Funaoka Onsen
Kitano, Kyoto
Source: 1010.kyoto, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Funaoka Onsen was built as the bathhouse of Funaoka-ro, a restaurant inn, and its 1923 changing room and the old inn building have been registered Tangible Cultural Properties since 2003. Look up in the changing room, where the transoms and ceiling are decorated with unusual wood carvings, and at the curved gable on the Kuramaguchi-dori front, added in 1928. It's still a working neighbourhood sento, with an open-air bath, a sauna, an electric bath and a cold plunge.
Insider tip
Entry is ¥550, the standard price at Kyoto's member sento. You can rent a towel and buy soap and shampoo at the desk. On Sundays it opens at 8am, so it's an easy first stop of the day.
What the guides say about Funaoka Onsen
21. A sento or a hot spring. Entry at Kyoto's member sento is ¥550. Funaoka Onsen has wood carvings in its 1923 changing room and an open-air bath, and opens at 8:00 on Sundays. Sauna no Umeyu, 15 minutes' walk from Kyoto Station, runs from 6:00 to 2:00 (closed Thursdays). Kyoto Tamanoyu, open since 1894, says plainly on its own site that you can bathe with tattoos. In Arashiyama, Tenzan no Yu has an iron-rich spring that turns brown in the air (¥1,200 on weekdays), but you can't go in with a tattoo. Find them all on the map under baths.
What's on near Funaoka Onsen
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Funaoka Onsen, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Senbon Enma-do Kyogen
千本ゑんま堂大念佛狂言
Time Weekdays 19:00, holidays 12:00 and 18:00 Station Senbon-Kuramaguchi bus stop (City Bus 206), right by the stop
The only one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen with spoken lines, so it's the easiest to follow, and plenty of the pieces are comic. Free.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Okame Setsubun at Senbon Shakado
おかめ福節分会（千本釈迦堂）
Time Rites and bean throwing from about 15:00 Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50, 55, 203)
Setsubun at the temple of Okame, the carpenter's wife whose advice saved the main hall: a kyogen demon-chasing play in which her good fortune makes the demons bow, then bean throwing with the actors and maiko.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Daikon-daki at Senbon Shakado
成道会法要と大根（だいこ）焚き
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50), 3 min walk
Daikon radishes marked with Sanskrit letters are blessed, cut into rounds and simmered with fried tofu in huge pots, and a bowl is said to keep illness away. The temple holds it on 7 and 8 Dec to mark the Buddha's enlightenment.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Pottery Fair at Senbon Shakado
陶器市（千本釈迦堂）
Time 10:00 to sunset Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50)
Pottery sellers from around Japan fill the temple grounds for four days, with a handmade market alongside from 10:00 to 16:00 and a memorial service for pottery in the main hall on the 10th.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Spring Doll Exhibition at Hokyo-ji
春の人形展（宝鏡寺）
Time 10:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30) Station Horikawa Teranouchi bus stop (City Bus 9), right by the stop
The imperial convent known as the doll temple shows dolls Emperor Komei treasured among its Kyoto dolls each spring, and the show opens on 1 March with a hina matsuri ceremony in the main hall at 11:00. Its other doll show is in November.
Nearby
Around Kitano
Tenjin's head shrine, Kyoto's oldest geisha district and Daitoku-ji
Start at Kitano Tenmangu, head shrine of about 12,000 Tenjin shrines, founded in 947 for Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar students still pray to before exams. Come on the 25th, when the Tenjin-san Market fills the approach and the lanterns are lit after dark. Kamishichiken, Kyoto's oldest geisha district, lines the shrine's east approach, and Daitoku-ji's Zen temples are about 1.7 km north-east.
Kitano has 25 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 10 shrines and temples, 3 cafes, 3 shops, 2 restaurants, 2 bathhouses, 1 viewpoint, 1 neighbourhood, 1 museum, 1 bar and 1 market. Read the Kitano guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Funaoka Onsen?
- 82-1 Murasakino Minamifunaoka-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都府京都市北区紫野南舟岡町82-1).
- How do I get to Funaoka Onsen?
- The nearest station is Senbon-Kuramaguchi bus stop (City Bus 6, 46, 59, 206). Funaoka Onsen is in Kitano, Kyoto.
- How much does Funaoka Onsen cost?
- Funaoka Onsen is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Funaoka Onsen?
- Plan for 1 hour.
- When is the best time to visit Funaoka Onsen?
- Sunday morning from 8am.
Stay near Funaoka Onsen
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