A closer look
Boiling alive is generally considered a vacation foul, which is why the locals at Japan's Kusatsu Onsen perform the 'Yumomi' ritual. The water erupting from this volcanic source hits a blistering 120 degrees Fahrenheit—perfect for cooking eggs, terrible for human skin. Instead of ruining the sacred mineral composition by adding cold tap water, teams rhythmically beat the scalding pools with six-foot wooden planks while singing traditional folk songs until the temperature drops to a marginally survivable, yet still scorching, 107 degrees.
