Photo: photo: Qurren (talk) Canon PowerShot G9 X · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Itoigawa Onsen
Itoigawa Onsen is a hot spring town in Niigata, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 96°C, hot enough that it has to be cooled before anyone can get in. It measures pH 7.5 — close to neutral. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring. Its sources put out around 1,500 litres a minute. 1 inns take visitors here.
The water here
Chloride spring
Salty water. The salt leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm well after leaving the bath.
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.
Where to stay
Hot spring towns nearby
Similar water elsewhere
The numbers
- Water temperature
- 96°C
- pH
- 7.5 (close to neutral)
- Discharge
- 1,500 litres a minute
- Inns
- 1
- Address in Japanese
- 新潟県糸魚川市大字大野298-1
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.