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Environment環境保全

Hot Spring Act

温泉法（おんせんほう）

It protects hot springs, guards against disasters caused by the flammable natural gas that comes up when they are drilled for or extracted, and governs their use for public bathing and drinking, mainly through permission from the prefectural governor.

Text in force since
Promulgated
Articles
55
Amendments on the way
0
Read the textOpen on e-Gov

What this law does

  • A hot spring (温泉) under this Act is hot water, mineral water, steam or other gas that comes up from underground — but not natural gas made mainly of hydrocarbons — and that is either 25°C or warmer when taken from its source, or contains at least the amount per kilogram of one of the substances the Appended Table lists, such as 1,000 mg in total of dissolved substances other than gases.(Art. 2(1), Appended Table 1) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
  • Drilling land to make a hot spring come up, deepening a hot spring's outlet (増掘) or installing powered equipment to increase its flow needs the prefectural governor's permission (許可), and only someone with the right to use the land for the drilling can seek a drilling permit. Each of these permits lasts two years, and where a disaster or other unavoidable cause keeps the work from being finished in time, the governor may, on application, extend it once, by up to two years. On completing or abandoning the work, the holder must notify the governor without delay, and the permit then lapses.(Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2), Art. 11(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • The governor must grant a drilling permit unless the drilling would affect the flow, temperature or composition of a hot spring, its facilities and method fail the technical standards against flammable-gas disasters set by a Ministry of the Environment Order (環境省令), or it would otherwise threaten the public interest. It is also refused where less than two years have passed since the applicant — or, for a company, one of its officers — finished serving, or stopped being liable to serve, a fine or heavier sentence under this Act, or had a drilling permit revoked for breaking this Act, an order or decision under it, or a condition of the permit. The same grounds apply to deepening an outlet, and all of them except the gas standards to installing powered equipment; any of these permits may carry conditions to protect hot springs, prevent gas disasters or serve the public interest, which the governor may later change.(Art. 4(1), Art. 4(3), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Extracting a hot spring from its source as a business needs the governor's permission for each extraction site, unless the governor has confirmed (確認) that the flammable natural gas at that site stays below the concentration a Ministry of the Environment Order sets as needing no measures against gas disasters. The governor must grant it unless the extraction facilities and method fail that Order's technical standards against gas disasters, or the applicant is disqualified on two-year grounds like those for drilling; a major gas-safety change to the facilities or method of extraction, or of drilling, needs permission in the same way, and these permits may carry gas-safety conditions. Whoever ends an extraction business must notify the governor without delay, and the permit or confirmation then lapses.(Art. 14-2(1), Art. 14-5(1), Art. 14-2(2), Art. 14-2(3), Art. 14-7(1), Art. 14-7(2), Art. 7-2(1), Art. 7-2(2), Art. 14-8(1), Art. 14-8(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Offering a hot spring to the public for bathing or drinking needs the governor's permission. The governor may refuse it if the hot spring's composition is found harmful to health, and must refuse it to someone who, within the last two years, finished serving or stopped being liable to serve a fine or heavier sentence under this Act, or had such a permit revoked for a breach, and to a company with such an officer. The governor may attach conditions needed for public health.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 15(3), Art. 15(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Anyone who offers a hot spring for public bathing or drinking must post, where it is easy to see in the facility, its composition, contraindications (禁忌症), cautions for bathing or drinking and other information a Ministry of the Environment Order requires, based on an analysis by a registered analytical facility (登録分析機関), and must notify the governor of the content beforehand. The analysis must be repeated every period a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, and the posting updated within 30 days of receiving the result. The governor may order the posting changed where that is needed to protect the health of people who bathe in or drink the hot spring.(Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 18(3), Art. 18(4), Art. 18(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
Article 1 states the law's own purpose
What counts as a hot springDrilling for a hot springExtraction and natural gas safetyPublic bathing and drinkingPosting the compositionRegistered analytical facilitiesPenalties

Contents

55 166 74 15 28

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . No amendment to this law is waiting to come into force. Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.

