Hashiriyu

photo by Batholith · Public domain

Among the three oldest hot springs in Japan: 70°C from a cave discovered 1,300 years ago.

It is one of the three oldest hot springs in Japan, together with Dōgo (Ehime) and Arima (Hyōgo), and one of the very few that flow out horizontally: the water, at about 70°C, comes out at 170 litres a minute from a 5-metre-deep cave dug into the cliff, and its run towards the sea gave it its name (走り湯, ‘running water’). Before the Meiji era it was revered as the sacred water of Izusan Shrine.

Tradition dates the discovery to the year 699, when the ascetic En no Gyōja is said to have seen a five-coloured vapour rising from the Izusan coast. It lies at the very origin of Atami's name and of its fortune as a hot-spring health resort.

ℹ️ A site for viewing only, not for bathing: do not touch the spring, which comes out almost boiling. Open 9:00–17:00. From Atami Station, take a bus towards Izusan/Yugawara (about 5 minutes), get off at Aoizome-bashi and walk 10 minutes; on foot from the station it is about 1.6 km.

🚉 Atami · 17 min walk

Sources: ataminews.gr.jp · skyticket.jp

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