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Watari Onsen

Iwate · 渡り温泉

Watari Onsen is a hot spring town in Iwate, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 67.4°C, hot. It measures pH 8.3 — mildly alkaline, the slippery kind. Officially the water is classed as sulfur spring. 1 inns take visitors here.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 3½ h

CarNot needed

JR PassCovers the train

1. Train to Hanamaki Station (JR)
2. Local bus, about 35 min

Fly into Haneda or Narita. Times are rough estimates worked out from station locations, not a timetable — check the exact route on Google Maps.

The water here

Sulfur spring 硫黄泉

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

More photographs

From Wikimedia Commons. Tap a photo for the photographer and licence.

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.

More on tattoos and onsen

Where to stay

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

Similar water elsewhere

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

The numbers

Water temperature

67.4°C

pH

8.3 (mildly alkaline)

Inns

1

Address in Japanese

岩手県花巻市湯口字佐野

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Where it is

39.4300, 141.0100 — open the map

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia