Jigoku Onsen

Jigoku Onsen is a sulfurous mountain hot spring in the Kayo area of Minami-Aso Village, Aso County, Kumamoto Prefecture, situated at approximately 750 meters elevation on the western flank of Eboshi-dake, one of the five peaks of the Aso caldera, taking its name meaning Hell Hot Spring from the volcanic gas vents on the mountain behind the facility that create bare patches devoid of vegetation characteristic of the jigoku volcanic landscape of Kyushu. Aso is the largest active volcanic caldera in Japan and one of the largest in the world, whose central cone Nakadake remains one of the most actively monitored volcanoes in the country, and the geothermal energy of this extraordinary volcanic system generates the powerful sulfurous springs of Jigoku Onsen and the many other thermal facilities distributed around the caldera. The strongly sulfurous waters of Jigoku Onsen provide intensely therapeutic bathing with the distinctive aroma and skin-stimulating properties of volcanic sulfide springs, offering one of the most viscerally volcanic bathing experiences available in the remarkable thermal landscape of the Aso region.