Tenninkyō Onsen

Tenninkyō Onsen is a small geothermal hot spring village in the Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido, nestled in a dramatic gorge of the Chubetsu River surrounded by vertical basalt columns and waterfalls, whose simple and sulfurous mineral waters provide bathing facilities in one of the most spectacularly wild natural settings in Japan. The name Tenninkyō means Ravine of Heavenly Nymphs, evoking the ethereal beauty of the gorge with its towering rock walls, cascading falls, and the sense of being enclosed within a primeval volcanic landscape far from human civilization. Tenninkyō Onsen is a gateway to the interior of the Daisetsuzan wilderness, used as a trailhead for hikers heading into the alpine core of Hokkaido's largest national park, and its thermal waters serve both the adventurous trekkers who pass through and the visitors who come simply to experience the transcendent landscape of this uniquely beautiful volcanic gorge.