Onsen
22 posts
- Should You Fold the Futon at a Ryokan? Japanese Answer
No need. Staff unfold it anyway to check for forgotten items. The top Japanese answer (275 likes): don't leave things behind and check out on time.
275 likes
- Japanese visitors splitIs Wakura Onsen Open Again? Japanese Visitors Answer
Yes, partly. A resident's comment (24 likes) says two years on more inns are shut than open and roads are patchy, then asks people to come anyway.
100 likes
- Is Ryokan Dinner Worth It? Japanese Guests Are Split
Only if the inn is where you want to eat. Japanese guests split on ryokan dinner (118 likes for, 94 against), but most still want the ryokan breakfast.
118 likes
- Japanese visitors splitIs Yugawara Onsen Worth It? The Quiet One Near Hakone
Yes for the bath, no for the town: Japanese visitors sleep in Yugawara and play in Atami. The top comment (109 likes) sends you up to Oku-Yugawara.
109 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors splitIs Zao Onsen Worth It? Japanese Visitors on the Quiet Town
Zao Onsen is quiet and half-shuttered, but Japanese visitors rate its water top-tier (35 likes). The giant open-air bath is closed all winter.
35 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors splitIs Kaga Onsen Worth It? What Japanese Visitors Say
Is Kaga Onsen worth it? Japanese visitors say the four towns sit a bus ride from the station, and Osaka now needs a transfer. 272 likes explain why.
272 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors say goIs Gero Onsen Worth It? What Japanese Visitors Say
Is Gero Onsen worth it? Japanese visitors say the draw is the station, not the water: 94 likes for the just-right distance from Nagoya by one train.
94 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors say goIs Atami Worth It? Japanese Visitors on the Comeback
Is Atami worth visiting? Japanese visitors say yes, by train and on a weekday: 90 likes for the comeback, 84 for going south to Ito when it gets crowded.
106 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors splitIs Shirahama Worth It Now the Pandas Are Gone? A Verdict
Shirahama's empty hotels predate the pandas, say Japanese visitors (650 likes). What still works: Adventure World, the beach, the bath, and who stays over.
905 likes
- Japanese visitors splitIs Atagawa Onsen Worth It? Izu's Half-Shuttered Spa Town
Atagawa in Izu looks derelict by day. Japanese visitors on the abundant water, 9,200 yen half-board rooms, and the town's real problem: nowhere to eat.
316 likes
- Japanese visitors say goIs Shima Onsen Worth It? Gentler Water Than Kusatsu
Shima Onsen's top comment (149 likes) says the water changes source to source. Japanese regulars on picking it over Kusatsu, and what is actually there.
149 likes
- Locals splitIs Ikaho Onsen Worth It? Gold vs Silver Water, Explained
A ryokan worker's comment (469 likes) explains why Ikaho Onsen's famous brown water isn't in every inn, plus the tap-water scandal and the baths to use.
469 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors splitIs Minakami Onsen Worth It? What Japanese Visitors Say
Japanese visitors on Minakami Onsen: the top comment (683 likes) says the group-tour inns looked down on solo guests. Stayers say the quiet is the point.
683 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors splitKinugawa Onsen's Abandoned Hotels: Is It Still Worth It?
Japanese visitors on Kinugawa Onsen's derelict hotels: guest numbers are back over a million (67 likes), and the ruins sit across the river from the inns.
67 likesWhere to go instead →
- Can You Day Trip to Arima Onsen? What Japanese Say
Arima Onsen is a day trip for people in Kansai, not an overnight. The top comment (285 likes) rejects the ruins label; a ryokan runs 30,000 yen a head.
285 likesWhere to go instead →
- What Is the Space by the Window in a Ryokan Room?
That strip by your ryokan window is a hiroen. Japanese guests say it's for drying your bath towel (470 likes) and sitting while staff lay the futon (240).
470 likes
- 310 Places Japanese Locals Actually Named: The Index
We translated 1,110 comments from 75 Japanese YouTube comment sections — 873,324 likes between them. Every place locals named, indexed by city.
- Best Business Hotel Chain in Japan? Regulars Rank 4
271 comments: Dormy Inn ran away with it until around 2022, but prices climbed until regulars say it's "no longer a business hotel at all."
32 likesWhere to go instead →
- Can You Day Trip to Ginzan Onsen? New Limits Explained
Ginzan Onsen now limits day visitors. Its most-liked comment (215 likes) backs the restriction: rule-breakers "drive away the decent visitors."
215 likesWhere to go instead →
- Japanese visitors say goFamous Onsen Towns in Japan: Overrated? Bathers Answer
Japan's "worst onsen towns" list is really its most famous ones, regulars say — you'd get the same list titled "top 10 most popular" (98 likes).
98 likesWhere to go instead →
- Ryokan for One Person: Can You Stay Alone in Japan?
Plenty of ryokan still refuse single guests. In a 170-comment thread Japanese solo travelers explain why — and share the booking workaround (78 likes).
78 likesWhere to go instead →
- Solo Onsen Trips in Japan: How Japanese Regulars Do It
Japanese onsen regulars' playbook for going alone: the mental hurdle collapses after a single trip (166 likes), and they point solo men at Beppu.
166 likes