As ozeki of the West stands the spring of Arima in Setsushu (Hyogo Prefecture).
Arima's waters rise in a valley north of Mount Rokko, and it is counted among the oldest hot springs in Japan. Legend says that in the age of the gods, two deities, Onamuchi (Okuninushi) and Sukunahikona, found the spring when they saw three wounded crows soaking in it to heal.
Arima's name also appears early in the historical record. The Nihon Shoki records that Emperor Jomei visited the hot waters of Arima. And Sei Shonagon wrote in The Pillow Book, "Of hot springs: the springs of Nanakuri, of Arima, of Tamatsukuri," counting it among the famous ones.
It is said that Arima was revived in the Nara period by Gyoki, who built Onsenji temple, declined at the end of the Heian period, and was revived again in the Kamakura period by a monk named Ninsai. Ninsai built twelve lodgings for pilgrims, which became the origin of Arima's inns.
In the Warring States period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was very fond of Arima and often came to take the waters. He built the Yuyama palace and also worked hard to improve the baths.
Arima has two kinds of water: the reddish-brown, iron-rich "kinsen," gold spring, and the clear, colorless "ginsen," silver spring. Being close to Kyoto and Osaka, it was crowded with bathers in the Edo period and spoken of alongside Kusatsu as "ozeki of the West."