miyajima Tourist Association lists, open their baths to overnight guests only. The one island bath you can use without staying is LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima, which has its own natural spring and takes day bathers from 1,100 yen. Otherwise you take the ferry back to the mainland: the nearest public day-use bath is at Miyahama Onsen, about ten minutes by car from the Miyajimaguchi pier, and two hotels in Miyajimaguchi itself have onsen baths for their guests.

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This page lists every place where you can actually get into hot-spring water on or near Miyajima, what kind of water each one has, who can use it and when, with the facts taken from the Miyajima Tourist Association and each inn’s own website (checked October 2026). It then explains how an onsen stay works if you have not done one before, including the questions people ask most: clothing, tattoos, children and private baths.

Where you can bathe in hot-spring water: all the options

The “no day use” for the first three island inns comes from the Miyajima Tourist Association (July 2025), whose list does not include LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima; its spring and day-bathing hours are from the hotel’s own website. Kinsuikan also states on its own site that it has stopped accepting day-use bathers. The two Livemax hotels at Miyahama Onsen are separate properties on the mainland.

The onsen inns on Miyajima

The three ryokan below stand within a few minutes’ walk of Itsukushima Shrine, which is the point: you can watch the Great Torii lit up after dinner, or walk through the shrine when it opens at 6:30, and have a hot bath at either end. They differ in the water, the setting and the style.

Kinsuikan: Miyajima Shioyu Onsen (natural, seawater)

Kinsuikan is on the waterfront between the ferry pier and the shrine, about five minutes’ walk from each, with the back door opening onto Omotesando shopping street. Its spring, Miyajima Shioyu Onsen, is natural hot-spring water drawn from deep underground that contains seawater; the inn describes it as a salt-rich chloride water that keeps you warm long after you get out. The baths are gender-separated and open to guests from 15:00 to 1:00 and again from 5:00 to 10:00. Six rooms have their own semi-open-air baths. Rooms face either the Seto Inland Sea or the town, and there is a rooftop terrace. Rates include dinner and breakfast. We have a separate page on Kinsuikan’s rooms, baths and meals.

Iwaso: Wakamiya Onsen (natural, radon)

Iwaso, founded in 1854, sits in the Momijidani maple valley behind the shrine, about 15 minutes’ walk from the pier. Its spring, Wakamiya Onsen, comes from a well dug in 1885 (Meiji 18) and is a colourless natural spring containing radon, with a pH of 6.0. The two bathhouses, Hinode-yu and Tsuki-no-yu, each have an open-air bath beside the stream that runs down through the maples. In mid-to-late November the trees around the baths turn red; this is the hardest week of the year to get a room. Kaiseki dinner and breakfast are included. Rooms, bath hours and the inn’s rules are on our Iwaso page.

Miyajima Grand Hotel Arimoto: Kasseiseki Onsen (artificial)

Arimoto is below the five-storied pagoda, about three minutes’ walk from the shrine. Its bath is listed by the Miyajima Tourist Association as Kasseiseki Onsen, an artificial hot spring: the water is heated and treated with mineral stones rather than drawn from a natural spring. It is the one island bath that is not a natural onsen, which matters to some bathers and not at all to others. The hotel has an open-air bath and a footbath, and offers both Japanese and Western-style rooms. See our Arimoto page for room types and meal times.

LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima: Kami no Yu (natural, day bathing)

Opened in July 2017, this resort hotel is about a 10-minute walk from the pier toward the shrine. Its own spring, “Kami no Yu”, is a simple weak radioactive cold mineral spring. There is a main bath with sauna and cold plunge (6:00–11:00 and 15:00–24:00), a view bath that the hotel says looks down on the Great Torii (hours alternate between men and women), a private bath (2,200 yen), and four room types with a private open-air bath of the spring. It is also the only island bath open to non-guests: 8:00–11:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00), adults 1,100 yen without a towel. Bathers with tattoos are not allowed. Meals are buffets rather than kaiseki. See our LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima page.

Which one?

