"Iouzan" means a sulfur mountain in Japanese. There are quite a few "Iouzen" all around Japan because it is a volcano country. This "Iouzan" which I visited in this trip is one of the most popular view spots in Hokkaido. We can directly access the holes where hot sulfur gas comes out. Boiled eggs are the typical souvenir in this area; the eggshell is black because of the sulfur gas and the inside is half boiled with liquid white and solid yellow. It is true that a sulfur mountain comes with hot springs and this "Iouzan" has of course good hot springs around the mountain. Kawayu -- hot water river -- is the most famous hot spring and there are a lot of hotels there, but my favorite hot spring is located just on the foot of the mountain. I hear that there was a youth hostel out there more than twenty years ago which had already been destroyed when I visited more than a decade ago for the first time. Only a bath tub was left then and I pinched a tent by the bath tub to enjoy camping. Unfortunately, I couldn't visit the place because the entrance was closed by a fence of a construction site. I am sorry to find my favorite places are lost one by one.
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