Japan has the world's third-largest geothermal resources, which can be an attractive renewable energy option for the country.
"To be honest, if possible, we want the drive for geothermal energy developments to stop," said Yoshiyasu Sato, vice president of the Japan Onsen Association.So the baths at Tsuchiyu Onsen, nestled between green mountains along a winding river in northeastern Japan's Fukushima, are a rarity - they coexist with a small geothermal plant.
Reconstruction funds were used to build the geothermal plant that opened in 2015 over a preexisting hot spring. For proponents of geothermal development, it's a small but promising sign of what could be replicated across Japan, given sufficient will. Before the pandemic, around 2 500 people visited Tsuchiyu's plant each year, including some in the onsen industry intrigued by its success.