i want 'em,

with pictures!

Ive got some from konyokus mate...but theyre not appropriate for the lil kiddies on here...

can we make a 'Warning: May Contain Nudity' emoticon to put up?

Onsens sound great but we never got to them as my family felt very uncomfortable with the nudity, we would have loved to be allowed to relax with bathers on. Obviously a cultural difference.

In Nagano, my current favorites are

Jippuku no Yu, near Ueda. It has the best rotenburo i've ever been too, even better than the mixed bathing 'river' onesen Oyu in Nasu.

Nozawa's Soto-yu. Sure, its hot enough to remove a few layers of skin, but it has a great atmoshere, and the people are extremely friendly (unless you try to cool their baths down)

Tombo no Yu, in Nakakaruizawa. Gorgeous place, but pricy (unless you have a locals card).

Nakadani Onsen, in Komoro. This one is small, but beautiful. Part of a Ryokan, with wood tubs on the inside, and an outdoor tub on a hill, overlooking a a small valley. In the Autumn, they float hundreds of apples in the indoor tub.

Oyuki, you're forgetting Hakuba's Kuranoshita during the new year's holiday!
Ah, the sausage party extreme I had a guy sit on my foot and make no effort to move.

:shudder: That place is sausage-fest eh kuma! We got it like that last year and won't go back.

can't remember which nozawa one it was, but i had an old yoda-ish man lecture me all on the virtues of onsen water. he then proceeded to drink the (very hot) stuff straight out of the pipe in the wall, accompanied with lots of oishiis.
i'm not sure if this is normal behaviour or not, but i've never seen it before. i was somewhere between stunned and amused, as were all the other japanese men in there.

I am not so sure how good for the health is that, but I ve seen it too. In some onsens they have plates if the water is drinkable or not.

Oyuki, do expensive onsen ryokans count? I can recommend 1-2

All onsens count. Put up whatever you got!

Here you go:

双葉ホテル in Yuzawa.

伊古奈 in simoda Izu.

these two are my favourite.
Around 2-3 man per person/night

Good thread.
I went to a really nice one near Minakami. I think I remember someone taking about the same one before. It's the one with the bears in cages. A mixed onsen with a separate place for girls up the top. Got pics but they are not in this computer so I'll sort them out later. Does anyone know the name?

Bears in cages sounds pretty cruel not sure I would like that much

Spook, I think that guy is there every day, as I had exactly the same experience. That was one of the free ones where you just walk straight in off the street, right? Hottest damn bath I have ever been in!

Haha that happened to me also! I liked the sulfuric taste. It scolded though. The actual onsen was so hot after 10 mins I couldn't close my fist and I started seeing starts. Got the hell out when that happened.

Some of those Noz onsens are HOT. I went to Nozawa the most tanned i've been in my life after 3 months in SEA, like black, and left a few skin-sheds later almost white again!

I was always a laughing stock cause my ass was fluoro white and the rest of my body was so dark. Good way to make conversation at least.

I went to one near Kawaguchi ko where some old ladies tried to get me to drink the water. There was even a dirty plastic cup, hanging off the spout by a frayed bit of string.

now that it is getting cool again i might start heading back to the onsens again. Iam thinking about doing the hike to the one up above Hakuba. Anyone ever do it? And info? I hear that it is best to tent it and stay overight.

My missus is away down to Atami this weekend with her Aikido crew, hopefully she'll scope out a few good onsens and we can go down later this month.

Been there as well with the same experience.
I think the Japanese say "Imo Araii" or something like that when there are too many people in the bath at the same time.
Will not be going back there either.

wow, i didn't realize these were so popular. So nudity is a common thing?

That link to hotel-fatuba, TsondaBoy, is amazing. Looks superb.

They are popular. They are normally segregated, but yes, it's nude.

But don't forget the tiny towel to cover up your parts if you are of the modest type. (Or attempt to).

Its about a three hour hike from Sarukura. There are lots of water stops on the way so you don't have to carry much. Its well doable as a day hike. Up for an hour, across for an hour, and then up for an hour again.

The hut there closes about this time of year, and its free to use the onsen thereafter. If you camp, I doubt you'll be alone. Its a nice big pool, but there are big stone and concrete walls up there. Its not the dig your own down the river type deal.

I like the below onsen in Kyoto -

Kurama

Arahiyama train station - foot onsen! keep your clothes on and just soak your feet after a long day walking and sightseeing