Several Japanese cities are increasing the “bathing tax” for overnight visitors to onsen (hot spring) resorts, in an attempt to deal with rising tourism. This tax has been raised in regions including ...

Soak in the three-Michelin-starred baths of Hyotan Onsen. Learn more about the craft of traditional bamboo weaving by taking a class at the Bamboo Cultural Center. Take a thermal sand bath while ...

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 ...

I wrapped my yukata, a cloth kimono, around my naked body, pulling the left side of the fabric over the right, as instructed, and tied the obi sash securely at my waist. The hotel provided these robes ...

On a recent concert tour in Japan, I had the chance to visit several thermal baths and to chat with people about the tradition of bathing. I was fascinated by their differences with American spas.

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 ...

Visitors to Kyoto can experience traditional Japanese culture with a stay at a modern hotel designed in the style of a ryokan — a traditional Japanese inn — in the former imperial capital. Onyado Nono ...

The Umi Jigoku onsen (hot spring) is one of the stunning onsens you can see at Beppu City. While this onsen is far too hot to take a dip in, Beppu is renowned for its numerous onsens and the purported ...

These days, it’s hard not to know what an onsen town is. But back when I visited Japan for the third time in 2019, I had no idea this side of Japan even existed. It was only thanks to Papu’s ...

Japan has nearly 30,000 hot springs and a culture of public bathing. An Israeli American architect, Yuval Zohar, has developed a passion for it. The architect Yuval Zohar at his favorite hot spring ...