春节去日本泡温泉：你还没订、却最值得订的一趟温泉旅馆之旅（2026）

12分钟阅读·更新于 2026年6月

I almost didn't book my first Lunar New Year trip to Japan, because I assumed the country would be shut. I am Taiwanese by marriage; at home, the island closes for a week — shutters down, families in, restaurants dark. I pictured the same in Japan and nearly rebooked for March. I was completely wrong, and that mistake would have cost me the best onsen week of my life: deep snow on the eaves of a Ginzan ryokan, a private rotenburo steaming into a black sky, and a snow-crab dinner so good my father-in-law went quiet halfway through, which for him is a standing ovation.

Here is the thing almost no Taiwanese, Hong Kong or Southeast-Asian traveler is told: Lunar New Year is one of the smartest weeks of the entire year to be in a Japanese onsen town. This guide explains why, which towns to choose, how snow-crab season lines up perfectly with the holiday, what to actually expect on the ground, and how far ahead to book. The dates to plan around: Lunar New Year is 17 February 2026 (Year of the Horse) and 6 February 2027.

Japan abandoned the lunar calendar in 1873 and moved its New Year to 1 January. The practical consequence for you is enormous: during Lunar New Year, Japan is having an ordinary February. Trains run on full timetables, restaurants and shops are open, museums and attractions operate normally. This is the exact opposite of Japan's own New Year period (roughly 29 December to 3 January), when a surprising amount of the country — including many restaurants and even some ryokan kitchens — closes for the holiday. If you want traditional Japan fully open and fully staffed, the lunar holiday is paradoxically a better window than the Gregorian one.

And it lands in the heart of deep winter, which is when an onsen is at its most magical. The contrast that makes a hot spring unforgettable — your shoulders under steaming water while snow falls on your hair — only exists in January and February. The outdoor rotenburo bath, the snow-laden pines, the early dark that makes the lantern light glow: this is the postcard, and Lunar New Year sits right in the middle of it.

Not every onsen town is at its best under snow, but the ones that are become genuinely extraordinary. Ginzan Onsen in Yamagata is the picture everyone has seen — three- and four-storey Taisho-era wooden inns lining a small river, gas lamps glowing, snow piled on every roof; it is at its most cinematic in February. Kinosaki in Hyogo pairs seven historic public bathhouses you stroll between in yukata and geta with the finest snow-crab kaiseki on the Sea of Japan coast. Kusatsu in Gunma centres on the yubatake, a steaming field of hot-spring water in the middle of town that throws clouds of vapour into the freezing air. For serious snow-country soaking, Nyuto in Akita and Zao in Yamagata deliver remote, milky, deeply atmospheric baths.

Here is the happy accident of the calendar. The Sea of Japan snow-crab season runs from early November to late March, and the catch is at its richest and sweetest in January and February — exactly when Lunar New Year falls. On the San'in coast, especially around Kinosaki, this is the headline event of the winter: a full crab kaiseki where a single prized Matsuba crab, tagged with the port it came from, is served as sashimi, grilled over charcoal, simmered in a hot pot, and finished as rice porridge in the broth. If you are going to splurge on one dinner of the trip, a Lunar New Year crab kaiseki is the one. To understand how that dinner fits into a ryokan's meal plan, see our guide to ryokan meal plans.

Two realities to plan around. First, Japanese domestic travelers are not on holiday — they are at work — so you will not see the crushing domestic crowds of Japan's own New Year or Golden Week. What you will see is heavy international demand: travelers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, Korea and Southeast Asia all move at once, which concentrates pressure on flights, popular ryokan, and the most famous towns rather than on Japan as a whole. The fix is simply to book early and, if you can, favour a slightly less obvious town. Second, it is genuinely cold — single digits Celsius by day in the onsen regions, below freezing at night, with real snow in Tohoku. Pack proper layers, and check transport, because heavy snow can delay trains and close mountain roads in the north.

Lunar New Year is, above all, a family holiday, and many travelers come three generations deep. If that is your group, prioritise ryokan with in-room or private onsen so older relatives can bathe in privacy and warmth without the public bath, and confirm large tatami rooms or connecting rooms early, because the family-sized configurations are exactly what sells out first. Lock the ryokan before the flights. Build one splurge crab or kaiseki dinner into the itinerary. And if this is your first ryokan stay, read our first-time ryokan guide and browse the best onsen towns in Japan to choose your base.

