Spa Resort Hawaiians

Spa Resort Hawaiians opened on January 15, 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, an idea by mine vice president Yutaka Nakamura to repurpose the hot water that had long been a nuisance to the local Joban coalfield. As coal gave way to oil in the early 1960s, the resort was built to save the mining community's jobs, employing former miners and using geothermal heat to grow tropical plants. It draws its water from Iwaki Yumoto Onsen, which, alongside Dogo and Arima, is counted among Japan's longest-established hot springs. The resort took its current name, Spa Resort Hawaiians, in 1990 when the Joban Expressway reached Iwaki, and gained national attention after the 2006 film 'Hula Girls' dramatized its founding story.