Can you visit Noboribetsu Onsen as a day trip?

Yes. Several hotels sell day-use bath tickets, from 550 yen at the Yumoto Sagiriyu public bath to 2,500 yen at Dai-ichi Takimotokan. The resort is about 1 hour from New Chitose Airport by direct bus, so a day trip from Sapporo is easy.

How many types of hot spring water does Noboribetsu have?

Noboribetsu has nine types of hot spring water. They include sulfur and salt springs as well as iron, alum and sodium bicarbonate springs. Most of it comes from Jigokudani (Hell Valley).

How do you get to Noboribetsu Onsen from Sapporo?

Take the Hokuto or Suzuran limited express to JR Noboribetsu Station (about 1 hour 10 minutes), then a 15- to 20-minute bus. Direct highway buses from Sapporo take about 1 hour 20 minutes.

How do you get to Noboribetsu Onsen from New Chitose Airport?

The Airport-go highway bus runs direct in about 1 hour and needs a reservation. By train, go to Minami-Chitose and change to a limited express for Noboribetsu Station, then take the bus.

Why does Noboribetsu smell like eggs?

The smell comes from hydrogen sulfide in the sulfur springs, which rise from the volcanic crater at Jigokudani. The sulfur water is the milky white type the town is best known for.

Snow-dusted mountain with orange and yellow rocky slopes, patches of steam rising from the ground, under a bright blue sky with white clouds. Sparse trees cover parts of the ridgeline.

A steaming natural hot spring with clear blue water, surrounded by rocks and enclosed by a wooden fence. Steam rises from the water, creating a misty atmosphere.

A wooden walkway winds through a steamy, rocky landscape with orange-brown grasses and bare trees. Thick white steam rises from geothermal vents, obscuring parts of the view under a cloudy sky.

A steaming hot spring surrounded by colorful autumn trees and hills under a partly cloudy sky, with vibrant red, orange, and yellow foliage blanketing the landscape.

A wooden walkway leads through a rocky, steaming geothermal valley surrounded by green hills and colorful mineral deposits under a clear blue sky.

Hokkaido

Noboribetsu Onsen

Colloquial AreaPolitical

Last updated Nov 7, 2026

Noboribetsu Onsen is a hot spring resort town in Noboribetsu, in the Iburi region of southwestern Hokkaido. It is known for having nine different types of hot spring water in one small resort, most of it flowing from Jigokudani (Hell Valley), a volcanic crater at the top of the town. The resort is about 1 hour from New Chitose Airport and 1 hour 40 minutes from Sapporo by car.

The springs were created by volcanic activity about 10,000 years ago, and people have bathed here since the Edo period (1603–1868). Hotels, ryokan and souvenir shops line the main street, and statues of oni (demons) around town are a nod to the "hell" valley above.

Noboribetsu Onsen hot spring types

Noboribetsu is often called a "hot spring department store" because so many kinds of water rise in one place. The springs include:

Sulfur springs: milky white water with the boiled-egg smell the town is known for
Salt (chloride) springs
Iron and acidic iron springs
Alum, mirabilite and sodium bicarbonate springs

Hopping between hotel baths to try different waters is part of the appeal.

Day-trip baths at Noboribetsu Onsen

You do not need to stay overnight to bathe. Several hotels sell day-use tickets, and the town lists them all on its day-use bath list with current prices:

Dai-ichi Takimotokan: 2,500 yen for adults
Noboribetsu Grand Hotel: 1,500 yen
Hotel Yumoto Noboribetsu: 1,400 yen
Noboribetsu Manseikaku: 1,300 yen
Sekisuitei: 1,200 yen
Yumoto Sagiriyu: 550 yen, the town's public bathhouse

Day-use hours differ by hotel, so check before you go. Karurusu Onsen, about 15 minutes farther inland, has smaller inns with day baths from 500 yen.

What to see at Noboribetsu Onsen

Jigokudani Hell Valley sits at the top of the town. Steam and boiling water pour out of the bare crater walls, and the smell of sulfur hangs over the whole area.

Beyond it lie Oyunuma, a steaming pond of pale blue water, and the Oyunuma River natural foot bath. Sengen Park in town has a geyser. A guided Oyunuma hike covers the pond and steam fields with a local guide.

For a wider list that includes the Date Jidaimura theme park, see these things to do in Noboribetsu.

How to get to Noboribetsu Onsen

By train from Sapporo: the Hokuto or Suzuran limited express reaches JR Noboribetsu Station in about 1 hour 10 minutes. From Hakodate the Hokuto takes about 2 hours 25 minutes.
From the station: the onsen is about 8 kilometers inland, 15 to 20 minutes by Donan Bus or taxi.
From New Chitose Airport: the reserved Airport-go highway bus runs direct in about 1 hour. By rail, take the airport train to Minami-Chitose and change to a limited express.
By highway bus from Sapporo: the reserved Onsen-go and the Hakucho-go take about 1 hour 20 minutes.
By car: about 6 kilometers from Noboribetsu-Higashi Interchange on the Do-o Expressway.

Noboribetsu Onsen is also a stop on a Hokkaido road trip with kids that continues to Lake Toya and Otaru.