Hot springs in Misasa

Misasa Onsen occupies a river valley at the base of Mitokusan, a sacred mountain in central Tottori Prefecture. No other hot spring in the world records higher natural concentrations of radon and radium, a fact that earned the area international scientific recognition at the Paris Exposition in the early twentieth century. Each year the town hosts a Marie Curie festival to honor the scientist credited with isolating and naming radium.