我差点就没订人生第一趟春节日本之旅，因为我以为日本会跟着关门。我是嫁进台湾家庭的人；在台湾，过年全岛歇业一周——铁卷门拉下、一家人窝在家、餐厅一片漆黑。我以为日本也一样，差点把行程改到三月。结果我完全想错了，而那个误会差点让我错过这辈子最棒的一周温泉之旅：银山温泉旅馆屋檐上堆着厚厚的雪、私人露天风吕的热气蒸向漆黑的夜空，还有一顿好吃到我公公吃到一半默默不说话的雪蟹晚餐——对他来说，那种沉默就等于起立鼓掌。

有件事几乎没人会告诉台湾、香港或东南亚的旅人：农历春节其实是全年最聪明、最值得待在日本温泉乡的一周之一。这篇攻略会讲清楚为什么、该选哪些温泉乡、雪蟹季怎么刚好和过年完美对上、实际去了会遇到什么，以及要提前多久订房。先记住这两个日期：农历春节是2026年2月17日（马年）和2027年2月6日。

日本在1873年就废除了农历，把新年改到了1月1日。这对你来说意义重大：农历春节期间，日本过的只是再普通不过的二月。电车按完整时刻表运行，餐厅商店照常营业，博物馆和景点正常开放。这跟日本自己的新年期间（大约12月29日到1月3日）正好相反——那时候全国相当多地方都会放假歇业，包括很多餐厅，甚至一些旅馆的厨房也休息。如果你想要的是传统日本完整开门、人手齐全的样子，农历春节反而比公历新年是更好的时机。

而且它正好落在隆冬正中央，这恰恰是温泉最有魔力的时候。让温泉令人难忘的那种反差——肩膀以下泡在热气蒸腾的池水里，雪却飘落在你头发上——只有在一月和二月才有。露天风吕、压满积雪的松树、早早降临、让灯笼光晕更显温暖的夜色：这就是明信片上的画面，而农历春节正好坐落在画面中央。

并不是每个温泉乡在雪中都最美，但那些真正适合的，会美得让人惊叹。山形的银山温泉就是大家都见过的那张照片——三四层楼高的大正时代木造旅馆沿着小河排开，煤气灯昏黄发亮，每座屋顶都堆满白雪；它在二月最有电影感。兵库的城崎温泉，则把七座可以穿着浴衣、踏着木屐悠闲漫步的历史悠久外汤，与日本海沿岸最顶级的雪蟹会席料理结合在一起。群马的草津温泉以汤畑为中心，那是镇中央一片热气腾腾的温泉水田，把大团水汽喷向冰冷的空气。想要正宗雪国泡汤体验，秋田的乳头温泉和山形的藏王能带来偏远、乳白、氛围十足的温泉。

这就是历法巧合带来的美妙意外。日本海一侧的雪蟹季从11月初一直持续到3月底，而蟹肉最肥美、最鲜甜的时候正是一月和二月——刚好就是农历春节落点的位置。在山阴海岸，尤其是城崎一带，这是整个冬天的重头戏：一整套蟹会席，那只挂着出产渔港标牌的珍贵松叶蟹，会被做成刺身、炭火烤蟹、火锅涮煮，最后用蟹汤熬成杂炊收尾。如果整趟旅程你只打算狠心奢侈一顿晚餐，那就选春节的蟹会席。想了解这顿大餐在旅馆套餐里是怎么安排的，看我们的旅馆餐食方案指南。

有两个现实要先规划好。第一，日本本地人这时候不放假——他们在上班——所以你不会碰到日本自己新年或黄金周那种本地客挤爆的场面。你会碰到的是旺盛的国际需求：台湾、香港、中国大陆、韩国和东南亚的旅客同时出动，压力集中在机票、热门旅馆和最有名的几个温泉乡，而不是分散到整个日本。解决办法很简单：提前订房，可以的话，挑一个稍微没那么显眼的温泉乡。第二，是真的冷——温泉地区白天气温只有个位数摄氏度，夜里零度以下，东北还会真的下雪。请带足够保暖的分层衣物，并查好交通，因为北边大雪可能让电车延误、封闭山路。

农历春节首先是个家庭节日，很多人都是三代同堂一起来。如果你们是这样的组合，优先选有客房内汤或私汤的旅馆，让长辈不用去公共浴场就能在隐私和暖意中泡汤；并尽早确认宽敞的榻榻米大房间或相连房间，因为家庭规模的房型恰恰是最先订满的。先把旅馆订好，再订机票。行程里安排一顿奢侈的蟹宴或会席晚餐。如果这是你第一次住旅馆，读读我们的旅馆新手入门指南，再翻翻日本最棒的温泉乡，挑好你的落脚据点。