There are two types of bath houses in Japan: onsen and sento. While there are obvious similarities between the two – they're both communal hot-water baths and visitors must adhere to certain rules of ...

TOKYO — Just before it opens each afternoon, elderly residents gather outside one of Tokyo’s last remaining old-style bath houses carrying flannels, soap and shampoo for their regular soak. With its ...

Does the thought of getting nude with other people in your local sento, or public bath, raise a smile or make you cringe? Whatever your personal take, the process of bathing in true Japanese form has ...

Communal bathing has long been a part of traditional Japanese culture. Mixed-gender bathing, though, or konyoku, as it’s called in Japanese, is something that’s been largely phased out at hot springs ...

Onsen (hot springs) have been part of Japanese culture for centuries, but they’ve been seriously surging in popularity over the past 20 years. At the same time that there’s an onsen renaissance going ...

TOKYO -- Amid declining numbers of Japanese public baths, which have long been social places where bathers can exchange their "bare" thoughts, new facilities overturning conventional images of ...

Japan as a country is big on onsen hot springs and bath culture. This is quite well-reflected in the nearly 3,000 hot spring resorts that can be found throughout the country, as well as the nation's ...