• For natural hot-spring water and a sea view a few steps from the pier: Kinsuikan.
• For the classic ryokan, an open-air bath by a mountain stream and maples at the door: Iwaso.
• For Western beds and a footbath, and the pagoda outside the window: Arimoto. Its bath is artificial, so if the natural spring is the point of your trip, choose one of the others.
• For a buffet, a family-style resort, a torii-view bath and day bathing: LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima.

The three ryokan sell out weeks ahead for the November foliage, Golden Week and Obon. The rest of the island’s 23 inns, which have ordinary baths, are compared in our accommodation guide, and the island-or-mainland question is dealt with in where to stay in Miyajima.

Day-use onsen: take the ferry to Miyahama

Since no bath on the island admits day visitors, the realistic plan for “Miyajima in the day, onsen in the evening” is Benimansaku no Yu at Miyahama Onsen, a small hot-spring area on the mainland coast a few kilometres west of the Miyajimaguchi pier. It is open from 10:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30) and closed on the third Tuesday of each month. The outdoor bath is built of rock and looks out over the strait on the mainland side, opposite the island. From the pier it is about ten minutes by car or taxi; there is no convenient public transport, which is why it suits drivers.

Miyahama also has several resort hotels with large baths and sea views, among them Sekitei, IBUKU, two Livemax resorts (Miyahama Onsen Ocean and Aki Miyahama Onsen; the Livemax on the island is a different hotel) and the Miyahama Grand Hotel. They are an option for a second night if the island inns are full, and some run shuttles to Miyajimaguchi; check each hotel. Everything about the area is on our page on Miyajimaguchi, which covers the mainland side of the ferry.

Onsen hotels in Miyajimaguchi

If you would rather sleep a five-minute walk from the ferry than on the island, two hotels at the mainland pier have hot-spring baths for their guests.

• Grandvrio Hotel Miyajima Wakura has a large observation bath, “Nihon Sankei Miyajima no Yu”, on an upper floor looking across the strait at the island, and free parking for more than 150 cars.
• Aki Grand Hotel & Spa is a 194-room hotel a few minutes from the pier by car, with onsen baths and private open-air baths that can be reserved, and again more than 150 free parking spaces.
• KAI Miyajima (Hoshino Resorts, opened July 2026) is a 54-room ryokan on the mainland shore west of the pier, with every room facing the island and its own hot spring, “Miyajimaguchi Onsen”, in a top-floor bath with a sea-facing open-air pool. It is about 18 minutes on foot from JR Miyajimaguchi Station with no shuttle, and a partner boat from the inn’s jetty reaches the island in about 20 minutes (extra fare). See the official site.

From any of them, the first JR ferry at 6:25 puts you in the shrine at 6:50, and the last ferry back from the island leaves at 22:14, so the illumination is within reach. Neither of the first two baths is open to non-guests, and KAI Miyajima’s official site does not mention day use.

How an onsen stay works

If an island inn is your first Japanese hot spring, the routine is simple once you have done it once.

Why you cannot wear clothes in an onsen

Onsen baths are shared and you bathe naked; swimsuits are not allowed, and the reason is hygiene rather than custom alone. The bath is for soaking, not washing, so everyone washes thoroughly at the taps first and enters the water clean. A swimsuit carries soap, sweat and fibres into water that is shared by everyone that evening and is not chlorinated. You are given a small towel; most people fold it and put it on their head or leave it on the side. Baths are separated by gender, and children small enough to need help usually go in with a parent of either sex.

Do you shower again after an onsen?

Usually not. Hot-spring water is thought to do its work on the skin after you get out, so the custom is to pat yourself dry and leave the minerals on. The exception is strongly acidic or sulphurous water, which can irritate; none of the Miyajima baths is of that kind. Kinsuikan’s seawater bath will leave you feeling warm for a long time, which is exactly the point of a chloride spring; rinse only if the salt bothers you.

Tattoos

Many Japanese onsen refuse bathers with visible tattoos in the shared baths. On Miyajima the practical answer is a room with its own bath: Kinsuikan’s six rooms with semi-open-air baths are explicitly suitable for guests with tattoos, and Aki Grand Hotel in Miyajimaguchi has private open-air baths that can be reserved. Arimoto’s own FAQ says guests with tattoos may not use its shared baths, which leaves its suites with private open-air baths. For Iwaso and for Benimansaku no Yu, ask before you book; policies vary and a small covering sticker is sometimes accepted. Do not assume.

