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Photo: Hasui Kawase · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Shiobara-Arayu Onsen

Tochigi · 塩原新湯温泉

Shiobara-Arayu Onsen is a hot spring town in Tochigi, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 59.2°C, hot. It measures pH 2.4 — strongly acidic, the kind that stings on a cut. Officially the water is classed as sulfate spring and sulfur spring.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 2 h

CarNot needed

JR PassCovers the train

1. Train to Nishi-Nasuno Station (JR)
2. Local bus, about 40 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

Sulfate spring 硫酸塩泉

Clear water with a faintly bitter taste. Known for holding heat.

Sulfur spring 硫黄泉

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

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

59.2°C

pH

2.4 (strongly acidic)

Address in Japanese

栃木県那須塩原市湯本塩原

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Where it is

36.9563, 139.7811 — open the map

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia