繁體中文

Photo: けんみんたろう at Japanese Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Higashi Onsen

Kagoshima · 東温泉

Higashi Onsen is a hot spring town in Kagoshima, Japan. It measures pH 1.7 — strongly acidic, the kind that stings on a cut. Officially the water is classed as sulfate spring and sulfur spring.

Sulfate springSulfur spring

The water here

Sulfate spring 硫酸塩泉

Clear water with a faintly bitter taste. Known for holding heat.

Sulfur spring 硫黄泉

The classic rotten-egg smell and milky white water. It can tarnish silver jewellery, so take it off.

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.

Rooms with an open-air bath — KagoshimaInns with a private bath — Kagoshima

More on tattoos and onsen

Where to stay

Onsen inns — Kagoshima

Opens Rakuten Travel, which lists inns in English. Onsen Guide earns a commission if you book through these links, at no extra cost to you.

Hot spring towns nearby

Sakamoto OnsenKagoshima · 坂本温泉Same area

Similar water elsewhere

Towns further away with the same kind of water — useful if this one is hard to reach or fully booked.

Shiobara-Arayu OnsenTochigi · 塩原新湯温泉Also sulfur and sulfate, similar pH
Sulfate springSulfur spring
Nakanosawa OnsenFukushima · 中ノ沢温泉Also sulfur and sulfate, similar pH
Chloride spring+2
Honzawa OnsenNagano · 本沢温泉Also sulfur and sulfate
Sulfate springSulfur spring
Asahi OnsenHokkaido · 朝日温泉Also sulfur and sulfate
Sulfate springSulfur spring
Hokkein OnsenOita · 法華院温泉Also sulfur and sulfate
Sulfate springSulfur spring
Kusatsu OnsenGunma · 草津温泉Also sulfur and sulfate, similar pH
Chloride spring+3

The numbers

pH
1.7 (strongly acidic)
Address in Japanese
鹿児島県鹿児島郡三島村硫黄島

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia

Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.