On a recent concert tour in Japan, I had the chance to visit several thermal baths and to chat with people about the tradition of bathing. I was fascinated by their differences with American spas.

Sitting atop a rocky outcrop on Japan’s Izu Peninsula, the pool at Kuroneiwa-buro is so close to the Pacific that the waves are only just out of reach as they crash onto the boulders nearby. The hot ...

Above: An onsen in the newly renovated Nishimuraya Honkan, a ryokan in the town of Kinosaki. The Gora Kadan ryokan in Hakone. Located inside the national park that is home to Mount Fuji, it is less ...

Even if you don’t consider yourself a bath person, or are turned off by the idea of sitting in a tub of your own grime, you still might be charmed by the ritual of visiting a Japanese hot spring, or ...

In our latest roundup of travel news, we bring you bathing tips from an onsen expert, a bear encounter in a Tibet hotel room, ...

When a friend of mine returned from his first trip to Japan, he couldn’t help but rave about the country. From the extraordinary food to the rich history to the hospitable locals, there really weren’t ...

Japan is famous for sci-fi level innovation: It's the land of bullet trains, robots, and vending machines for everything. But the country's obsession with all things futuristic is paired with ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Angelina Villa-Clarke is a London-based travel journalist. These ryokan – or age-old inns – offer holistic retreats, often in ...