Oniiwa Onsen

Oniiwa Onsen—the Demon Garden Spring—takes its name from the oni, the fearsome horned demon of Japanese folklore who is associated with wild, uncultivated places, volcanic activity, and the frightening power of natural forces that humans encounter at the margins of civilization. The sulfurous waters carry the volcanic intensity that perfectly matches the demonic symbolism of the spring's name, where the sharp aroma of hydrogen sulfide, the force of thermal water emerging from the earth, and the visual drama of steaming vents create an atmosphere that ancient Japanese imagination would readily have attributed to supernatural forces. Bathing in these potent sulfurous waters within a spring named for the demon forces of the volcanic earth is to accept the therapeutic gift of nature's most dramatic and powerful energies.