3 amendments already in force

  • 1 June 2025

    The text on this site

    Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

    刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

    The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

  • 17 June 2022

    Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

    刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

    The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

  • 30 November 2011

    e-Gov gives no title for this amendment

    The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

Who it applies to

It applies to

  • Anyone who drills land to make a hot spring come up, deepens a hot spring's outlet, or installs powered equipment to increase its flow.(Art. 3(1), Art. 11(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Anyone who extracts a hot spring from its source as a business, and anyone taking hot springs from a source, whose extraction the governor may limit.(Art. 14-2(1), Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
4 more
  • Anyone who offers a hot spring to the public for bathing or drinking, and managers of hot spring facilities — facilities where hot springs are used for public bathing or drinking, for industry or in other ways.(Art. 15(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 29(1), Art. 31(2), Art. 34(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Anyone who analyses a hot spring's composition for the posting, who must register each facility where the analysis is done with the governor of its prefecture. The governor registers it where its instruments meet a Ministry of the Environment Order's standards and the applicant has a sound enough financial basis, and not where the applicant — or, for a company, one of its officers — is within two years of a fine or heavier sentence under this Act or of a revoked registration; once registered, it must notify changes and closure, display a sign, and not refuse an analysis without good reason.(Art. 19(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 19(3), Art. 19(4), Art. 20(1), Art. 21(1), Art. 24(1), Art. 27(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Companies that take over a drilling, extraction or bathing-use permit through a merger or split with the governor's approval, and heirs who carry on the business, who must apply for the governor's approval within 60 days of the holder's death, the permit counting as theirs until it is decided; anyone taking over a confirmation that a site's gas is below the standard succeeds to it without approval, but must notify the governor.(Art. 6(1), Art. 7(1), Art. 14-3(1), Art. 14-4(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 14-6(1), Art. 14-6(2), Art. 7(2), Art. 14-4(2), Art. 17(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Anyone whose drilling of land for a purpose other than bringing up a hot spring significantly affects a hot spring's flow, temperature or composition.(Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (3)
  • In mines under the Mine Safety Act (鉱山保安法, Act No. 70 of 1949), a separate Act, where flammable natural gas is mined, a permit to drill or deepen for a hot spring is judged on whether the measures that Act's Article 5 requires to prevent harm to people in the mine have been taken, instead of on the gas-safety standards. In those mines, Chapter 3 on extraction, the permission for major changes to drilling, the orders after drilling ends, and emergency orders on drilling do not apply.(Art. 35-2(1), Art. 35-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • A permit to drill, or to deepen an outlet or install powered equipment, already held when Act No. 72 of 2001 came into force is not subject to Article 5's two-year validity period; the earlier wording of Article 5, which that Act replaced, still governs it.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Art. 5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Someone drilling or deepening under a permit already held when Act No. 121 of 2007 came into force, or granted afterwards on an application made before then, does not need Article 7-2's permission for major changes to facilities or methods, and cannot have the permit revoked under Article 9(1)(i) for failing the gas-safety standards. Someone who completed or abandoned such work, or had such a permit revoked, before then is not subject to orders under Article 8(3).(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (10)
  • The prefectural governor decides the permits, and must first hear a council or other collegial body set up under Article 51 of the Nature Conservation Act (自然環境保全法), a separate Act, before granting, refusing or revoking a permit to drill, deepen or install powered equipment, before ordering such a permit holder to take measures, and before ordering limits on extraction. Where a decision on a permit to drill, deepen or install powered equipment may affect hot springs in a neighbouring prefecture, the governor must consult the Minister of the Environment beforehand, and the Minister must hear interested parties in the prefectures concerned. A refused permit, approval, confirmation or registration must be notified to the applicant in writing, with the reasons, without delay.(Art. 32(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 4(2), Art. 6(2), Art. 7(3), Art. 14-5(2), Art. 15(4), Art. 19(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • The governor may revoke a drilling, extraction or bathing-use permit where, among other grounds, the holder breaks this Act, an order or decision under it, or a condition attached to the permit, and may revoke a bathing-use permit where public health requires it. In most of those cases the governor may order the measures needed — for bathing use, ordering whoever extracts the hot spring or manages the facility to restrict its use or prevent harm — but must first hold a formal hearing (聴聞), as before ordering limits on extraction, and hearings on these revocations and orders are held in public. A confirmation that a site’s gas is below the standard must be revoked if it was obtained by fraud or the concentration rises above the standard.