Day 25 - Hachimantai Mountain To Tamagawa Onsen, The Most Acidic Sulfuric Onsen In Japan, Believed To Cure Cancer - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan

 

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Day 25 - Hachimantai Mountain To  Tamagawa Onsen, The Most Acidic Sulfuric Onsen In Japan, Believed To Cure Cancer - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan 

Yesterday we stayed about midway up Mount Hachimantai. 

Mount Hachimantai is a large volcanic plateau, not a sharp peak.  Its summit area is relatively flat, dotted with craters, marshes, and ponds.

It was formed by multiple overlapping eruptions from ancient volcanoes over hundreds of thousands of years.

You can find fumaroles (steam vents) and sulfur deposits, especially near Matsukawa Onsen and Tamagawa Onsen on its flanks.

The area is rich in Onsen (hot springs) due to geothermal activity.

I was feeling so excited to soak in these Onsens and to see this unique landscape.

Today we are completing our walk to Tamagawa Onsen, which has Japan’s most acidic hot spring waters (pH ≈ 1.2).

We ate a delicious breakfast in our guesthouse and said our goodbyes to the other guests and thanked our hosts.

We dressed warmly and started walking before 8 am.

We still had one more mountain pass to cross before we reach the summit plateau.

In spring and summer, the plateau blooms with alpine flowers, including daylilies and blue gentians.

In autumn, it’s famous for vivid fall foliage and in winter, the area becomes a popular ski destination, with heavy snow and “snow monsters” (frost-covered trees) forming on the nearby peaks.

Today was a partly cloudy day that at times threatened to rain, but it remained dry and cool all day.  

We mostly walked uphill for the first 9 km.  It was very steep in places, and we had to stop and rest while climbing.

Everywhere there were signs warning about the danger of bears.

Almost all the hiking paths were closed with chains and signs of aggressive looking bears.

The little pull offs in the roads that were meant to allow cars to pull over and rest or allow other cars to pass them by, were also closed with chains and big signs warning about bears.

We kept on walking through the forests, entering the woods only to pee as we kept on walking.

Just like yesterday, there were no restaurants, cafés, or even convenience stores, except for one local souvenir store almost at the beginning of our walk, which had a sign on the door requesting that you not use their bathroom unless you were going to buy something.  

I was tempted to buy a bottle of Acacia honey, a specialty of this area and a most delicious clear-colored honey with a sweet fragrance of Acacia flowers.

But I restrained myself from buying it because it came in a heavy glass bottle, and we still had a lot of walking to do every day with our full backpacks.

Better to buy the honey after we were done walking through the mountains.

We brought with us today the second of the big apples that we had bought in the orchards, along with a few other snacks, so if we did find a place to sit, we had something to eat.  

We were able to climb the pass fairly easily, because the dry weather and the beautiful, photogenic autumn colors of the landscape gave us plenty to concentrate on, rather than on the steep uphill we were walking.  

Our friend from the MInshuku passed us in his red classic car on our way up, and he stopped to ask if we wanted a ride.  

We of course said no, and he promised to run into us at the Tamagawa Onsen.  

Although we did see his car in the Onsen parking lot, we didn’t see him again.  

We passed the peak of the mountain pass after about 9 km of climbing, and began a descent for the remainder of our walk to Tamagawa.

All around us were the colors of autumn, mixing with the sulphuric smell of the volcanic vents carried by the wind.  

At times the road flattened out for a little while, but we didn’t have any more climbs to conquer.  

When we got to within three kilometers of the outdoor volcanic landscape of Tamagawa, I got really excited.

We could smell the sulphur and see the white smoke rising up in the air. 

When we arrived, it was so cold that all we wanted to do was drop off our backpacks and have lunch in the warm restaurant.

Luckily they had not yet stopped serving lunch, so we ordered some soba noodles with tempura and drank many cups of hot tea.

After lunch, we took a walk around the volcanic landscape, taking it in and photographing as much as we could.  

The sights, sounds, and people combined to produce a special, healing vibe, totally unique and unlike any other Onsen we have visited.

Now we could see just how special this place was.

Coming here, at the conclusion of two days’ climbing up a steep mountain pass, made the experience even more special.  

Tamagawa Onsen is one of the most famous Onsens in Japan.

Here are the facts and myths surrounding Tamagawa Onsen (玉川温泉), one of Japan’s most powerful and mysterious hot spring areas, located on the Akita side of Mount Hachimantai.

Located within the Towada-Hachimantai National Park, at an altitude of about 890 meters above sea level, the entire valley steams with volcanic vents, bubbling pools, and sulfuric gases.

It truly feels otherworldly.

The PH Acidity scale is around 1.2, making it Japan’s most acidic hot spring.

