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All Japan Noboribetsu-shi Jigokudani (Hell Valley)

Jigokudani (Hell Valley)

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

Noboribetsu-shi, Japan

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Merlucdai
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Geyser, warning sign   155093
Charming hellscape   Kentaro Ohno
Boiling pond   155093
Steam vent, forest, desolation   155093
Hot stream   155093
Heat-blasted caldera   Kentaro Ohno
Rusty terrain   Kevin Poh
Boardwalk, winter, night   Emy Lam
  MikeInSanFrancisco / Atlas Obscura User
Symbol of the park   MikeInSanFrancisco / Atlas Obscura User
Yellow –> Red = Mordor   Taki / Atlas Obscura User
  MikeInSanFrancisco / Atlas Obscura User
Yellow –> Red = Mordor   Taki / Atlas Obscura User
Hell Valley   Merlucdai / Atlas Obscura User
A demon in Japanese known as an oni.   Merlucdai / Atlas Obscura User
Hell Valley Demon (Oni)   Merlucdai / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Some hot springs are in picturesque mountain valleys, or in mystical high desert plateaus. The springs the feed the thermal baths in Hokkaido's most popular spa town, however, flow from a blasted primordial caldera so infernal and reeking of sulfur, it was traditionally known as a gateway to hell.

Jigokudani, or "Hell Valley" in English, is a 24-acre smoking crater of geothermal activity, created by a volcanic eruption 20,000 years ago (not to be confused with the more well-known Jigokudani in Honshu, home to the famous hot-tubbing snow monkeys). Steam vents, geysers, and boiling lakes abound in this park that can usually be smelled before it is seen.

Rusty mountain vistas surround fiery black sulfur mud ponds and hot rivers that flow down to feed the baths in the nearby well-frequented resort town of Noboribetsu. The formal spas of Noboribetsu date back to the 19th century, and were used as hospitals were wounded soldiers recovered after the Russo-Japanese War. Today the town is known as a sort of hot spring supermarket, boasting dozens of baths with many different kinds of mineral thermal waters.

The springs, geysers, hissing valleys, and baths are watched over by numerous yukijin statues, demons who bid visitors welcome and intercede in the underworld to secure good fortune for humans. Noboribetsu boasts a Shinto shrine dedicated to Enma, the King of Hell, and features a Festival of Hell in August that includes regular Demon's Firework shows. Jigokudani itself can be explored via an 8-kilometer network of boardwalks that run through the park that give visitors access to foot baths in warm volcanic rivers, as well as views of ancient forests and snow-capped peaks within a surprisingly cozy diabolical landscape.

Related Tags

Spring Hot Springs Volcanoes Natural Springs Natural Wonders Geology Nature Water
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Added By

Merlucdai

Edited By

RHyzer, MikeInSanFrancisco, Taki

  • RHyzer
  • MikeInSanFrancisco
  • Taki

Published

October 25, 2016

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  • http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150507-in-japan-hell-is-due-north
  • http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6751.html#/section_getThere
  • http://planetyze.com/en/japan/hokkaido/jigokudani-hell-valley
  • http://jpninfo.com/41417
Jigokudani (Hell Valley)
Noboribetsu-shi
Japan
42.497607, 141.14865

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