“Come, I’m going to take you on a tour of hell,” my guide explained as we climbed into her van. With our hotel far behind us, the entire town of Beppu suddenly came into view through the windshield; ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Japanese onsen — natural hot spring bath — is often described as similar ...

It’s 5am and I’m naked on a mountainside. Night still holds sway over the sky, the air is thick with steam, and a single bead of sweat runs slowly down the back of my neck. The onsen (hot spring) I’m ...

The story centers around Yoshizou Yukawa, a major hot spring fan who finds hidden springs to revitalize the economy of the local area. However, he dies after falling off a cliff and is transported to ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...