Atmospheric pressure plasma sources in air-shielded environment by water flow were developed for a plasma process utilizing water-derived reactive species without air contamination in the atmosphere. An atmospheric pressure plasma jet with He gas was enclosed by a cylindrical water flow preventing air contamination to the plasma without using a gas flow shield, vessel or pump. Suppression of air contamination into the plasma was confirmed by optical emission spectroscopy. Furthermore, a microwave-excited water-vapor plasma source in a space shielded by a coneshaped water flow was developed using a coaxial waveguide with a ring-shaped slot to use a high-density hydroxyl radical without air contamination at atmospheric pressure. A water-vapor plasma without air was successfully realized by pulsed-microwave discharges. Production of a hydroxyl radical was confirmed from the optical emission from the plasma. As an application example of the water-vapor plasma in the airshield environment, atmospheric pressure photoresist removal treatment was demonstrated and the removal rate as high as 2.2 μm min −1 was obtained. © 2018 The Japan Society of Applied Physics 15 kVpp, frequency: 10 kHz, pulse width: 5 μs) are applied to another electrode through a ballast resistance of 20 kΩ. In this configuration, a plasma jet is produced inside the quartz tube and downflow area of the quartz tube. The plasma source is surrounded by coaxially-aligned three acrylic pipes