South Akita · YuzawaNo.565★★Open in map →
Kawarage Jigoku
— A bare volcanic hillside still giving off steam
A hillside in the mountains above Yuzawa where nothing grows. Grey-white lava, steam rising out of the ground, a smell of sulphur — counted with Osorezan and Tateyama as one of the three great sacred grounds of Japan.
- FromYuzawa Station (JR Ou Line)
- ~45 minCar, ~45 min from Yuzawa
- Kawarage Jigoku
The sweet spot
This is a signposted municipal sight, not a secret. It stays quiet because of what it costs to get here: a car, a long climb of mountain road, no mobile signal once you arrive, and a full half of the year when snow closes the whole area.
Where it is
34 more notes in Akita · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kawarage Jigoku car parka roadside car park with toilets, opening straight onto the edge of the bare slope
- The grey-white slopelava-covered hillside with neither trees nor grass, steam escaping along its length
- The roped boardwalka path routed around the hollows where hydrogen sulphide gathers, fenced with rope
- Kawarage Jizoa Jizo figure for the miners who died on the sulphur workings, with an annual rite
- Kawarage Oyutakia hot spring arriving as a 20-metre waterfall, downhill beyond the far end of the field
How to actually get there
- Yuzawa Station → Kawarage Jigoku car park (car, ~45 min via Sugawa IC, Kijiyama and Doroyu Onsen).
- Car park → the boardwalk; cross the bare field staying inside the rope fences.
- Walk through to the Oyutaki car park (~20 min), then down the mountain path (~15 min) to the waterfall.
- Turn back the same way — the return leg through the field is uphill.
- By car from Yuzawa Station
- Yuzawa Station →(car, ~45 min)→ Kawarage Jigoku car park. Leave the Yuzawa-Yokote road at Sugawa IC, pass Takamatsu and the Sanzugawa gorge, keep straight on at Kijiyama and carry on through Doroyu Onsen. Set the car navigation to the car park itself rather than to the name of the site.
- Return the same way to Yuzawa
- Back out through Doroyu and Kijiyama the way you came in; the through road to Akinomiya is not usable at present. There is no lighting on the mountain road and no phone signal to call for help, so start down while it is still light.
About the place
Kawarage Jigoku lies at about 800 metres in the volcanic country south-east of Yuzawa. The hillside is bare: grey-white rock under an old lava cover, no trees and no grass, steam escaping from vents the whole length of it, and the sharp smell of hydrogen sulphide hanging in the air. A boardwalk runs through the middle of the field, deliberately routed around the hollows where that gas gathers. Rope fences mark the closed ground either side of it. Past the far end, the path drops toward a hot spring that arrives as a waterfall.
How to enjoy it
Allow twenty minutes to walk through the field, and more than that coming back, because the return leg is uphill all the way. If you mean to get into Oyutaki, the water sits at a usable temperature from early July to mid-September and cools with rain and with the air. Come in daylight: there is no lighting past the car park and no phone signal to fall back on.
Background & history
The site is said to have been opened in 807 by the priest Gesso, who read the steaming ground as a landscape of hells. Together with Osorezan in Aomori and Tateyama in Toyama it is counted as one of the three great sacred grounds of Japan. Sulphur was worked on the slope in later centuries, and a Jizo figure stands here for the miners who died at it. A short memorial rite is still held for them each year, attended by priests and by people from the surrounding villages.
Before you go
- Cash
- There is no gate and no ticket office. Oyutaki, the hot-spring waterfall past the far end, is a natural spring and is not charged for. Nothing is sold up here, so bring water, and a swimsuit if you intend to get in — the pool is open ground and a swimsuit is required.
- Before you go
- Snow closes the whole area every winter, normally from early November to early May. Prefectural Route 310 is also fully shut for landslide works until 30 November 2026: you can still reach Kawarage Jigoku from the Doroyu Onsen side, but you cannot drive through to Akinomiya. Never cross the rope fences or linger by the marked no-entry ground — the gas is heaviest close to the surface, which matters most for children. Mobile phones are out of range as a rule.
- Another way
- Coming from the Minase and Oyasu side instead, turn left at Kijiyama, head for Doroyu Onsen and continue to the car park from there.
- After you get off
- Yuzawa Station has no bus for this, so it is a car or a taxi. From the Kawarage Jigoku car park the grey slope is directly in front of you and the boardwalk starts at the edge of the tarmac.