Photo: Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Kawamata Onsen
Kawamata Onsen is a hot spring town in Hokkaido, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 36°C, comfortably warm. It measures pH 8.9 — mildly alkaline, the slippery kind. Officially the water is classed as sulfate spring and sulfur spring. Its sources put out around 320 litres a minute.
The water here
Sulfate spring
Clear water with a faintly bitter taste. Known for holding heat.
Sulfur spring
The classic rotten-egg smell and milky white water. It can tarnish silver jewellery, so take it off.
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
- 36°C
- pH
- 8.9 (mildly alkaline)
- Discharge
- 320 litres a minute
- Address in Japanese
- 北海道登別市鉱山町
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Where it is
42.4561, 140.9993 — open the map
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.