Photo: Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sarukawa Onsen
Sarukawa Onsen is a hot spring town in Hokkaido, Japan. The water leaves the ground at 9.4°C, cool enough that the baths here are usually reheated. It measures pH 9.4 — strongly alkaline. Officially the water is classed as sulfur spring. Its sources put out around 32 litres a minute. 1 inns take visitors here.
Getting there
- Train to Shimukappu Station (JR)
- By car or taxi, about 20 min
The water here
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
- 9.4°C
- pH
- 9.4 (strongly alkaline)
- Discharge
- 32 litres a minute
- Inns
- 1
- Address in Japanese
- 北海道沙流郡日高町字富岡
Figures from the town's Japanese Wikipedia article.
Where it is
42.8693, 142.4451 — open the map
Read more
Planning a first soak? Read how an onsen stay works, and what to do if you have tattoos.