Kamoshika Onsen (Miyagi)

Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Location: Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Water type: bicarbonate
Temperature: 40 °C
pH: 8

Water profile

Thermicity

Sedative

40 °C

LowHigh

Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.

Mineralisation

Restorative

LowHigh

Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).

Buoyancy

Standard buoyancy

LowHigh

Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.

BicarbonatesSodiumCalcium

Kamoshika Onsen in Miyagi Prefecture is a wild open-air hot spring in Kawasaki Town, Shibata County, set in a mountain valley with no buildings, consisting only of natural spring-fed outdoor pools that collect the bicarbonate and simple mineral waters of the local geothermal source. The original mountain lodge that served this remote spring, the Hakuunso inn, was completely destroyed by a large-scale avalanche in 1980, after which the site returned to its natural state as an unmanaged wild bath accessible only to those willing to make the mountain journey on foot. The spring gained further recognition when it was featured in the twelfth episode of the television program Noten-yu he Go on the Travel Channel, as nature broadcaster Beniko Yamada visited to highlight this remarkably pure and unmediated hot spring experience in the mountains of southern Miyagi.

Insider tip — Kamoshika Onsen sits in the rural Miyagi interior, a region whose name references the Japanese serow, a mountain goat-like animal historically found in these forested highland valleys. Bicarbonate waters here produce a slightly alkaline bath known for softening the skin, a quality that has made it popular with locals from the Osaki area. The surrounding Tohoku countryside is marked by rice paddies, cedar forests, and traditional farmhouses typical of this agricultural northeastern region. Seasonal cherry blossoms and autumn foliage frame the bathhouses in a quintessentially Japanese rural setting.

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