Latest news with #onsen
Condé Nast Traveler
4 days ago
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
Beyond the Megacities, Uncovering Japan's Quieter Corners
At Satoyama Jujo—a modern ryokan housed in a lovingly refurbished 150-year-old farmhouse in Niigata—the first ritual is the bath. As I lower myself into the open-air onsen, bounded by whispering trees, the setting sun paints the mountains in amber hues. Though just over an hour from Tokyo, this place feels a world away. Later, as evening deepens, I make my way to the nearby river where a flutter of fireflies performs a luminescent ballet. After nearly two decades of calling Tokyo home, Japan continues to reveal itself to me in layers. The capital's labyrinthine sprawl—more a patchwork of village-like neighborhoods than monolithic metropolis—remains endlessly fascinating, with izakayas tucked into narrow alleys and century-old shops wedged between gleaming towers. But it was during the pandemic's forced stillness, when the borders shut for three years, that I began venturing deeper into Japan's peripheral spaces. Previously, my work as a journalist had briefly dispatched me to Japan's distant prefectures—the island of Honshu's sake breweries in Yamagata and fishing villages in Miyagi—but I'd find myself rushing back to the capital before I could properly experience these places. These days, I've embraced being a tourist in my adopted country; lingering in ceramics villages where the potters eschew electricity, and discovering remote temples carved into mountainside cliffs. While Kyoto's famous temples groan under the weight of selfie sticks, these quieter corners offer something that feels genuine—and right now, in particular, feels like a perfect moment to explore them further. Over the past few years, I've noticed a seismic shift in Japan's tourism landscape. Last year, the country welcomed a record 36.8 million international visitors. This momentum has continued into 2025, with over 10.5 million arrivals in the first quarter alone. During this period, foreign tourists spent ¥2.3 trillion (or $15 billion), up 28.4% from the same period last year. The country is evolving to keep up with the demand. New rail extensions have eased access to places like Fukui, on the Sea of Japan coast, while future expansions will unlock more areas in Hokkaido and Tohoku. I've watched with interest as new hotels and design-forward ryokan blend traditional aesthetics with creature comforts in regions where finding a decent cup of coffee once felt like a quest. Alongside these developments, small businesses have emerged to connect travelers with cultural experiences—craftspeople opening up their workshops, farmers offering culinary classes, and local guides creating bespoke itineraries. For communities facing population decline, tourism brings not just economic lifelines but something perhaps more valuable—renewed pride in cultural traditions that might otherwise fade into history. Recently, I've sought out hidden gems like Yamanaka Onsen—a hot spring town renowned for woodworking and lacquerware—that had previously seemed just beyond reach. Thanks to the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train expansion last year, I found myself here in just two and a half hours from Tokyo. By day I spent an afternoon at a lacquerware atelier where a master craftsman guided a visiting artist through techniques refined over centuries. That evening, I slipped into Bar Engawa, where Yusuke Shimoki serves sake in locally crafted vessels behind a counter in a traditional house with doors featuring intricate wooden inlays. Throughout the town, a new generation of ryokan and shop owners is working to revitalize the area, creating events that showcase regional artisans alongside local cuisine—and launching a contemporary arts festival inside historic buildings.
Condé Nast Traveler
4 days ago
- Health
- Condé Nast Traveler
Soaking in a Slower Pace of Life at Gero Onsen
This is part of Uncovering Japan, a collection of stories that spotlight the lesser known gems that belong on your Japan itinerary, offering everything from a wellspring of local craft and a vibrant street-food culture to traditional wellness. Read more here. From the perennially roiling waves of Kanagawa's seas to Mount Fuji's snow-capped seat in the sky, some of Japan's most iconic natural sights claim their status through their striking appearances. But peer past those wonders, since immortalized odes and ukiyo-e woodblock prints, to find Gero, a quiet onsen town in Gifu prefecture with the placid, pastoral charm of a Studio Ghibli movie. Though the town may not seem like much upon first look, it's part of a celebrated trinity of hot springs dating back to the 17th-century Edo period, when prominent poet Hayashi Razan first dubbed Kusatsu, Arima, and Gero's hot springs the best in the country. Ever since, generations of locals have sought to experience the legendary waters for themselves. Tokyo-based chef, sommelier, and writer Yukari Sakamoto has been making the four-and-a-half hour journey to Gero every year since the '80s. Below, she shares why she comes back time after time to soak in the waters, plus her favorite things to do in Gero, and how she makes the most of her time at the onsen town. Gero Onsen's mountain-nestled main town lights up at night. The town's 13 locally maintained public baths source their water from volcanic origin, particularly from Mount Kusatsu-Shirane. Gifu Prefecture Tourism Federation Gero, the Goldilocks onsen Kusatu, Arima, and Gero all possess distinctive charms that make for three unique onsen experiences. Kusatsu sits in a remote region of Gunma prefecture, a little over 100 miles north of Tokyo. 'It's like, once you're there, you're there, you're in the middle of the wilderness,' says Sakamoto. The town's 13 locally maintained public baths source their water from volcanic origin, particularly from Mount Kusatsu-Shirane. As a result, the springs range from cloudy to clear depending on their acidity and mineral composition, properties which were championed by 19th-century physician to the imperial family Erwin Bälz for their seeming health benefits, ushering in a new wave of popularity for the onsen during the 1800s. Located about an hour's drive to the southeast of Kusatsu, Arima has a far less demanding transit. The onsen is known for its famous duo of golden (kinsen—named after the sienna hue of the iron-rich water) and silver (ginsen—which is actually colorless) waters and being one of the oldest known onsens in the country with a history tracing back at least 1,300 years. 'The onsen is nice, but it's in quite an urban area, so the surroundings aren't quite as bucolic,' says Sakamoto. For an onsen that is conveniently located and immersed in natural scenery, Sakamoto finds that Gero strikes the just-right balance. 'What I love about Gero is that you're in the Japanese Alps,' she says. 'You're located inside a valley with mountains on both sides and a river running between them.' From Tokyo, Gero is just two trains away, with the passage after Nagoya being Sakamoto's particular favorite as rolling hills gradually transition into the mountainside and the river runs parallel. Gero Onsen's public foot bath, right next to the city's main bridge, sees locals stopping daily to soak their feet in the healing waters. Gero's waters leave an inimitable impression. 'We say in Japanese, tsuru tsuru,' Sakamoto says, 'You sit in the water, and after two or three minutes, you start rubbing your skin, and you feel silky. Even after you've gotten out of the onsen and you're dried up, you still feel that silkiness.' The characteristic custard-smooth feeling the water leaves visitors with is owed to its high alkalinity. Sitting around 9.2 on the pH scale, the water takes on a gently exfoliative, soap-like property. Gero's waters leave an inimitable impression. 'We say in Japanese, tsuru tsuru. You sit in the water, and after two or three minutes, you start rubbing your skin, and you feel silky. Even after you've gotten out of the onsen and you're dried up, you still feel [it].' Tokyo-based chef, sommelier, and writer Yukari Sakamoto The joys of taking things slow in Gero The onsen is a nearly year-round destination, though Sakamoto cautions against visiting in the summertime as it gets a bit too hot to fully immerse in a warm onsen experience. 'Once you get to the city, there are many baths where you can take your shoes off, soak your feet,' Sakamoto says, "and there are always the onsens, the hot springs at the ryokan or the hotel that you're staying at, but there's also a public foot bath that's on the river.' Sitting right next to the city's main bridge, she says its part of the area's everyday life to see somebody stop to soak their feet in the waters.
