Nagato Yumoto Onsen

Nagato Yumoto Onsen—Nagato Origin Spring—is a bicarbonate and carbonated thermal spring in the city of Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, named for the ancient Nagato Province whose name (Long Gate) refers to the long inlet geography of the Yamaguchi coastline where the Japan Sea creates a deeply indented shoreline of dramatic peninsulas, bays, and channel passages. The effervescent quality of the naturally carbonated bicarbonate waters provides a lively mineral soak that complements a region known for the translucent beauty of its coastline, the winter snow crabs harvested from the cold Japan Sea, and the historical importance of Hagi City nearby—the castle town where many of the Meiji Restoration's key figures were educated and radicalized before transforming Japan's feudal order. This spring's bicarbonate and carbonated mineral character brings the effervescent geological richness of Yamaguchi's volcanic heritage to one of western Honshu's most historically and scenically distinctive prefectures.