Stories
From the Field
allOnsen· July 6, 2026
Onsen Etiquette: A First-Timer's Guide to Bathing in Tohoku
Onsen etiquette can feel intimidating before the first soak, but the rules are simpler and kinder than they look. A calm, step-by-step guide to bathing in Tohoku, Japan's hot spring heartland.
allOnsen· June 24, 2026
Higashiyama Onsen: The Hot Spring Town Behind Aizu's Samurai City
Just east of Aizu-Wakamatsu, Higashiyama Onsen has gathered travelers along a wooded river gorge for more than a thousand years. It remains the most cultured base for exploring Aizu's samurai history.
allOnsen· June 24, 2026
Tamagawa Onsen: Japan's Most Powerful Healing Waters
High in the volcanic mountains of Akita, Tamagawa Onsen draws not holidaymakers but the unwell, the recuperating, and the patient. This is Japan's most extreme medicinal hot spring, and it asks something of those who come.
allOnsen· June 23, 2026
Akiu Onsen: Sendai's Hot Spring Backyard
Thirty minutes from the center of Sendai, Akiu Onsen offers a thousand years of bathing history, a great waterfall, and a gorge walk - the easiest onsen escape from any major Tohoku city.
allOnsen· June 23, 2026
Sukayu Onsen: Aomori's 1,000-Bather Cypress Bath and the Mountains Around It
High in the Hakkoda mountains, Sukayu Onsen pairs a vast cypress bathing hall with a centuries-old healing tradition and some of the deepest snow on earth. This is what the place is, and how to reach it.
allOnsen· June 6, 2026
Naruko Onsen: The Hot Spring Town That Makes the Kokeshi
A guide to Naruko Onsen in Miyagi — a thousand-year-old hot-spring town with a rare range of spring types, a famous autumn gorge, and a living tradition of kokeshi doll-making.
allOnsen· June 5, 2026
Tohoku's Rotenburo: A Guide to the Region's Finest Outdoor Hot Springs
A guide to the rotenburo of Tohoku — the open-air hot springs that the region does better than anywhere in Japan. The finest outdoor baths, how to use them, and the best season for each.
allOnsen· May 29, 2026
Where to Stay in Ginzan Onsen: The Ryokan Guide for First-Timers
Ten ryokan. One village. Here is how to choose the right one, what to expect when you arrive, and what nobody tells you about staying at Ginzan Onsen.
allOnsen· May 28, 2026
Japan's Best Onsen Experiences Away from the Crowds
Hakone is full. Beppu books out months ahead. The finest onsen experiences in Japan are not in the places that have been optimised for your presence — they are in Tohoku.
summerOnsen· May 20, 2026
Zao Onsen Summer: The Hot Springs Town That Transforms Without Snow
Zao Onsen is famous for its winter ice monsters. In summer, it becomes a different — and quieter — version of itself.
allOnsen· May 19, 2026
The Ryokan Standard: Why Tohoku's Inns Are Japan's Finest
The best ryokan in Japan are not in Kyoto. Here is why Tohoku's traditional inns set the standard — and which ones to book.
allOnsen· May 12, 2026
Nyuto Onsen: The Thatched-Roof Baths at the End of the Mountain Road
Seven ryokan, seven springs, one mountain in Akita. Nyuto Onsen is Japan's finest onsen district — and one of its least internationally known.
allOnsen· May 12, 2026
Ginzan Onsen: The Complete Guide (All Seasons)
Ginzan Onsen is Japan's most beautiful hot spring village — in every season. Here is everything you need to visit, from how to get there to where to stay.
winterOnsen· May 5, 2026
Ginzan Onsen: Japan's Most Beautiful Winter Village
In a narrow Yamagata gorge, gas lanterns reflect off fresh snow and wooden ryokan lean over a rushing river. Ginzan Onsen exists at the precise intersection of beauty and impermanence — a place that feels like it might disappear the moment you stop looking.
allOnsen· May 5, 2026
5 Onsen Towns in Tohoku That Still Feel Like Secrets
While Hakone fills with tour buses and Beppu becomes a theme park of steam, Tohoku's onsen towns remain largely as they have always been: quiet, unhurried, local. These five are worth crossing an ocean for.