On a recent concert tour in Japan, I had the chance to visit several thermal baths and to chat with people about the tradition of bathing. I was fascinated by their differences with American spas.

Sitting atop a rocky outcrop on Japan’s Izu Peninsula, the pool at Kuroneiwa-buro is so close to the Pacific that the waves are only just out of reach as they crash onto the boulders nearby. The hot ...

Japanese macaques, colloquially referred to as snow monkeys, famously soak in steaming hot springs during winter. It's easy to see that this helps them stay warm in cold temperatures, but a team of ...

In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers explored how bathing in Japanese hot springs affects the gut microbiota of healthy individuals. Their results provide ...