Photo: くろふね · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Isohara Onsen

Ibaraki · 磯原温泉

Isohara Onsen is a hot spring town in Ibaraki, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 20°C, cool enough that the baths here are usually reheated. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring, bicarbonate spring and sulfur spring. 3 inns take visitors here.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 3 h

CarTaxi from the station

JR PassCovers the train

Train to Isohara Station (JR)
By car or taxi, about 3 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.

Chloride springBicarbonate springSulfur spring

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.

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.