Siebold’s Footbath

This footbath in Ureshino marks the endpoint of the Kyushu Olle Ureshino Course and is named for Philipp Franz von Siebold, the German physician who passed through in 1826 and became one of the first researchers to document the properties of the local spring water. Ureshino was a busy spa town at the time with more than double its current number of hot-spring inns. The water at the source reaches around 100 degrees Celsius and is pumped to the footbath at 80 to 90 degrees. The designation of gensen kakenagashi, indicating naturally sourced free-flowing spring water, is closely guarded here. Some local inns cool the water in storage tanks to preserve purity without diluting it with cold water.