Photo: 妖精書士 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Tatara Onsen
Tatara Onsen is a hot spring town in Ehime, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 22.3°C, cool enough that the baths here are usually reheated. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring and radioactive spring. Its sources put out around 17 litres a minute. About 50,000 people a year come to bathe.
The water here
Chloride spring
Salty water. The salt leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm well after leaving the bath.
Radioactive spring
Contains trace radon that leaves the water quickly. Also called radium or radon springs.
Things to see nearby
Places from Wikidata, photographs from Wikimedia Commons. Distances are in a straight line from the town.
With tattoos
Many public baths still turn away visible tattoos, and the rule is set by each bath, not by the town. The reliable way round it is to bathe privately: a room with its own open-air bath, or an inn with a private bath you can book for yourselves.
Where to stay
Hot spring towns nearby
Similar water elsewhere
The numbers
- Water temperature
- 22.3°C
- Discharge
- 17 litres a minute
- Visitors a year
- 50,000
- Address in Japanese
- 愛媛県今治市上浦町井口7848-1
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Where it is
34.2500, 133.0500 — open the map
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.