Eastern Hokkaido · TeshikagaNo.1138★★Open in map →
Kawayu Onsen
— A strongly acidic spa town in Akan-Mashu National Park
A hot-spring town in the Kussharo caldera of eastern Hokkaido, where the water arrives strongly acidic straight from the volcano next door. A steaming stream runs through the middle of it, and a level trail leads from the edge of town to the crater.
- FromKushiro Station
- ~2 hrJR line, then local bus
- Get off atKawayu-Onsen Station (JR Senmo Line)
- From there
- Kawayu Onsen
The sweet spot
Kawayu is a named hot-spring resort, not an undiscovered one. It simply sits a long way from any city, so the street between the inns stays calm outside check-in hours. The part most visitors skip is the walking, which is where the volcano stops being scenery and becomes the reason the water is what it is.
Where it is
102 more notes in Hokkaido · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kawayu Onsen Ashiyua roofed public footbath set beside the hot stream on the main street
- The Yu-no-kawa streamspring-fed water running open through the centre of town, steaming in cold weather
- Kawayu Shrinea small shrine on Shikishima-dori whose purification basin runs with hot spring water
- Kawayu Visitor Centerthe national park's free exhibition building at the western edge of the town
- Tsutsujigahara trail headthe start of the level nature path that runs through changing vegetation to the crater
How to actually get there
- Kushiro Station → Kawayu-Onsen Station (JR Senmo Line, about 1 hr 40 min).
- Kawayu-Onsen Station → the spa town (Akan Bus, about 10 min).
- Walk west through the town past the footbath and the hot stream to the Kawayu Visitor Center.
- From behind the Visitor Center, take the Tsutsujigahara trail toward Mount Io and turn back the same way.
- JR Senmo Line from Kushiro, then Akan Bus
- Kushiro Station →(JR Senmo Line, about 1 hr 40 min)→ Kawayu-Onsen Station, then Akan Bus about 10 minutes into the spa town. Services on this line are infrequent, so fix the train before you set out rather than turning up at the platform and hoping.
- Return from Kawayu-Onsen Station
- Take the Akan Bus back down to Kawayu-Onsen Station, then the Senmo Line toward Kushiro or on north toward Abashiri. Trains are thin all day, so choose the return service before you start walking the trail, not after.
About the place
The town stands in the Kussharo caldera of eastern Hokkaido, between Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu, inside Akan-Mashu National Park. Its water comes off Mount Io, the active volcano that still vents sulphur within walking distance of the inns. That origin shows in the chemistry: the springs run at around pH 1.7, an acidity rare even among Japanese hot springs. A hot stream called the Yu-no-kawa runs open through the middle of the town and steams all winter. From the western edge, the Tsutsujigahara nature trail covers about 2.5 kilometres to the crater on nearly level ground.
How to enjoy it
Ride the bus up in the morning, leave your bag, and walk the trail before you bathe: it is roughly an hour each way on almost level ground. Come back for the footbath on the main street, and save the proper bath for the evening. In winter the steaming stream and the frost-covered trees along it are the reason to be outside rather than in.
Background & history
The mountain above the town was worked for sulphur from the Meiji era, and the traffic that trade generated is what first opened this corner of the caldera. Its Ainu name, Atosanupuri, means the bare mountain; the Japanese name says sulphur outright. The surrounding land became a national park in 1934 and took its present name in 2017. Kawayu is also where Taiho Koki, the 48th yokozuna, spent his boyhood, and a museum on the main road keeps his championship plaques.
Before you go
- Cash
- The Kawayu Visitor Center is free to enter. Stations on this line are largely unstaffed and the buses are rural services, so carry cash rather than relying on an IC card.
- Before you go
- The nature trail crosses open volcanic ground with active vents. Stay on the marked path and keep outside any roped-off ground. Snow covers the route from late autumn and winter daylight is short, so set out early in the cold months.
- Another way
- From the Okhotsk side, the same Senmo Line runs south from Abashiri to Kawayu-Onsen Station, which suits anyone arriving through Shiretoko or Memanbetsu Airport.
- After you get off
- Kawayu-Onsen Station is not in the spa town itself, so change to the Akan Bus in the station forecourt rather than setting off on foot. There is an indoor footbath inside the station building, free to use, if you have a wait.