Obanazawa Onsen
- Location
- Obanazawa, Yamagata, Japan
- Water type
- bicarbonate
- Temperature
- 40 °C
- pH
- 8
Water profile
Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.
Obanazawa lies in the Mogami basin of Yamagata Prefecture, a mountain-ringed valley in the Tohoku region famed for its safflower fields and intense continental climate — scorching summers and deep snow winters. The onsen draws bicarbonate water at 40 °C, alkaline at pH 8, with the smooth, skin-softening character typical of this water type throughout northeastern Japan. Long associated with the haiku tradition — the poet Matsuo Basho passed through the Mogami valley on his famous journey chronicled in Oku no Hosomichi — Obanazawa carries a literary resonance that adds a particular depth to the experience of bathing in its quiet, historic onsen.