Joganji Onsen
- Location
- Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
- Water type
- calcium-rich
- Temperature
- 42 °C
- pH
- 7.3
Water profile
Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.
Joganji Onsen was a sulfate thermal spring in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture in the former Echigo Province, distinguished during its active years by its designation as one of the Echigo Nagaoka Hyakkei — one hundred celebrated scenic views of Echigo Nagaoka — a recognition of the cultural and natural significance of its setting within the riverine landscapes of central Niigata. The spring's sole inn, Yojukan, suffered irreparable structural damage in the devastating Chuetsu earthquake of October 2004 and subsequently closed permanently, making bathing in these sulfate waters no longer possible and leaving behind only the memory of a thermal facility that had served this community and its landscape for generations. Joganji Onsen stands today as a solemn reminder of the fragility of onsen heritage in a seismically active country, and of the same volcanic geological forces that once gave the spring its geothermal life ultimately bringing an end to the human institution built around it.