Onsens - Japanese Hot Springs

Japan's Hot Springs 温泉

Japan provides a wide range of hot spring entertainment ranging from exclusive spas and resorts to humble pubic baths or sento. If you love to immerse your body in hot water and relax, nowhere in the world compares with the variety and beauty of Japan's hot-spring resorts.

Enjoying hot spring onsen culture in Japan

Confessions of an Onsen Addict: Hot-Spring Bathing in Japan

The Rough Guide author Jan Dodd bares all in her review of Japan's best hot springs. Where they are, how to get there, costs and bathing ettiquette.

Japan's Hot Springs: A Clean Break

Will Yong takes the plunge in the Japanese hot spring resort of Arima in Hyogo Prefecture near Kobe in western Japan.

Ryokan hot spring baths at Arima Onsen

Beppu Onsen, Oita Prefecture

Alternative Bathing in Kyushu

Joe Sinclair visits the hot springs and sand-baths of Kyushu - Beppu, Yufuin - Oita Prefecture is a mecca of Japanese hot-springs.

Onsen in Hakone

Hakone is one of Japan's premier hot spring resorts and within easy reach of the Tokyo metropolis.

Yoshidaya Ryokan in Arifuku Onsen

Stay at Yoshidaya Onsen a stately Japanese natural hot spring ryokan with a 350-year history of making visitors welcome. Yoshidaya is situated in the Arifuku hot spring resort in Shimane Prefecture.

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Gero Onsen

Gero Onsen in Gifu Prefecture, north of Nagoya, is one of Japan's oldest and most famous onsen resorts.

Beppu Onsen

Beppu Onsen in Oita Prefecture, in Kyushu, is one of Japan's premier onsen resorts famous for its bubbling "Hells."

Kannawa is one of Beppu's most famous hot spring areas.

Introducing Onsen Culture

Many Westerners are uncomfortable with anyone seeing their naked bodies, but being naked with friends and strangers is a traditional practice in Japan. It happens every day in hot springs - onsen - across Japan as it has for thousands of years. Bathing together in a natural hot spring is a healthy, relaxing, and bonding experience.

Jigoku Mushi

Jigoku Mushi (lit. "hell steamed") is a method of traditional cooking using the vapors of hot springs to cook such foods as seafood, eggs, corn and dumplings. The Kannawa area of Beppu in Oita Prefecture on Kyushu is particularly famous for this unique hot spring cuisine.

Japan Hot Spring Experience

How to have fun in a Japanese onsen and a step by step guide to hot spring etiquette. The deepest plunge one can take into Japanese culture is in the onsen (hot spring).