In some old hot spring towns, inn guests stroll from one public bathhouse to the next, called soto-yu, wearing a yukata, a light cotton robe lent by the inn. Between soaks, stop at an old game parlor to knock prizes off a shelf with a cork gun, a game called shateki, or play smart ball, a pinball-like game with glass marbles. These towns are 2.5 to 3 hours from Tokyo or Kyoto, so they are best with a night at a ryokan, and many parlors stay open into the evening.
A game parlor that has stood since 1954 in Kinosaki, a town where guests walk between seven public baths in yukata and wooden geta sandals. After a soak, take aim with a cork gun at the prizes lined up on the shelf. It opens mainly in the evening and takes cash only.
A shooting gallery in a covered arcade a minute's walk from the Yubatake, where hot spring water steams as it pours down wooden channels in the middle of town. Fire ten shots at the prizes between baths; a few of Kusatsu's public baths are free to enter. It is open every day until late evening.
The only place to play smart ball in the quiet hot spring village of Shima, where you flick glass marbles up a sloping board into numbered holes; a shooting gallery has been added too. It sits among old inns, one of them said to have inspired the bathhouse in Spirited Away. Hours change often, so check before you go.