Timing your bath around the island

The island inns serve dinner at a set time, usually between 18:00 and 19:00, and expect you to check in by about 17:00. The usual rhythm is: check in at 15:00, first bath, dinner, then a walk down to the shore for the illuminated torii (lit until 23:00), then a second bath. Kinsuikan’s hours (15:00–1:00 and 5:00–10:00) are built around exactly that. In the morning, bathe at 5:00 or 6:00 and you can still be in the shrine when it opens at 6:30, before the day visitors arrive around 9:30. If you want both tides, check the tide times for your dates.

Children

All the island’s onsen inns take families, and ryokan baths are not age-restricted; a parent simply brings the child into their side. Very small children who are not toilet-trained should not go in the shared bath; a room with its own bath, or a private bath time if the inn offers one, solves this. Benimansaku no Yu is a public bath and welcomes children.

What is special about Miyajima, if you only have one night

Miyajima is one of a handful of places in Japan where a World Heritage shrine, a sacred mountain and a hot spring are within a few hundred metres of each other. The visitors who come for the day see the shrine at its busiest; the ones who stay see the Great Torii lit against a dark sea with almost nobody on the shore, then the shrine corridors at dawn, and bathe in between. The hot spring is what makes the overnight stay feel like a stay rather than a long day. If you can get one of the three inns, take it. If not, Miyajimaguchi with its own onsen baths and the 6:25 ferry gives you most of the same morning and evening.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a public or day-use onsen on Miyajima?

Yes, one: LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima takes day bathers, 8:00–11:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00), adults from 1,100 yen. The baths of Kinsuikan, Iwaso and Miyajima Grand Hotel Arimoto are for their overnight guests (Miyajima Tourist Association, July 2025). On the mainland, Benimansaku no Yu at Miyahama Onsen is open 10:00–22:00.

Which Miyajima onsen is a natural hot spring?

Kinsuikan (Miyajima Shioyu Onsen, with seawater), Iwaso (Wakamiya Onsen, with radon) and LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima (Kami no Yu) are natural springs. Arimoto’s Kasseiseki Onsen is an artificial mineral-stone bath.

Is there a private onsen on Miyajima?

Kinsuikan has six rooms with their own semi-open-air baths fed by its spring, and LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima has four room types with a private open-air bath of its spring plus a private bath you can book (2,200 yen). Across the water, Aki Grand Hotel in Miyajimaguchi has reservable private open-air baths. Ask the other inns about private bathing times.

Is Miyajima onsen tattoo-friendly?

Kinsuikan’s rooms with private baths are suitable for guests with tattoos. LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima does not allow bathers with tattoos. For the shared baths at the other inns, ask in advance; there is no island-wide rule.

Can I see the torii from the bath?

From one: the hotel says the view bath at LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima looks down on the Great Torii. Kinsuikan’s sea-facing rooms look towards the torii, and the Grandvrio Hotel’s observation bath in Miyajimaguchi looks across at the island as a whole.

What is Itsukushima onsen?

Itsukushima is the island’s formal name and Miyajima its everyday one, so “Itsukushima onsen” means the same inns described here. There is no separate hot-spring town of that name.

What are the top onsen towns in Japan?

Miyajima is not one of them, and does not try to be: it has four inns with hot springs beside a shrine, not a town of bathhouses. For a hot-spring town in this part of Japan, Miyahama Onsen on the mainland is small and local; the famous resorts (Beppu, Kusatsu, Hakone and the like) are in other regions.

Sources: Miyajima Tourist Association (which inns have onsen and the day-use position, July 2025); Kinsuikan, Iwaso, Miyajima Grand Hotel Arimoto, LiVEMAX RESORT Aki Miyajima, Grandvrio Hotel Miyajima Wakura, Aki Grand Hotel and Benimansaku no Yu (their own websites, for water type, hours and facilities); JR West Miyajima Ferry (6:25 and 22:14). Checked October 2026. Descriptions are factual summaries from these sources, not reviews of stays.