About half of the popular onsen establishments today set aside kashikiri, or bookable baths.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
The first is Namegawa Onsen, about an hour and a half southwest of town.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Ibusuki is legendary for its sunamushi onsen, dry sand baths heated by subterranean lava.
Take Sarasa Nishijin, housed inside the old Fuji-no-mori Onsen, a former bathhouse from the 1920s.
Onsen are scattered throughout Japan, and many of the baths are close to ryokans, or traditional inns.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Nozawa Onsen, in Nagano prefecture, is one of the oldest and most popular hot springs in Japan.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
So most onsen proprietors forbid anyone with tattoos from entering the shared hot baths, presto change-o, no gangsters.
Some onsen establishments cater to hot spring lovers who would rather be alone.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
This might not sound like your idea of family fun, but don't cross onsen off the vacation list just yet.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Sitting in an onsen breaks down barriers with the Japanese (nakedness is the norm), while Icelanders love to socialise in their volcanic steam baths.
Whether you go traditional or explore some of the more modern takes on the onsen experience, getting into hot water in Japan is good, clean fun.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Spa Resort Hawaiians (81-246) 433-191, in Iwake city, about 90 minutes by train northeast of Tokyo, has an extensive outdoor onsen swimming pool surrounded by palm trees and hibiscus.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Hiking among the high peaks and mossy forests is the main activity on Yakushima, but the island is also home to some excellent coastal onsen and a few sandy beaches.
Some holiday destinations offer onsen-style attractions without the conventions.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Further afield, Kenji World, (81-19) 695-3333, in northern Japan's Iwate prefecture, boasts a colossal onsen "beach" where warm water washes up on the shore (made of brownish soft board instead of sand).
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Many onsen are located in more rugged settings.
CNN: ASIANOW - Travel Watch | Offbeat Onsen Offer Tradition with a Twist
Hirauchi Kaichu onsen, the tidal pool in which the man and I were poaching, is on Yakushima, an island whose cedar forest earned a spot on Unesco's World Heritage List (and was the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki's anime classic "Princess Mononoke").
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