Bath House sights in Asia
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Kagomma Sentō (Onsen)
Kagoshima boasts no less than 50 public onsen baths. Local favourite Nishida Onsen (M0090; 255-6354; 12-17 Takasu) is just a few minutes' walk from JR Kagoshima-Chūō. Kagomma Sentō (Onsen) is five minutes' walk from the Sakurajima Port.
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Shibaseki Onsen Baths
The Hells, though mildly interesting, shouldn't distract you from the real hot springs. Scattered around the town are eight onsen areas. Onsen enthusiasts spend their time in Beppu moving from one bath to another - experts consider at least three baths a day de rigueur. Costs range from around ¥100 to around ¥1000, though many (and two of the best) are free. Bring your own soap, washcloth and towel, as many places don't rent them.
There's an onsen festival during the first weekend in April. Some of the baths alternate daily between male and female so that each gender can appreciate each side. Shibaseki Onsen Baths are near the smaller pair of hells. You can also rent a…
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Hammom Kunjak
This women's bathhouse is behind Kalon Minaret.
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Higashi-yu
On most nights you can visit the local sentō(public bath), Higashi-yu.
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Ekimae Kōtō Onsen
Ekimae Kōtō Onsen is very simple and hot, and just a couple of minutes' walk from the station.
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Queen’s Bath
South of the Zenana Enclosure, the Queen’s Bath is deceptively plain on the outside but amazing within.
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Nishida Onsen
Kagoshima boasts no less than 50 public onsen baths. Local favourite Nishida Onsen is just a few minutes' walk from JR Kagoshima-Chūō.
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Zhirgal Banya
Buy tickets for the Zhirgal Banya from the kassa (ticket office) around the side. Old ladies sell birch twigs outside the baths for those into a bit of self-flogging.
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Hot Plaza Asama
Among dozens of baths and inns (and the youth hostel) at Asama Onsen, Hot Plaza Asama has many pools in a traditional building. Buses from Matsumoto Station take about 20 minutes.
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Borzi Kord
Folk rave about Bukhara's famed hammomi (baths), most notably the Borzi Kord. It's technically a men's bathhouse but groups of tourists can reserve it after hours for mixed use.
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Kitahama Termas Onsen
For an onsen experience next to the beach, head to Kitahama. There are separate baths for men and women; the outside rotemburo mixes it up, but you'll need a bathing suit.
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Mugen-no-Sato
This collection of privately available small rotemburo is ideal for a romantic, secluded dip. Ask for a kazoku-buro (private bath). Mugen-no-sato is five minutes' walk west from Horita.
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Bailan Herbal Sauna
Set amidst verdant greenery, you can sweat inside this round adobe sauna as long as you like, with a number of different herbal concoctions to choose from. They also offer massage and facial treatments. Pure bliss!
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Asama Onsen
Hot-spring resort Asama Onsen northeast of town isn't rustic, but its history is said to reach back to the 10th century and include writers and poets. The waters are also said to be good for gastrointestinal and skin troubles, and women's disorders.
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Kagomma Sentō (Onsen)
Kagoshima boasts no less than 50 public onsen baths. Local favourite Nishida Onsen (M0090; 255-6354; 12-17 Takasu) is just a few minutes' walk from JR Kagoshima-Chūō. Kagomma Sentō (Onsen) is five minutes' walk from the Sakurajima Port.
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Spa World
Next door to Festival Gate is the superspa known as Spa World. Billed as the world's largest spa, it consists of two floors of baths, one Asian themed and one European themed, and a rooftop waterworld with pools and waterslides, along with restaurants and relaxation areas.
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Nabeyama-no-yu
The Myōban area has a number of wonderful hidden baths, tucked away out of the public eye. Nabeyama-no-yu is the last of the wild onsen of Myōban.
The Beppu station information desk ladies (volunteers all!) are also happy to make you a hand-drawn map.
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Heosimcheong Spa
Reportedly the largest hot spa in Asia, Heosimcheong is packed with soaking tubs and saunas on the 4th floor, with a capacity of 2000 people. Massages are available for an additional fee. Guests are welcome to stay as long as they like and take a break in the 3rd floor snack bar.
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Itaewonland Sauna
This luxurious jjimjilbang, (Korean Sauna) spread over five floors, is the best in Itaewon. With separate sections for men and women, every customer is loaned a towel and T-shirt. A long list of pools, spa baths and massages is available including a green-tea beauty treatment.
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Myōban Onsen Area Baths
In this quiet and hilly area you will find numerous baths as well as odd thatched-roof huts that are Edo-era replicas of the huts in which bath salts were made. You can go inside (the salts resemble yellow-brown mould), wander the 'hell' outside, and even purchase salts for a bath from hell when you return home.
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Dōgo Onsen
According to legend, Dōgo Onsen was discovered during the ancient age of gods when a white heron was found healing itself in the spring. Since then, Dōgo has featured prominently in a number of literary classics, and garnered a reputation for the curative properties of its waters. The mono-alkaline spring contains sulphur, and is believed to be particularly effective at treating rheumatism, neuralgia and hysteria.
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Ichinoide Kaikan
The owner of Ichinoide Kaikan is an onsen fanatic, so much so that he built three pool-sized rotemburo in his backyard. The view, overlooking Beppu and the bay, is the city's finest. Bathing is free when you order a set menu (teishoku; around ¥1100), and the chefs prepare it while you swim. To get there by bus and walking, inquire at the Foreign Tourist Information Office. A shared taxi (from Beppu, around ¥900) might be a good investment.
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Tsuru-no-yu
The Myōban area has a number of wonderful hidden baths, tucked away out of the public eye. Locals built and maintain Tsuru-no-yu (the easiest to reach), a lovely free rotemburo up on the edge of Ogi-yama. During July and August, a natural stream emerges to form the milky blue bath. Take a bus to Konya Jigoku-mae bus stop (25 minutes northwest from JR Beppu station). Walk up the small road that hugs the right side of the graveyard until the road ends.
Dive into the bushes to your left, and there's the bath. The Beppu station information desk ladies (volunteers all!) are also happy to make you a hand-drawn map.
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Arasan Baths
At the Arasan Baths you can choose from Russian (Russkaya), Finnish (Finskaya) and Turkish (Vostochnaya) baths, the latter with three different temperatures of heated stone platforms plus a plunge pool. Each part has men's and women's sections. Take along soap, a towel and some thongs (flip-flops) for walking around in. Go with a friend or two and you'll find it's an enjoyable and truly relaxing experience. If you don't have any bathing gear handy, there's a shop in the lobby.
Sellers with veniki (bunches of oak and birch leaves) wait outside, if you fancy stimulating your circulation with a good thrashing. Built in the early 1980s in a modernistic Soviet style, this is…
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Mushi-yu Steam Bath
The Hells, though mildly interesting, shouldn't distract you from the real hot springs. Scattered around the town are eight onsen areas. Onsen enthusiasts spend their time in Beppu moving from one bath to another - experts consider at least three baths a day de rigueur. Costs range from around ¥100 to around ¥1000, though many (and two of the best) are free. Bring your own soap, washcloth and towel, as many places don't rent them.
There's an onsen festival during the first weekend in April. Some of the baths alternate daily between male and female so that each gender can appreciate each side. North of the town, in the Kannawa onsen area, near the major group of hells,…
reviewed