The water contains aluminum sulfate and hydrogen ions, giving it strong antibacterial and skin-peeling properties (dead skin cells fall when exposed to this water).

The temperature at the source is about 98°C (208°F), which is  extremely hot. It is slightly milky or clear yellowish in color.

The water emerges from the Tamagawa volcanic fumarolic field, part of the Hachimantai volcanic complex.

Beneath it lies a massive geothermal system, which also powers nearby geothermal energy experiments.

This massive geothermal system is believed to be a mythical white dragon.

A local legend tells of a White Dragon (白龍) living beneath the springs.

The dragon was said to guard the fiery heart of the mountain.

When villagers angered the gods, the dragon released boiling water and sulfur as a warning.

When appeased through offerings, the dragon turned the same water into a source of healing.

Thus, the hot springs’ dual nature — painful yet restorative, reflecting the dragon’s dual aspects as destroyer and as a healer.

Tamagawa Onsen is known as a “therapeutic onsen” — a place where people stay for extended periods to heal chronic illnesses like cancer.

Cancer patients from all over Japan come here for extended periods to bathe and to heal.

There are two main lodging types:

Tamagawa Onsen Ryokan (a traditional inn) that is more comfortable, offering cancer patients healthy food and guided bathing.

This is where we are staying.

There is also Shin Tamagawa that is a hotel, but it is farther away from the amazing volcanic landscape.

Then there is the Shizen Kenkyū-en (Nature Research Center), a simpler facility where guests cook for themselves and follow strict bathing schedules during the day, including laying outdoors on the rocks to benefit from the radiation and hot stones.

Radon and the “Hot Stone Therapy” are famous here.

The area emits natural radon gas from radioactive rocks (Ryolite with small uranium traces).

Locals believe that lying on the warm stones helps the body heal through mild radiation exposure and heat therapy.

The “Radon treatment zone” is a famous outdoor area where visitors lie wrapped in blankets on the hot ground for hours.

We walked among the people lying on the paths, covered in blankets and under umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun.

I thought about our home in Colorado.

Most homes in Colorado have high Radon concentrations.

Radon is an odorless, tasteless gas that is released as uranium decays in bedrock and soil. 

Most of what's exposed in the mountains of Colorado is granite, formed from magma and rich in uranium.

When you buy a house in Colorado or sign a rental lease, you will be notified that there is potential for high Radon concentrations in your area.

In the USA, it is considered dangerous, but here in Japan, it is sought after, and people come from all over just to soak it in, since it is believed that the high concentration of Radon is a healing environment.

Whether it is the truth or a myth, it is definitely believed that the hot springs waters of Tamagawa Onsen cure cancer.

In the Onsen, I saw many women and men who clearly were undergoing cancer treatments, or already had overcome their cancers and were coming here as a preventative measure.  

I saw many women with their breasts removed, some years ago with subsequent reconstructive surgeries, and some looking very recent.

Some women lost their hair to the cancer treatments, and in the hallways of the inn, I saw men walking with oxygen tanks.

There is no scientific proof that the acidic sulfur waters in Tamagawa Onsen, or the high concentration of radon gas, cure cancer.

However, our science is very limited in its knowledge, and many 

visitors report improved well-being and symptomatic relief, possibly due to relaxation, detoxification, faith, hope or improved circulation.

This belief began in the 1950s, when a few cancer patients who stayed here long-term, reported feeling better and some were completely healed.

In the baths, I overheard women talking.

Some came from Hokkaido, some from Kyushu, some from Okinawa.

All were seeking healing and were staying for a long period of time.

Another belief is that the stones themselves are magical.

The “Beppyō-seki” (別俵石) rocks are indeed unique, a type of radium-containing rocks which are very rare in Japan.

While the stones emit low-level natural radiation, their “magical” properties are spiritual interpretations, not scientific.

Some locals and visitors revere them as healing stones of the gods, tied to the mountain and the earth spirits.

Another belief is that the onsen is dangerous.

The acidity of the waters and the strong sulfur smell, combined with the powerful hot steam vents, and the barren landscape, led older generations to fear the place as “a hell valley.”

In reality, it’s not hellish, but it is dangerous if you wander near the boiling water source or the powerful fumarole vents and inhale too much gas.

Warning signs advise against approaching the vents, but we did walk through them, and I felt the power of the nostrils of the White Dragon, fuming powerfully.

Tamagawa Onsen has been used in Japanese geothermal research since the 1920s.

It’s one of Japan’s few onsens where bathing rules are medically supervised (how long, how often, at what temperature).

Regardless of truth or myth, the place is a very powerful place that  emanates Spiritual energies.

