Photo: Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Ashibetsu Onsen
Ashibetsu Onsen is a hot spring town in Hokkaido, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 10–15°C, cool enough that the baths here are usually reheated. Officially the water is classed as chloride spring, bicarbonate spring and sulfur spring. 2 inns take visitors here.
Getting there
- Train to Ashibetsu Station
- Local bus, about 20 min
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.
Bicarbonate spring
Smooth, slightly slippery water. Often nicknamed bihada-no-yu, the water for beautiful skin.
Sulfur spring
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.
Where to stay
Hot spring towns nearby
Similar water elsewhere
The numbers
- Water temperature
- 10–15°C
- Inns
- 2
- Address in Japanese
- 北海道芦別市旭町油谷 {{Location map many | Japan Hokkaido | relief = 1 | caption = | width
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Where it is
43.5455, 142.2411 — open the map
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.