Oita Prefecture

An onsen town where steam cooks your lunch

Beppu has more hot spring sources than anywhere else in Japan, and in the Kannawa district steam rises from vents all along the lanes. Cook your own jigoku mushi, "hell steaming," by setting vegetables, seafood and eggs over the vents, then walk the "hells," springs too hot to bathe in that you view instead. It is about 2 hours from Hakata by limited express.

Soak in an outdoor bath high above the sea

These are rotenburo, open-air hot-spring baths, set on hillsides and clifftops so that the sea fills your whole view as you soak. All of them take day visitors, so you can spend a slow half day bathing, resting and bathing again. They are far apart, two on the Izu coast southwest of Tokyo and one in Oita on the island of Kyushu, so pick the one that fits your route.

Walk through a chilly cave to a blue lake

In these limestone caves, lit paths lead you past stalactites to underground lakes of clear blue water. The air inside stays cool all year, so bring a light jacket even in summer. Caves can close after heavy rain, so check the official site on the day you go.

Compare the waters of five hot spring towns

These are five of Japan's best-known onsen towns: Kusatsu, Gero and Arima, the classic three, plus Beppu, which has more hot spring water than anywhere else in Japan, and Dogo, one of the oldest. Each has its own water and a landmark at its heart, from wooden channels of steaming water to a bathhouse where you are buried in warm sand. They are spread across Japan, so pick the one that fits your route; Arima is the closest, about an hour from Osaka.

Watch cormorants fish by firelight on a river

In ukai, fishermen called usho handle trained cormorants on leashes, and the birds dive for sweetfish under a basket of fire hung from the bow; a cord around each bird's neck stops it from swallowing the bigger fish. Watch from a roofed boat drifting alongside, close enough to feel the heat of the flames. It is held on summer nights.

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