Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I specialize in luxury hotels, Latin America and adventure travel. If tropical heat is a top item on your vacation checklist, ...

After visiting Japan for the first time in 2018 with a group of college friends, I was excited to return in September as a travel writer. Having ruthlessly researched everything to do, brushing up on ...

A new high-speed train stop unlocks Kaga, a destination for onsen, nourishing food and traditional crafts, as an easy-to-reach getaway from Japan’s capital. A riverside cafe pops up from spring ...

Forming part of the Kii Peninsula, and just a few hours south of Osaka, Wakayama invites travellers to slow down and reconnect — not just with Japan, but with themselves. Mount Kōya (Kōyasan): ...

Soak in the three-Michelin-starred baths of Hyotan Onsen. Learn more about the craft of traditional bamboo weaving by taking a class at the Bamboo Cultural Center. Take a thermal sand bath while ...

It was a cold February day in northern Japan, snow piled high outside the onsen locker room windows as I slipped out of my clothes. Nervously, I stepped into the plumes of steam wafting from the next ...

Several Japanese cities are increasing the “bathing tax” for overnight visitors to onsen (hot spring) resorts, in an attempt to deal with rising tourism. This tax has been raised in regions including ...