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Top 10 onsen

• Aoni Onsen, Aomori-ken
  It's a little while since I visited this onsen, so I hope it hasn't changed. There is just one ryokan at the end of a quiet road. It has been modernised, but still retains its traditional charm, while the baths - in a quiet, natural setting - are magical.
  
  
• Kurokawa Onsen, Kumamoto-ken, Kyushu
  On a friend's recommendation, I tried out Kurokawa Onsen last time I visited Kyushu in 1997. It's a bit of an effort to get there by public transport, but not impossible - and anyway, the baths are well worth it. In total there are 23 rotemburo of all shapes and sizes in the midst of an attractive, higgledy-piggledy village. You either pay for each separately (Y500), or buy a day-pass (Y1200) for any three.
  
  
• Renge, Niigata-ken
  High up in the southern Japan Alps, Renge is a brilliant place to get away from it all. There are several small rotemburo scattered across the mountainside near a fairly spartan ryokan. It's also a great area for hiking. (Note that it gets cut off in winter, when the ryokan is also closed).
  
  
• Beppu, Oita-ken, Kyushu
  On my first visit to Beppu we found a glorious spot down a dirt track. It had several family rotemburo in a slightly wild garden. Sadly, I've never been able to find it again! However, there are other good options in Beppu. In the Myoban area you share the water with pomelo-like fruit (in winter and early spring), while the Kannawa-en ryokan has some pretty little rotemburo in its classic gardens. I also love the huge, slightly wacky jungle baths at the Suginoi Hotel.
  
  
• Furusato Onsen, Kagoshima-ken, Kyushu
  This small onsen resort sits on the southern flanks of Sakurajima, a fairly active volcano just a short ferry ride from Kagoshima city. The resort comprises a string of hotels, of which the best by far is Furusato Kanko Hotel. Their large, cliffside rotemburo actually doubles as a shrine - its shaded by a sacred camphor tree - so you're asked to wear a white yukata (cotton robe) while bathing.
  
  
• Yunomine, Wakayama-ken
  While exploring the Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, I stopped for the night in the small village of Yunomine. It's really just a straggle of minshuku and ryokan along a tumbling stream. Each of the inns has its own onsen bath, but the best to try is Tsubo-no-yu, a tiny, stone tub beside the stream.
  
  
• Katsura, Wakayama-ken
  Also on the Kii Peninsula, Katsuura is lively tuna-fishing port as well as an onsen town. Having travelled on the overnight ferry from Tokyo, I was ready for a dip. So I headed straight for Nakanoshima Hotel, where a little boat took me out to their cliff-side rotemburo. Another couple were already well settled in and the onsen guardian - a dapper gent in wellington boots and beret - was giving the woman a foot massage.
  
  
• Yudanaka Onsen, Nagano-ken
  The main attraction here is Jigokudani (Hell's Valley), where a group of "snow monkeys" have learned the joys of hot-spring bathing in winter. On the way up - it's a 2-km walk from the bus-stop and nearest car parks - you pass Korakukan Ryokan. It's a nicely rambling, rustic place with a good rotemburo on the banks of the river. In the early mornings the monkeys come here, too, though you don't have to share your bath with them.
  
  
• Dogo, Ehime-ken, Shikoku
  Dogo is terribly famous, but still worth visiting. The present bath-house dates from 1894 and is a beautiful building in its own right. Inside, there's a choice of baths, starting with the basic Kami-no-yu (Y280). If it's busy, I usually opt for the quieter Tama-no-yu (Y980), but for Y1240 you can have your own private room.
  
  
• Yunotsu, Shimane-ken
  I generally prefer outside pools to indoor ones, but I've included this picturesque little fishing village for its wonderful, old-style bath-house.