Arima is a beautiful and quaint little mountainside town located behind Mt. Rokko. Only being a stone’s throw from Osaka and Kobe, it is a hidden oasis for Japanese people wanting to get away for a quiet, relaxing weekend. It’s an insolated place tucked away in the luminous landscape of the great outdoors and is…
Steam rises, obscuring the snowy mountain scene outside the window. Serene pools ripple gently. You let the heat soak into your skin, through your muscles, down to the bone. It ensconces you, slowly coaxing all of the tightness in your shoulders and back into release. You sigh, giving in to the calm of the onsen….
In a world not so far away lies Gero Onsen, a hot spring resort in the middle of Gifu Prefecture. It has been named one of the top three hot spring resorts since the Edo Period. As long as I have been in Japan, I had been wanting to head up to Gifu prefecture to…
Beppu is located on the coast of Beppu Bay. This is the place for onsens – natural water and steam comes out of the ground all over the city, and the water is full of natural minerals.