As I wrote in the first post here, I believe onsenpunk have existed for long time and we just need to find out way to it. I was lucky to get the introduction to Japanese hot springs from my host family when I first came to Japan in 2009. But I think my real initiation into the world of onsenpunk happened a few years after that, in the winter of 2012-13 when I was travelling through Japan on New Year holidays.

I visited the true heart of onsen territory, the city of Beppu, to see the famous “hells”–hot springs that are too poisonous and with dangerously high temperature, but vivid colors. The whole town is covered in the smoke from the many hot springs. I will write more about it, of course, and hopefully visit again soon.

The mud-water hot spring complex left the strongest impression on me. It is spacious and you have to travel through underground tunnel with water pouring down the walls to get to the large grey lake of hot mud. It is of course volcanic ash and not dirt or earth mud, and it looks absolutely surreal. You can see photos from their website as it is a mixed bathing facility and I could not make photos there.

After Beppu I traveled to the quiet onsen-town of Kurokawa which is another important location for onsenpunk devotees. The town is build as one big traditional hotel that just happens to be divided in a number of properties. It was a first town to start offering its hotel guests a special pass (tegata) to a number of baths in different ryokans there. It was a pleasant foggy day and I went with my friends to a big open-air bath with a view to the waterfall where we sat in the rain for an hour.

The real adventure time came when I went to Shikoku and tried to climb the highest mountain of the island, mount Ishizuchi (1982 m). Down near the sea it was warm and almost spring-like weather, so I thought surely the climb wound not be as difficult. I could not be more wrong. Halfway to the top the snow was covering everything, the icy ground dangerously slippery, and I had no crampons or any other equipment while the road was getting steeper and steeper. Finally after I got too close to falling down a few hundred meters I made one of the best decisions in my life–I turned back. I was tired and scared and I needed something to restore me, to heal, almost like in an RPG game. And boy, did I get lucky.

As I got back to the road I spotted a sign advertising a hot spring facility and got there just in time to be their last visitor that day. In the middle of nowhere with no people around I stepped into the bathroom and saw the only bath that was filled with the bubbling water the color of rust or dried blood. I could not believe my eyes at that moment and thought I was getting delirious. Later of course I learned that red and brown-color hot springs are not so rare and usually indicate a significant amount of iron in the water. At that time I knew not as much about all that and was so tired that it was difficult to understand what was happening.

Before jumping in the bath I got my camera and took a photo which remains one of my favorite onsenpunk images. Steam is everywhere, the yellow-brown water is delivered straight out of underground hell, the window shows rusted scaffolding with the greenish blur of leaves in the background. This could be today or a couple hundred years ago, and it will probably look similar a few hundred years from now. Feeling the heat of water you sit there in silence.

A little bit before that I was in Naruko, in the north-western part of Honshu island, where I had a similar experience. I was hiking around the volcanic lake Katanuma, the smell of sulphur everywhere and the steam from greenish volcanic vents hovering above. It was getting late, I was alone and it was getting colder. I hurried down back to the catch the bus to Sendai where I was staying and on the way I saw a small traditional wooden building with the yu 湯 sign. No staff was there and you just needed to put couple hundred yen in a box.

It was very dark inside and you could only see that there were just two small bath. No showers or any amenities. The water was clearly coming from the spring nearby and had a characteristic scent. It was green-grey color and so hot you could barely get in there. Right what I needed after a long day of walking in the cold. How satisfying it was to soak there! I was still a bit nervous if I was following all the onsen etiquette rules correctly, but chatting with locals I understood it was nothing to worry about. The raw power and energy of hot mineral water coming from volcanoes communicated all you needed to know.

Now playing: Trojan Dub Box set.

All photos are by Dimitry Rakin (author).