Photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Ikarigaseki Onsen Villages is a hot spring town in Aomori, Japan. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring, sulfate spring and sulfur spring.
Salty water. The salt leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm well after leaving the bath.
Clear water with a faintly bitter taste. Known for holding heat.
The classic rotten-egg smell and milky white water. It can tarnish silver jewellery, so take it off.
Places from Wikidata, photographs from Wikimedia Commons. Distances are in a straight line from the town.
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.








Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
40.4746, 140.6296 — open the map
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.