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 14-9(1), Art. 14-9(2), Art. 31(1), Art. 31(2), Art. 4(3), Art. 33(1), Art. 33(2), Art. 14-5(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Where urgently needed to prevent a flammable-gas disaster, the governor may order someone drilling or extracting to take safety measures or to stop. The governor may order the land restored where a drilling permit is revoked, no hot spring comes up, or someone drilled without permission, and may order gas-safety measures for two years after drilling is completed or abandoned, an extraction business ends, or the permit is revoked. The governor may also order anyone taking hot springs from a source to limit extraction to protect it, and, where the public interest requires, order someone whose drilling for another purpose significantly affects a hot spring's flow, temperature or composition to take measures against it, after consulting any other authority whose permit or approval the drilling had.(Art. 9-2(1), Art. 14-10(1), Art. 10(1), Art. 8(3), Art. 14-8(3), Art. 12(1), Art. 14(1), Art. 14(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • To the extent needed to enforce the Act, the governor may require reports from drillers, extractors, hot spring facility managers and analytical facilities, and send officials to inspect drilling sites, extraction sites, hot spring facilities and analytical facilities and to question the people concerned. The officials must carry identification and show it to the people concerned. These inspection powers are not for investigating crimes.(Art. 34(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2), Art. 28(1), Art. 28(2), Art. 28(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Drilling, deepening an outlet, installing powered equipment or extracting as a business without permission, or disobeying an emergency order to take gas-safety measures or stop, is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) for up to one year or a fine of up to 1 million yen, or both.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Offering a hot spring for public bathing or drinking without permission, making a major change to drilling or extraction facilities or methods without permission, disobeying an order under Article 8(3), 9(2), 10, 12, 14-8(3), 14-9(2) or 31(2) — to restore land, take measures, or limit extraction or use — analysing without registration, or obtaining a confirmation or registration by fraud, is punishable by imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Disobeying an order to change a posting is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen.(Art. 39(1), Art. 40(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • Failing to post the hot spring information, posting it falsely or posting it without a registered analytical facility's analysis, not having the periodic analysis or not updating the posting, failing to give a notice of completing or abandoning drilling, of ending an extraction business, of what a posting will say or of a change to a registered analytical facility's particulars, or giving a false one, failing to report or reporting falsely, obstructing an inspection or refusing to answer or answering falsely, or a registered analytical facility refusing an analysis without good reason, is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen. Where an offence under Articles 38 to 41 is committed in the course of a company's or person's business by its representative, agent or employee, the company or person is fined as well. Failing to notify, or falsely notifying, a succession to a confirmation or the closure of an analytical facility, or not displaying a facility's sign, brings a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen instead.(Art. 41(1), Art. 42(1), Art. 43(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • As a Cabinet Order (政令) provides, part of the governor's powers under Chapter 4 on hot spring use — which includes the registration of analytical facilities — and over reports and inspections other than those on drilling, may be exercised by the mayor of a city that runs a public health center under the Community Health Act (地域保健法), a separate Act, or by the head of a special ward ().(Art. 36(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • The Minister of the Environment may designate areas where hot spring facilities and their surroundings need to be developed and improved for public use. Within those areas, where it is especially needed to promote public use, the Minister or the governor may instruct a facility's manager on improving the facility or the way it is run.(Art. 29(1), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
  • The governor may revoke an analytical facility's registration if it breaks the rules on registration, notices, signs or accepting analyses, or an order under them; no longer meets the criteria for registration; comes to be disqualified by a fine or heavier sentence under this Act, or through an officer so disqualified; or was registered by fraud.(Art. 25(1), Art. 19(3), Art. 19(4)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

Cites this lawLawThis law cites it

It also names 8 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

  • 227
  • 49
  • 63not translated

The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.

Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.

Sources

Everything this page rests on

  • e-Gov (Digital Agency)温泉法 — the text in force from 2025-06-01Original
  • e-Gov (Digital Agency)温泉法 — revision historyOriginal
  • Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeHot Spring Act — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
  • Machine translation, not official
  • Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
  • Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
  • Written for this site with AICorrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs
  • Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text