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Photo: Bakkai at Japanese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Ryōtsu Onsen Villages

Niigata · 両津温泉郷

Ryōtsu Onsen Villages is a hot spring town in Niigata, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 37–47°C, hot. It measures pH 8 — mildly alkaline, the slippery kind. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring and bicarbonate spring.

Getting there

From Tokyoabout 2 h

CarTaxi from the station

JR PassCovers the train

1. Train to Niigata Station (Shinkansen)
2. By car or taxi, about 5 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

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.

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.

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.

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

37–47°C

pH

8 (mildly alkaline)

Address in Japanese

新潟県佐渡市

Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.

Read more

Japanese Wikipedia

Other towns in Niigata