An onsen is a traditional Japanese hot spring, featuring baths that are fuelled by geothermal activity beneath the Earth's surface. These baths, which can be found all over Japan due to the country's ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Joni Sweet is a journalist who covers travel, wellness, and adventure. A trip to an onsen is a quintessential part of a trip to ...

Going to an onsen or a public bathhouse is a quintessentially Japanese experience. Onsen waters are natural and volcanic, pumped up from the ground, while bathhouse waters are simply reheated.

Dōgo Onsen is Ehime Prefecture’s prime tourism draw. The onsen hot spring district, two kilometers from prefectural capital Matsuyama’s center, is filled with old-fashioned ryokan inns and restaurants ...

Above: An onsen in the newly renovated Nishimuraya Honkan, a ryokan in the town of Kinosaki. The Gora Kadan ryokan in Hakone. Located inside the national park that is home to Mount Fuji, it is less ...

For many years after I experienced my first Japanese onsen, or public bath, and whenever I was in Japan on my annual trip, I found myself playing a variation of that game recommended to nervous public ...

A new high-speed train stop unlocks Kaga, a destination for onsen, nourishing food and traditional crafts, as an easy-to-reach getaway from Japan’s capital. A riverside cafe pops up from spring ...

With more than 2,300 source springs discharging 80,000 liters of water every minute, the city of Beppu in Ōita Prefecture accounts for more than 8% of all the hot springs in Japan. One sight of the ...

One of our family's favorite winter activities is visiting an onsen (hot-spring bath). To many Japan newbies, the thought of bathing with strangers at a public bath seems off-putting — especially with ...

If you don’t love taking a shower, you’re doing it all wrong. Located directly at the crossroads of hygiene and self-care, showers are, of course, a must — but they’re also a great way to sneak in a ...

After a long day of heart-pounding activities like skiing The Remarkables or Coronet Peak, skydiving and bungee jumping, a nice soak is usually just what the doctor ordered. And at the Onsen Hot Pools ...