generate molecular hydrogen.
As such, artiﬁcial hydrogen water for drinking is now on the market, but you need a lot more hydrogen in

Hakuba Happo Onsen Newsletterorder to absorb it through your entire body.
Hot spring water containing natural hydrogen is constantly supplied to Obinata-no-yu and Happo-no-yu
where your body can take in hydrogen.

The only hot spring in Japan
using natural hydrogenspring
Hakuba Happo Onsen has launchedseveral initiatives to utilize theproperties of hydrogen describedabove.
Hydrogen penetrating through theskin can also aﬀect your body.
Bathing in natural hydrogen spring
continuously or periodically may
prevent illness or inhibit the aging
process.
Almost 50 - 60ppb of dissolvedhydrogen gas has been observed at the open-air hot spring bath of Happo-no-yu. While higher hydrogenconcentration would be preferable, the bath contains just enough natural hydrogen.
Obinata-no-yu is trying to maximize the exposure to hydrogen by adding tsubo-yu (a vase-shaped bath) toeﬀectively contain the dissolved hydrogen inside, and utase-yu (drip bath), a shower of newly supplied
water.
Drinking hydrogen water could also be eﬀective as described above. Hakuba Happo Onsenʼs
Obinata-no-yu is approved and equipped as a drinking spring, but there are certain precautions you

Hakuba Happo Onsen, A Source of Natural
Hydrogen Spring〜 Its antioxidant properties may reduce lifestyle-relateddiseases and provide anti-aging eﬀects 〜
The only hot spring in Japan which contains naturally dissolvedhydrogen that has possibly been observed to date.

follow when drinking this spring water as it contains strong alkaline with a high pH of 11. Guidance fromthe local health authority is posted at the drinking fountain, and we also recommend that you receive
medical instructions from a balneotherapist.

“Bad” active oxygen causes lifestyle-relateddiseases and accelerates aging

If hydrogen becomes certiﬁed as constituent under the Hot Spring Law of Japan and gains academic
qualiﬁcation, it could add new values to the inherent eﬃcacies of Hakuba Happo Onsen.

Anti-aging with antioxidant eﬀects of hydrogen waterEﬀects of drinking hydrogen water＜Supervised & references provided by＞
Nippon Onsen Research Institute Co., Ltd., http://www.onsen-r.co.jp/＜References provided by＞
The Portal of Hydrogen http://suiso-p.jp/ Run by K.K. GAMADAS＜Planned & published by＞
Happo-one Kaihatsu K.K. “Happo 50 Years Ahead” Project

The only hot spring in Japan using natural hydrogen spring

No3

The only hot spring in Japan whichcontains naturally dissolved hydrogenthat has possibly been observed to date.

“Bad” active oxygen causes lifestyle-related diseases and accelerates aging
It has been found that many of the human diseases are caused by active oxygen. Our bodies are kept
alive by metabolism ‒ a process that digests food and coverts it to energy, and moves our heart to makeIn collaboration with Nippon Onsen Research Instituteus breathe. Active oxygen is produced during this process of metabolism.

Co., Ltd., our Onsen Division has been conducting

Not all types of active oxygen induce illness. Among the many kinds of active oxygen, those that cause

research on the amounts of dissolved hydrogencontained in the hot spring waters. Component analysis

harm to human bodies are called hydroxyl radicals. These “bad” active oxygen damage or destroy ourresults were published by Takuya Morimoto of thecells and trigger cancer and other lifestyle-related diseases.

Institute in his paper titled “Dissolved Hydrogen (H2) inOur body generates various enzymes that eradicate harmful active oxygen, but the functions of these

Natural Hot Spring” that appeared in the December

enzymes are said to decline at the age of 30, and our body becomes more vulnerable to active oxygen2014 issue of Hot Spring Sciences magazine (Volumeand starts to “rust.” This is the mechanism of aging ‒ how we get wrinkles, freckles and spots.

64, No. 3) of The Japanese Society of Hot Spring
Sciences.
According to the paper, Hakuba Happo Onsen is

Anti-aging with antioxidant eﬀects of hydrogen water

currently the only hot spring in Japan in which
dissolved H2 was observed, and authors suggested that

Meanwhile, there are substances that have antioxidant eﬀects, which are useful in removing active

although hydrogen is not stipulated in the current Hot

oxygen: beta-carotene, polyphenol, vitamin C, and catechin, to name but a few. Hydrogen has also been

Spring Law of Japan, its eﬀects and eﬃcacy may have

proved in recent studies to have antioxidant eﬀects.

many unknown potentials.

Molecular hydrogen is small and soluble in both water and oil, so they can easily circulate throughout

On May 22 and June 26, 2015, the Institute conducted

our body compared to other antioxidant substances. And while vitamins and polyphenol are so powerfulfurther studies taking more precise measurements ofas to reduce (remove oxygen) even the “good” active oxygen, hydrogen is known to reduce only the “bad”

the dissolved hydrogen contained in the Hakuba Happo

active oxygen.

Onsen waters. The following H2 gas concentrations
were observed.

Such eﬃcient and eﬀective antioxidant properties of hydrogen could be highly useful in anti-aging (inA high dissolved hydrogen concentration of 1,208 ppb

other words, delaying the aging process).

was observed in the water of hot spring source no. 1. At

Other studies revealed that hydrogen also has anti-inﬂammatory, anti-allergic properties, opening newlocations where spring water is made available to thepossibilities for curing skin disorder, atopic dermatitis, or even pollen allergy, but despite thesepublic, concentration was 243 ppb at the Obinata-no-yu

recognized eﬀects of hydrogen water in the world of medicine, their guaranteed eﬃcacies against

drinking fountain, which is the closest location to thesource, and 120 ppb at Happo-no-yu open-air bathingarea located near the center of Happo District. The
paper suggests that bathing in dissolved hydrogen may

diseases are yet to be proved. So, we cannot say that bathing in hydrogen water will prevent cancer, orConcentration of dissolved hydrogendrinking hydrogen water will cure your diabetes.
Still, we do know that hydrogen can remove active oxygen, so the question is when the eﬃcacy ofPoints of measurement

H2 gas concentration

Hot spring source No. 1

1,208 ppb

bathtubs, so depending on how the water is supplied,

Hot spring source No. 3467 ppb

the baths could perhaps be used as natural hydrogen

Obinata-no-yu drinking water

243 ppb

Eﬀects of drinking hydrogen water

Happo-no-yu open-air hot spring

120 ppb

Since a paper showing the potency of hydrogen as a therapeutic gas was published in the medical

have eﬀects on human bodies if a minimum
concentration of 50 ppb could be maintained in thespring.
In the same study, the components and (alkaline) pH

journal “Nature Medicine” in 2007, the antioxidant eﬀects of hydrogen has been recognized followed byvalue of the hot spring water of Hakuba Happo Onsen
were found to be highly reducible, which means thatthe water has antioxidant properties. What are thesigniﬁcances of Hakuba Happo hot spring waterʼs highhydrogen concentration and high reducibility?

hydrogen will be established in the ﬁelds of medicine, healthcare and beauty care.

Deﬁnition of hydrogen water

80 ppb or greater

Hydrogen water products

Approx. 1,000 ppb※1,000ppb = 1ppm
<Measurements taken by Nippon Onsen Research Institute Co., Ltd.>the development of hydrogen water products.
Today, artiﬁcial hydrogen water promoting its antioxidant eﬀects are sold by many manufacturers andare rapidly gaining popularity. A 500ml hydrogen water bottle can now be purchased for 200 to 500 yen.
There are also water servers that can produce hydrogen water at home by electrolyzing tap water to