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Towada-Hachimantai NP, Aomori
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Geologists found 3 ash layers from steam blasts at Jigokunuma: one dated to the 13th–14th century and 2 to the 15th–17th. No historical document recording these eruptions has been found.
The blasts were likely powered by trapped steam, not rising magma. Rock fragments suggest they began less than 50 m beneath the pond, within its still-active underground hydrothermal system.
This volcanic crater pool receives about 2,700 L of hot, acidic water every minute. Some of the spring water reaches 90°C—and the strong acidity means fish cannot live in the pond.
Across the road, nearby Manju Fukashi turns geothermal heat into a sit-down steam bath: visitors sit clothed on a bench warmed by hot water. Its cheeky name uses a Tsugaru-dialect euphemism for female anatomy.
Jigokunuma, or “Hell Swamp,” is also called Sokonashi-numa—“Bottomless Swamp.” Its basin is not a mystery abyss: it is an old explosion crater that now collects hot spring water.
