Photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Manza Onsen
Manza Onsen is a hot spring town in Gunma, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 80°C, hot enough that it has to be cooled before anyone can get in. Officially the water is classed as acidic spring and sulfur spring. Its sources put out around 5,400,000 litres a minute. 9 inns take visitors here.
Getting there
- Train to Karuizawa Station (Shinkansen)
- Local bus, about 90 min
Access is cut off in winter. Check before planning a cold-season trip.
The water here
Acidic spring
Strongly acidic, sometimes below pH 2. It stings on cuts and is not for long soaks.
Sulfur spring
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.
Where to stay
Hot spring towns nearby
Similar water elsewhere
The numbers
- Water temperature
- 80°C
- Discharge
- 5,400,000 litres a minute
- Inns
- 9
- Address in Japanese
- 群馬県吾妻郡嬬恋村干俣
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Where it is
36.6372, 138.5101 — open the map
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.