Matsunoyama Onsen

What it is

• One of Japan's three major medicinal baths located in a heavy snowfall area.
• The spring water is fossil seawater dating back ten million years.
• Legend says a hawk discovered the hot spring seven hundred years ago.
• The water contains high levels of boric acid and reaches ninety-eight degrees Celsius.

What to see

• Traditional inns designated as National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.
• Binary power generation facilities that utilize heat from the hot springs.
• Natural scenery that often experiences over four meters of snow in winter.

When to go

• The local festival featuring groom-throwing and ink-smearing traditions.
• Winter months to experience the extreme four-meter snow accumulation.

Getting there

• Buses run from Matsudai Station directly to the hot spring town.

Notes written by Japan Gems from facts in Japanese Wikipedia.