5 Recommended Bathhouses and Hot Springs in Osaka | Basic Bathing Etiquette Included

After fully enjoying sightseeing in Osaka, you might want to relax and heal your fatigue at a local bathhouse or hot spring, but you may feel uncertain about “where to go” or “worried about Japanese bathing etiquette.” Bathhouses and hot springs are part of Japanese culture, and not knowing the manners and rules can cause confusion when using these facilities.

This article carefully explains bathhouses and hot springs worth visiting in Osaka city, representative types of baths commonly found at these facilities, and bathing etiquette that even first-time visitors can follow with confidence. Immerse yourself in Japanese culture while refreshing both mind and body during your travels.

The Osaka area has many attractive bathhouses and hot springs where you can immerse yourself in Japanese culture. Here we introduce 5 recommended facilities you can visit between sightseeing destinations. Generally, you can also use the restaurants inside the facilities by paying the basic bathhouse fees or bathing admission, so please be sure to visit them as well.

Natural Hot Spring Naniwa no Yu is an urban natural hot spring with excellent access, located within 2km of Osaka Station. From the open-air bath on the 8th floor, you can see Osaka’s cityscape and even airplanes flying in the sky, giving you an extraordinary feeling like a rest area floating in the sky. The 100% natural hot spring source bath has many benefits including skin beautification and improved blood circulation, healing your body from the core.

In addition to diverse baths including artificial carbonated baths, jet baths, rock baths, and tsubo-yu (pot baths), the facility also features a wide variety of saunas and relaxation facilities. The facility is considerate of families with babies, with baby chairs and disposable diapers available for purchase, allowing the whole family to spend time comfortably.

Nobeha no Yu, located in Osaka’s Tsuruhashi area, is a bathing facility featuring source-fed outdoor baths and authentic saunas. In addition to diverse bathing options including high-concentration carbonated springs, tsubo-yu, and rock baths, it also features rock baths using 12 types of medicinal stones and spacious private family baths.

The sauna facilities include large saunas where you can enjoy Finnish-style löyly and high-temperature saunas with self-löyly options, designed to satisfy everyone from beginners to advanced users. After bathing or sauna sessions, you can rest in tatami-floored spaces and refresh both mind and body with Korean cuisine-centered meals. With about a 5-minute walk from JR Osaka Loop Line “Tsuruhashi Station” and excellent access, it’s popular as a bathhouse where you can enjoy sightseeing and healing simultaneously.

Irifune Onsen is a popular neighborhood bathhouse rooted in the local community, located in an excellent position about a 3-minute walk from Shin-Imamiya Station and Dobutsuen-mae Station. Its main attraction is the Finnish-style auto-löyly sauna and ultra-soft water introduced to all baths, providing gentle skin care and deep relaxation effects. The 115cm deep cold-water bath is highly praised by sauna enthusiasts for its depth and soft water quality.

Additionally, it features diverse baths including microbubble baths, switchable electric baths, and seasonal calendar baths. After bathing, you can enjoy light meals and beer in the rest area with USB charging ports. The women’s changing room features actress mirrors and high-performance hair dryers, with facilities that please female visitors.

Spa World is a large-scale spa resort themed around bathing cultures from countries around the world. The European Zone features Ancient Roman baths and Greek medicinal herb baths, while the Asian Zone features Japanese mountain stream outdoor baths and Balinese-style spas, faithfully recreating the atmosphere of each country and providing an experience like traveling.

Furthermore, rock baths and saunas inspired by Finland, Korea, Israel, Canada and other countries are abundant, allowing you to choose based on specific purposes like detox, beauty, perspiration, and cooling. It also features an indoor pool, making it popular with families and couples. With excellent access just a short walk from Osaka Metro Midosuji Line “Dobutsuen-mae Station” and JR/Nankai “Shin-Imamiya Station,” it’s a spot where you can enjoy sightseeing and relaxation simultaneously.

Kamigata Onsen Ikkyu is an authentic natural hot spring facility committed to 100% source-fed hot springs. The “beauty spring” that bubbles up from underground uses pure hot spring water without adding water, circulation, or bath additives, gently warming your body from the core. It features the largest space in the Kansai region with wooden outdoor baths with a warm wood fragrance and dynamic rock baths with arranged stones, with daily alternation between men’s and women’s areas.

In addition to diverse baths including indoor baths, sitting baths, waterfall baths, carbonated springs, and ceramic baths, sauna facilities including mist saunas and wooden saunas are also abundant. After bathing, you can enjoy over 150 types of authentic Japanese, Western, and Chinese cuisine, and spend more healing time in tatami rest areas and relaxation services.

At Osaka’s bathhouses and hot springs, you can enjoy baths with diverse functions in addition to regular bathing facilities. For example, jet baths stimulate muscles with strong water currents, providing massage effects. Electric baths promote blood circulation through weak electrical currents, with expectations for improving stiff shoulders and coldness. Medicinal herb baths feature daily rotating herbal and traditional medicine-infused waters, allowing you to enjoy both fragrance and therapeutic effects.

You can also use high-temperature baths (about 43°C) and low-temperature baths (about 40°C) strategically for relaxation or energy recovery. With outdoor baths, cold-water baths, and rest spaces also available, environments for refreshing both mind and body through combinations with saunas are well-prepared. Bath towels and face towels can be rented for a fee, so there’s no need to bring them specifically. Some facilities also provide loungewear. Exploring the unique bathing facilities and services that differ by facility is one of the pleasures of bathhouse culture.

Japanese bathhouses and hot springs have basic etiquette for comfortable enjoyment. Let’s check the rules you should know before bathing so you can enjoy with confidence even if it’s your first time.

In Japanese bathhouses, the basic rule is to always wash your body before entering the bath. Rinse off sweat and dust with pour-over water, then thoroughly wash your entire body with soap and shampoo. This keeps the bath clean and allows for considerate bathing with other users.

Especially if you’re wearing makeup or have hair styled with styling products, don’t forget to remove makeup and wash your hair as well.

To maintain bath hygiene, putting towels or hair in the hot water is considered a manner violation. Those with long hair should tie it with a rubber band or use a shower cap before bathing to prevent hair from entering the bath.

It’s recommended to place towels outside the bath or put them on your head to prevent overheating.

Since bathhouses and hot springs are spaces for resting mind and body, loud conversations and laughter can disturb other bathers’ relaxation. Even when visiting with friends or family, be mindful of your voice level and conscious of spending time quietly.

Sound echoes especially easily in bathrooms, so even quiet voices can be surprisingly noticeable. Don’t forget to be considerate of others so everyone can spend time comfortably.

After getting out of the bath, wipe off moisture from your body, hair, and the soles of your feet with a towel in the bathroom before moving to the changing room. Walking around while wet can make floors slippery and cause other people’s clothes and socks to get wet.

Many facilities have mops available, so if you do wet the floor, try to wipe it up yourself.

Osaka has many attractive bathhouses and hot springs where you can experience unique local healing. Each facility welcomes visitors with creative features including outdoor baths where you can enjoy scenery while soaking in natural hot spring water, medicinal herb baths and carbonated springs with expected health benefits, and unique saunas and jet baths.

Bathhouses have distinctly Japanese etiquette, and knowing the basic rules beforehand allows even first-time visitors to use them with confidence. By visiting bathhouses and hot springs during your stay in Osaka, you can heal travel fatigue while deeply experiencing Japanese culture.

※This article was created based on information as of August 2025