Mineral Hot Springs
Luxury

Naruko Onsen

Miyagi, Japan · 鳴子温泉

Five hot spring villages producing seven of Japan's ten official water types

Naruko Onsen
Photo: Yauchi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Naruko Onsen-kyo is a group of five hot spring villages along the upper Eai River in northern Miyagi: Naruko, Higashi-Naruko, Kawatabi, Nakayamadaira and Onikobe. Between them they produce seven of the ten spring categories Japan recognizes, lacking only carbon dioxide, iodine and radioactive springs, so a weekend can take you from sharp acidic sulfur water in town to the slippery alkaline water that Nakayamadaira calls eel bath. Naruko proper, counted among the three famous springs of old Oshu, has the landmark: Takinoyu, a hiba-wood public bathhouse with a hot tub at 44 to 46°C and a gentler one at 39 to 41°C.

Its water is an acidic, sulfide-rich spring with alum and iron salts at pH 2.9. There are no showers, taps or toiletries, nowhere to store bags, and photography is banned; entry is 300 yen from 7:30 to 21:00, every day. It is about a seven-minute walk from JR Naruko-Onsen Station.

Higashi-Naruko keeps an old toji street that once held a bathhouse reserved for the Date lords of Sendai. In autumn, temporary buses run to Naruko Gorge for the foliage, and the town is known for kokeshi dolls. Downside: trains between Naruko-Onsen and Shinjo are suspended, so coming from the Yamagata side means a replacement bus.

What's in the water

  • SulfurThe rotten-egg smell. Sulfur springs are the classic "healing waters" of old spa towns; the smell fades on your skin within a few hours.
  • SodiumSalty thermal water floats you a little higher and can sting fresh cuts.
  • IronIron turns water and rock rust-orange or red-brown. It can stain light swimsuits.
  • SulfateSulfate springs are often clear and odorless, common in European spa towns.

Sources

Hot springs near Naruko Onsen

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