Hira Topia Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

At the foot of the Hira mountain range in Kitahira of Otsu City, Hira Topia is a day-use hot spring where you can drop by easily on the way back from hiking or leisure. Surrounded by Lake Biwa and the Hira ridgeline, it is loved as a place of rest by locals and travelers alike.

Highlights

A weakly alkaline simple spring with a pH of 9.13, it has a mild, easy touch on the skin. With an open-air bath, sauna, and a cold bath fed by source water, it leaves you refreshed and clear-headed. Lounge and dining areas let you relax after your soak.

Enjoying the Seasons

Fresh green in the Hira hills in spring, lake swimming at Omi-Maiko in summer, hiking and foliage in autumn, and snow-viewing open-air baths in winter let you enjoy both mountain and lake. The changing seasons are a special charm of a spring nestled in the mountains.

Access and Basic Information

Within walking distance of Hira Station on the JR Kosei Line, it is easy to reach by train. Day-use bathing is the main offering, with fees around a thousand yen and a free parking lot on site. Hours and closing days can change, so it is wise to confirm current details before your visit. It pairs well with trips to Biwako Valley or Omi-Maiko.

Practical Travel Notes

The best way to enjoy it is to combine your soak with a hike in the Hira range or a walk around Biwako Valley. A bath alone takes about an hour, while a meal and rest can fill a relaxed half day. In summer, the white-sand pine beach of Omi-Maiko is a short drive away, making lake swimming a pleasant pairing. To avoid crowds, aim for weekdays or early morning. Budget around two thousand yen for a bath and a light meal.

A Quick Tip

Stop by after climbing the Hira range or riding Biwako Valley to soothe tired legs pleasantly. The bath framed by mountains and sky is exceptional, so allow yourself plenty of time.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Simple spring (hypotonic, weakly alkaline, low-temperature spring)
• Benefits: Neuralgia, muscle pain, sensitivity to cold, recovery from fatigue and more
• Opening hours: 10:00-21:00 (reception closes at 20:30)
• Closing days: December 30 to January 1. It also closes irregularly for maintenance
• Bathing fees: 620 yen for adults (junior high school students to age 69), 500 yen for seniors (aged 70 and over) and 410 yen for children (age 3 to elementary school students). Multi-ticket books are also available
• Open-air baths: The rock open-air bath "Bunano-yu" and the cypress open-air bath "Yakumono-yu". According to the official Shiga Prefecture tourism website, both the men's and women's areas have an open-air bath and a sauna
• Amenities provided: The official Shiga Prefecture tourism website notes that facial soap, massage soap and beauty cosmetics are available free of charge
• Tattoos: Under guidance from the police station with jurisdiction, anyone with tattoos or body art (tattoos, paint or stickers) may not enter
• Access (by train): A 20-minute walk from Hira Station on the JR Kosei Line
• Free shuttle bus: A shuttle bus links JR Hira Station and the facility, with two scheduled services a day (departing Hira Station at 10:05 and 15:00, and Hira Topia at 10:55 and 14:55). In addition, services departing Hira Station at 11:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 17:00 and Hira Topia at 11:55, 15:55, 16:55 and finally 17:55 run only when requested in advance. Reservations are taken on the day only, by calling 077-596-8388 at least 15 minutes before departure. It is a 9-seater making one round trip
• Access (by car): About 40 minutes from Kyoto-Higashi IC on the Meishin Expressway via the Nishi-Otsu Bypass, the Kosei Road and the Hira ramp of the Shiga Bypass. From National Route 161 it is about 1 minute toward the Hira ramp of the Shiga Bypass
• Parking: 37 ordinary cars and 2 large buses. Spaces for visitors with disabilities are available
• Meals: The restaurant inside serves the local specialty ayu soba for 900 yen, as well as tempura soba or udon for 750 yen, wild vegetable and grated yam soba or udon for 650 yen, a tonkatsu set meal for 1,200 yen and curry rice for 1,000 yen. Soft serve ice cream costs 380 yen. Alcohol is not served to anyone who is driving
• Fees for the adjoining facilities: Mallet golf costs 220 yen for one round of 18 holes, the covered multipurpose ground 320 yen per hour, and the cooking practice room 220 yen per hour (the ground and the practice room require reservations, with utility costs charged separately)
• Location: 1039-2 Kita-Hira, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture 520-0503 (tel. 077-596-8388)
• How long to allow: About 1 hour for the bath alone; half a day if you add a meal or mallet golf
• To avoid the crowds: During the hiking season in the Hira mountain range people tend to gather in the evening after coming down from the mountains, so from the morning to early afternoon is calmer

Information Sources

The spring quality, benefits, opening hours, reception closing time, bathing fees, the rules on tattoos, the shuttle bus timetable and how to reserve it, access by car, the number of parking spaces, the prices on the meal menu and the fees for the adjoining facilities are drawn from the official Hira Topia website (the hot spring introduction, access, parking and shuttle bus, and meals and shop pages, as well as the top page); the closing days and the opening hours of each facility from the facility guide page of Otsu City; and the layout of the open-air baths and saunas and the amenities such as facial soap from the facility introduction on the official Shiga Prefecture tourism information website. Details are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.