It is most definitely a Sacred Landscape in the Mountains.

Long before Tamagawa Onsen became a health retreat, it was revered as a place of mountain spirits and purification.

The volcanic slopes of Mount Yakeyama and nearby Mount Hachimantai were sacred to practitioners of Shugendō (修験道), a syncretic faith blending Shinto, Buddhism, and animism.

In Shugendō belief, the mountains are living deities, and volcanic energy is the manifestation of the Earth’s vital force (chi or ki).

The steaming fumaroles and sulfur vents were seen as “breath of the mountain gods” (yama-no-kami no iki), both dangerous and sacred.

Pilgrims came here to purify their bodies in the mineral waters before undertaking spiritual ascents or long meditation retreats in the mountains.

The Power of the Earth Fire is another ancient belief.

The violent geothermal activity, the boiling waters, the roaring steam, and the acidic soil, all symbolize rebirth through chaos.

In this worldview, the Earth’s fire purges impurities, illness, and negative karma, so to bathe in such waters is to surrender to purification by the divine fire.

The acidic water that “peels” the skin was interpreted as shedding old energies and emerging renewed.

This parallels Buddhist beliefs of hell and liberation, where one must face heat, hell fire and hardship in order to attain enlightenment and inner peace.

The radioactive rhyolite rocks emitting gentle warmth are thought to contain the sleeping energy of the dragon or earth spirits.

Locals believed the stones absorbed cosmic energy and released it through heat and radiation.

Lying on the warm stones was not only done as just a physical therapy, but as a form of grounding and energy alignment.

Some called the practice “earth breathing meditation,” where one connects with the Earth’s vital pulse.

In modern wellness culture, this idea evolved into Ganban Yoku (岩盤浴)— a stone-bed therapy that is now popular across Japan, though Tamagawa remains its spiritual birthplace.

Pilgrimages to this place are now done to combine modern healing techniques with Spiritual realignment and healing.

It is understood that all dis-eases have their origin in some form of spiritual misalignment that needs correction and redirection.

Even today, visitors often describe Tamagawa Onsen as “a place that calls you when you need it.”

Many come after major illness or life transitions, staying for weeks at a time to cleanse body and spirit, to reconnect with nature’s primal powers, to meditate amid the steam and the stones, to listen to the pulse of the earth and to remember…

To remember that we are One with the earth…

One with LIFE.

This echoes ancient Shugendō mountain retreats, where healing was seen as a balance of the physical, spiritual, and elemental realms.

Thus in Tamagawa all the elements combine to bring about healing:

Fire is the element of purification and rebirth (through the volcanic heat and the hot waters).

Water is the element of renewal and the flow of life (mineral springs and healing baths).

Air is the breath of the Gods (Rising steam, radon gas and sulfur vapors).

Earth is endurance and grounding (Warm healing stones and the energy of the mountains).

Together, these make Tamagawa Onsen a microcosm of nature’s four elements, seen as harmonizing forces that restore human balance.

The interior of the Onsen is all made of wood and is divided into multiple baths.

The biggest bath uses the sulphuric hot springs at 100% concentration, which is full strength.

There are other pools at 50% concentration.

Then there is a hot springs bath that has “sulfuric flowers” which are concentrated clay sediments that makes the water milky white.

I alternated my soak in the different baths, rotating my stay in each bath according to how hot I felt.

I even tried the sulphuric sauna, which is an individual upright wooden coffin, where you sit with only your head sticking out.

I also drank the acidic waters.

There was a fountain with fresh mineral waters, near a faucet of 50% acidic waters and empty cups.

You fill the cup with cold mineral waters and then add a bit of the acidic waters.

It tasted a bit as if I added vinegar to the water.

It was tasty to me, since I love drinking lemon or vinegar waters.

As I soaked, I meditated and sent loving healing energy to all the women around me.

I allowed the love to radiate in concentric circles to all their loved ones, across space and time.

Jules told me that the men’s side was surprisingly not too busy, and that he found the acetic bath waters to be totally unique, amazing, and a great way to conclude the days of mountain climbing on our pilgrimage at this very high point.

We ate dinner wearing our yukatas.

The food was wholesome, too.

They offered two kinds of brown rice, one plain and one cooked with mushrooms.

Most of the food was steamed or pickled vegetables, nothing fried and very little meat or fish.

The daily fish offered was a thin slice of river salmon, steamed inside  silver foil with leeks, mushrooms and a bit of miso paste.

There were no desserts, only some grapes and slices of orange.

For me, this place was the highlight of my entire pilgrimage.

If I could return to one place in the future, I would come here again.

It was really that awesome.

Sending you love and healing,

Tali 

Walked today 17 km. 

Total walked to date - 386 km.