Although hot spring usage was restricted by community regulations in the Edo period, with the relaxation of restrictions in modern times, the exploitation of hot springs rapidly progressed. The increased usage of hot springs has brought problems involving adjustment to the development and conservation of hot springs in hot springs regions. This paper clarifies the process through which local communities balanced development with conservation of hot springs after the social class-based restrictions were dismantled, using the region of Atami, Shizuoka prefecture, as an example. During the Edo period, one inn, the Yuko, maintained power in Atami with the backing of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Yuko monopolized the usage of the largest geyser (the "oyu") and ruled Atami socially and economically. After the Meiji Restoration, rule by the Yuko collapsed, and the privatization and exploitation of hot springs progressed. The balance of development and conservation changed with the regulations of 1884 to a policy of self-adjustment between hot spring users, based on one control center. After the 1900's, with the development of the railroad, and the Russo-Japanese War, the situation of the spas of Atami changed. The exploitation of hot springs by outsiders, as well as by inn masters who ignored the regulations, increased, and the policy of self-adjustment by hot spring users which had existed until then ceased to function. As a result of this dysfunction, the policy of self-adjustment was replaced with new rules regarding usage of the hot-springs, which were to be enforced by the police. However, the police were ineffective, and new disputes arose. Thereafter, Shizuoka prefecture gave Atami ward the exclusive right to develop and exploit its hot springs. Atami ward established an administrative organization and stabilized the usage of hot springs in the ward. This organization successfully managed and stabilized hot spring use in Atami.
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