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Photo: uraomote_yamaneko · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Iwai Onsen

Chiba · 南房総岩井温泉

Iwai Onsen is a hot spring town in Chiba, Japan. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring and sulfur spring.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 1 h
From Kyoto / Osakaabout 3 h
CarNot needed
JR PassCovers the train
  1. Train to Tokyo Station (JR)
  2. Local bus

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 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.

Sulfur spring 硫黄泉

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.

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.

Rooms with an open-air bath — Chiba

More on tattoos and onsen

Where to stay

Onsen inns — Chiba

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.

Ginzan OnsenYamagata · 銀山温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring
Nanki-Katsuura OnsenWakayama · 南紀勝浦温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring
Echigo Yuzawa OnsenNiigata · 越後湯沢温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring
Kitsuregawa OnsenTochigi · 喜連川温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring
Onogawa OnsenYamagata · 小野川温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring
Yudanaka OnsenNagano · 湯田中温泉Also sulfur and chloride
Chloride springSulfur spring

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia

Other towns in Chiba

Kameyama OnsenChiba · 亀山温泉
Chloride spring+2
Shirako OnsenChiba · 白子温泉
Chloride springIodine spring
Yōrō-keikoku OnsenChiba · 養老渓谷温泉
Chloride springBicarbonate spring
Inubōsaki OnsenChiba · 犬吠埼温泉
Chloride spring
Kamogawa OnsenkyōChiba · 鴨川温泉郷
Chloride spring+2
Shirahama OnsenChiba · 白浜温泉
Chloride spring+2
Katsūra OnsenChiba · 勝浦温泉
Chloride spring
Chikura OnsenChiba · 千倉温泉
Chloride springSulfur spring

Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.