Observing Hakuba Happo Onsen from a scientific perspective
The Hakuba Happo Onsen are well known as Bihada no yu – spring water that beautifies yourskin. The high alkaline property of over pH11 makes your skin soft and smooth. Bathing
makes you relax and refresh, and some believe that it has rejuvenating effects.
While Hakuba Happo Onsen offer these benefits as baths, from a scientific perspective thearea has many traces of the dramatic history of Earth and reminiscence of the primeval time.
That is because the spring water of Hakuba Happo Onsen contains properties that are
extremely valuable and significant to the study of Earth-life.

When, where and how did life emerge on Earth?
The Earth was said to have formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, and life on Earthabout 4 billion years ago. The question is how was life originated?
The three major mysteries that we still pursue of today are: the origin of the universe, theorigin of life, and the origin of our brain. Several times in the past, these research areas had
been interrupted due to a number of obstacles, but recently there has been a sudden boost inacademic interest lead by the participation of various disciplines, particularly in the study todetermine the origins of life. Founded in December 2012, the Earth-Life Science Institute ofTokyo Institute of Technology (Meguro-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN; Director Kei Hirose) pursues thequestion of “the origins of Earth and life” from an interdisciplinary approach with thecollaboration of researchers specializing mainly in earth science, life science, and planetaryscience.
One popular hypothesis is that life could have emerged from submarine hydrothermal vents(in particular, serpentine hydrothermal vents) leading to the formation of life. Exposed
peridotite on the seafloor and earth surface reacted with hot water to form hydrocarbons andother organic compounds which may have evolved into life.

Where and how did life emerge?
・ Hypothesis: life may have originated from submarinehydrothermal systems (in particular, serpentine hydrothermal vents)

peridotite (mantle) + water = serpentine
・high alkalinity (pH > 10)・high hydrogen concentration (H2 > mM)
Fe(II)rock+ H2O → Fe(III)rock + H2
Fe(II) rock + H2O + CO2(?) → Fe(III) rock + CH4 + hydrocarbons
Rocks made of peridotite are not exposed on the surface of the Earth
The seabed must have been covered with peridotite at the time Earthwas formed.

Source: reference material at the briefing by Tokyo Institute of Technology

Hakuba Happo, a rare site on Earth
Serpentine was named from the Latin serpentinus for its serpent-like appearance. The
formation of serpentine occurs when peridotite from the earth’s mantle is brought to theseafloors or earth surface due to crustal movements and reacts with water.
Hakuba is famous for its exposed serpentine, but the volcanic chains in that cut throughcreate the unique coexistence of serpentine and Onsen. Being one of the largest areas with
exposure of serpentine and combined with good accessibility, Hakuba is becoming a popularresearch destination for many geoscientists.

Water property resembles the environment in which life emerged
Since 2007, the research group at Tokyo Institute of Technology has recognized thesignificance of Hakuba Happo Onsen and the exposed serpentine. They have been
conducting water analysis of excavated Onsen since 2010.
Results revealed that the spring water of Hakuba Happo has high alkalinity (pH11 or higher)
and very high hydrogen content, and contains methane and other hydrocarbons that form thebasis of life on Earth. The water quality is remarkably similar to the property of water that is
produced when reacting with serpentine. The research group further discovered that Hakuba
Happo Onsen contain very few types of bacteria compared to other Onsen, and that thesebacteria could survive under high alkaline environments and resemble the state of primitive
life. In other words, Hakuba Happo Onsen could have the same quality as the water 4 billion
years ago when life emerged on Earth.

Hakuba Happo is a hot spot among scientists worldwide
There is an emerging expectation among scientists that thestudy of Hakuba Happo Onsen will eventually allow us toelucidate the biggest event in Earth history – how life
originated on early Earth. The clues to solve this mystery
are here in Hakuba Happo Onsen.
The research team lead by ELSI associate professor
Yuichiro Ueno published their findings at Hakuba Happo ina prestigious scientific magazine, “Earth and Planetary
Science Letters” issued on January 15, 2014. Led byprofessor Ken Kurokawa, the team also initiated a new
MEXT grant-in-aid scientific research project to understandthe formation of life starting FY2014. Hakuba Happo is now
gaining the attention of scientists around the world – it is a
precious site and possibly the most appropriate place toexchange opinions on the origins of life.

In Kurokawa’s words, “Hakuba Happo Onsen could be a sacred land for those studying theorigins of life.”

Reminiscising the primordial times
From the Onsen of Hakuba Happo we could trace the aquatic environment 4 billion years ago,and close in on the mystery of how life emerged on Earth.
Bathing in the Onsen and imagining the turbulent drama of Earth formation could also be aunique experience. In Hakuba Happo’s ski and mountain resort setting, you will now discover
the fascinating Earth-life science treasures. The local residents of Hakuba Happo will enjoy
the romantic reminiscent of the primordial times and will continue to support these research
activities.

◆ Supervised & reference provided by:
Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology
2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, JAPANKei Hirose, Director of ELSIKen Kurokawa, Vice-Director of ELSI & Professor
Shigenori Maruyama, Professor
Yuichiro Ueno, Associate Professor
Konomi Suda, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science andEngineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Soichi Omori, Associate Professor, the Open University of Japan◆Location of Research

Hakuba Happo Onsen
Hakuba-mura, Kita Azami-gun, Nagano Prefecture, Japan(Property management: Happoone Kaihatsu K.K.)◆ Planning
Happoone Kaihatu K.K.
“Happo 50 Years Ahead” Project