It was a cold February day in northern Japan, snow piled high outside the onsen locker room windows as I slipped out of my clothes. Nervously, I stepped into the plumes of steam wafting from the next ...
Travel and Tannins on MSN
What happens at a Japanese onsen that doesn’t happen at any spa — and the specific etiquette rules that make it so different
The Japanese onsen — natural hot spring bath — is often described as similar ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Six hot spring resorts in the Tohoku region were among the top 10 of a major travel website’s list of “most recommended onsen ...
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 ...
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 ...
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