Hot-Water High

By Lisa Takeuchi Cullen/Tokyo

I like to bathe in public. This inclination has thus far failed to attract much attention because I live in Japan. Here, hot-springs hopping is a national obsession enjoyed by wrinkled elders and stylish college girls alike. Foreign visitors often resist getting naked with strangers, but the transpacific flight alone ought to convince you. What better way to ease your aching joints than with a good long soak?

Hot-spring spas, or onsen, are found in Tokyo, but for serious relaxation, plan an overnight getaway to one of the traditional inns that have long clustered around natural springs. Just a couple of hours away by train lie three prime destinations.

My favorite is Kinugawa, north of Tokyo, near the ancient temple town of Nikko. Named for the glassy Kinu River it hugs, the old-fashioned onsen town so relaxes visitors that they wander its streets post-bath in cotton yukata robes. Hana no Yado Matsuya matsuya.co.jp) a venerable inn, features an impressive collection of dreamy Taisho-era portraits of kimono-clad beauties.

After unwinding with green tea in your tatami-mat room, change into a yukata and head to the baths. Before you cannonball in, though, take your washcloth to the showers, soap up and shampoo. Only when squeaky clean should you hit the baths. The indoor one is nice, but the true gem is the rotenburo (outdoor bath). The stone-ringed pool overlooks the river, with your privacy protected by rhododendron and cedars.

Toasty and relaxed from the bath, you don the yukata again and prepare for a lavish meal. In a private tatami room, matronly servers scuttle in with a parade of delicate courses--shimmering sashimi, crispy tempura, individual shabu-shabu pots. Meanwhile, soft futons are laid out in your room, where you will drift off to the gurgle of the river.

In colder months, Nagano prefecture--site of the 1998 Winter Olympics--offers the delightful contrast of piping-hot springs amid snow. Two hours west of Tokyo lie the vast Lake Suwa and the onsen town of Kamisuwa. At Saginoyu saginoyu.com) a historic inn, some of the grandest rooms offer private rotenburo, round cedar tubs overlooking the lake. But don't miss the communal onsen on the ground floor, where the rotenburo are shielded by tile roofs from which icicles hang in winter. In spring, cherry blossoms provide a pink feast for fatigued bathers' eyes.

Many onsen towns are worth exploring for their historic charm. In Kinugawa, visitors can ride old-fashioned wooden boats down the river rapids. In nearby Nikko, the magnificent 17th century Toshogu temple compound attests to the power of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the real-life inspiration for the title character of James Clavell's novel Shogun. From Kamisuwa, hikers and skiers venture to the surrounding mountains, while summer vacationers play on the lake.

The resort area of Hakone is blessed with a location at the base of Mount Fuji. A speedy train takes you from Tokyo to the town of Hakone Yumoto, where you transfer to a tram that zigs and zags into the mountains. Since its founding in 1878, the Fujiya Hotel fujiyahotel.co.jp in the hamlet of Miyanoshita has attracted foreign visitors, among them General Douglas MacArthur and John Lennon. Sepia-tinted Western charm--afternoon tea, French cuisine, decor like your Great Aunt Minnie's--infuses the famed institution. Across the street, the Naraya Inn (81-460-2-2411) offers more of a Japanese flavor. For centuries it has played host to traveling nobles who have sought out its airy tatami rooms with shoji screens opening on a traditional garden and ponds full of alarmingly aggressive carp.

What both lodgings lack, in my view, is truly satisfying onsen. Luckily, around the corner are several public baths, including the Rakuyujurin, its rotenburo shaded by maples. Next day visit Japan's most famous volcano. Between the views, meals and baths, you will be grinning all the way back to Tokyo.