Shiobara Nakanoyu Onsen

Shiobara Nakanoyu Onsen is one of the eleven distinct hot spring areas within the Shiobara Onsen Valley in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, nestled in the central section of the dramatic Houkigawa River gorge where the volcanic Nasu Mountains generate an extraordinary concentration of geothermal activity producing springs of diverse mineral compositions within a compact valley of extraordinary natural beauty. The ferruginous iron-rich thermal waters of Nakanoyu are one of Shiobara's most chemically distinctive springs, producing a russet-tinged mineral water whose iron and sulphate content is cherished within the long tradition of Japanese ferruginous spring (sansei-sen) bathing. The Shiobara valley's autumn foliage — when the gorge fills with the red and gold of maple, beech, and oak — combined with the dramatic river canyon scenery and the mineral diversity of its eleven hot spring areas makes Nakanoyu's iron springs a uniquely coloured and mineral-intense dimension of one of Tochigi's most scenically extraordinary onsen regions.