Obama Onsen

Obama Onsen is a relaxed seaside hot-spring town on the western coast of the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki Prefecture, spread along the shore of Tachibana Bay beneath the volcanic heights of Unzen. It is an old and characterful onsen resort, known for waters that gush from the ground at some of the highest temperatures and volumes in Japan, and for a setting that makes the most of them: many of the baths and the town's promenade look directly west over the bay, so bathing here comes with the bonus of watching the sun sink into the sea.

The town's most famous feature is Hot Foot 105, a spectacular public foot bath that stretches 105 metres along the waterfront, a length chosen to celebrate the roughly 105-degree Celsius temperature at which Obama's springs emerge from the earth, and often cited as the longest foot bath in the country. Free to use and open through the day and into the night, it lets visitors sit and soak their feet in the steaming, mineral-rich water while gazing out over Tachibana Bay, an especially magical experience as the sky and water turn gold and rose at sunset. Steam vents and hot-spring installations dot the promenade, and the abundant geothermal heat is even used to steam seafood and vegetables at local eateries.

Beyond the foot bath, Obama offers the full range of hot-spring pleasures: ryokan and hotels with their own baths, public bathhouses, and the gentle rhythm of an onsen town where soaking, strolling, and eating well are the main activities. The waters are sodium chloride springs, valued for warming the body and easing aches, and the sheer volume of hot water, said to be among the greatest of any onsen in Japan, means it is piped throughout the town. Local specialities include champon noodles and fresh seafood from the bay, sometimes cooked in the natural steam.

Obama sits in a fine location for combining a soak with sightseeing. It lies below the Unzen highlands, so it pairs naturally with the steaming Unzen Hells and Mount Fugen up in the mountains, and with the historic castle town of Shimabara on the peninsula's eastern coast. The waterfront setting, facing open water to the west, makes it one of the better places in the region to catch a memorable sunset, and the promenade is pleasant to walk at any time of day. The town is welcoming and unhurried, more a place to relax than to tick off attractions.

Reaching Obama Onsen is easiest by bus. From Nagasaki, take a train to Isahaya, then a bus that runs down to Obama on the peninsula's west coast in around fifty minutes; drivers will find it an easy stop on a Shimabara Peninsula loop. The foot bath and promenade are free, with charges only for private baths and ryokan. For travellers exploring the Shimabara Peninsula, Obama Onsen offers a genuinely local hot-spring experience, capped by the simple, memorable pleasure of soaking your feet in Japan's longest foot bath as the sun goes down over the bay.