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Hanesawa Onsen

Yamagata · 羽根沢温泉

Hanesawa Onsen is a hot spring town in Yamagata, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 47°C, hot. It measures pH 8.4 — mildly alkaline, the slippery kind. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring and bicarbonate spring.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 4 h

CarNot needed

JR PassCovers the train

1. Train to Shinjō Station (Shinkansen)
2. Local bus, about 30 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

Chloride spring 塩化物泉

Salty water. The salt leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm well after leaving the bath.

Bicarbonate spring 炭酸水素塩泉

Smooth, slightly slippery water. Often nicknamed bihada-no-yu, the water for beautiful skin.

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

47°C

pH

8.4 (mildly alkaline)

Address in Japanese

山形県最上郡鮭川村大字中渡

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Where it is

38.8150, 140.1522 — open the map

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia