Onsen in Japan

How to enjoy Japan's hot springs: bath manners, tattoos, your first ryokan stay, the best onsen towns and what the water types mean.

Articles in this feature

How to Use an Onsen or Sento in Japan: Step by Step, Tattoos and Staying SafeSinking into a hot spring after a day of walking is one of the best things you can do in Japan, and a neighborhood public bath (sento) is a small window…
Onsen With Tattoos in Japan: Where You Can Bathe, Cover Stickers, Private Baths and How to CheckYes, you can enjoy a hot spring in Japan with a tattoo, but not at every bath.
Your First Ryokan Stay in Japan: Check-In, Yukata, Dinner, Futon and Baths, Step by StepA night at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, is one of the most memorable things you can do in Japan: tatami floors, a multi-course dinner, a hot bath…
Best Onsen Towns in Japan: 7 Hot Spring Towns Compared, from Kusatsu to DogoJapan has hot springs almost everywhere, so the hard part is choosing one. This guide compares seven onsen towns that are popular with visitors: what…
Onsen Water Types in Japan Explained: The Ten Spring Types, Colors and Smells, and How to Read the SignAt almost every onsen in Japan, a framed sheet on the wall lists the water's "spring type" and a long table of minerals, usually only in Japanese.
What Does Gensen Kakenagashi Mean? Free-Flowing Onsen vs Recirculated Baths, and How to Check the SignHotel websites and onsen ads in Japan often boast of gensen kakenagashi (源泉かけ流し).
Sauna Manners in Japan: The Cold Bath, Löyly and What "Totonou" MeansJapan is in the middle of a sauna boom. Many onsen (hot-spring baths), sento (neighborhood public bathhouses) and hotels now have a hot sauna room, a cold…
Ryokan With a Private Onsen: How to Book a Private Bath or a Room With Its Own Open-Air Bath in WinterThere are two ways to get a hot spring bath to yourself at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn: a kashikiri-buro (貸切風呂), a private bath you reserve for a…
Owakudani in Hakone (Kanagawa): Volcanic Gas, Who Shouldn't Go, and the Guided Crater WalkOwakudani, high in the mountains of Hakone (Kanagawa), is where the ground steams and smells of sulfur, and where the famous black eggs are boiled.
Getting Around Hakone (Kanagawa): Big Luggage, Bus Manners and the FreepassA day in Hakone (Kanagawa) usually means a loop of small mountain trains, a cable car, a ropeway, a boat across Lake Ashi and local buses.
Ramen Kobo Yukinoyu in Nagoya (Aichi): Rich Beef-Bone Ramen, a Rare Style in JapanMost ramen in Japan is built on pork or chicken broth. Ramen Kobo Yukinoyu (らあめん工房雪濃湯) in Higashi-ku, Nagoya (Aichi) is different: its broth is made from…