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Ōarai Onsen

Ibaraki · 大洗温泉

Ōarai Onsen is a hot spring town in Ibaraki, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 15°C, cool enough that the baths here are usually reheated. It measures pH 7.7 — mildly alkaline, the slippery kind. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring. 7 inns take visitors here.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 2½ h

CarNot needed

JR PassNot a JR line

1. Train to Ōarai Station
2. Local bus, about 15 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.

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.

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

15°C

pH

7.7 (mildly alkaline)

Inns

7

Address in Japanese

茨城県東茨城郡大洗町

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia

Other towns in Ibaraki