The word “moor” is German for humus. Unlike volcanic hot springs, the Ogata Moor Hot Spring is a yellowish brown and has 6mg of humus per liter of water, making it a rarity among Japanese hot springs. The spring has two sources, located about 1.5km to the southwest, with water drawn from a depth of about 900m. Ogata Village was born from the land reclamation of Hachiro Lagoon, but in ancient times the entire Hachiro Lagoon area was deep under the sea. Layers of sediment on the ocean floor formed the foundation of Ogata Village’s land. The hot spring comes from a sand layer within a 4-5 million year old mudstone stratum (Tentokuji Formation). It is said that the hot spring was formed by water and humus being heated deep underground in this sand layer.
