romantic onsen

My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Japan in April, and he was very excited about all the onsen there, until we learned that most are segregated by gender. We%26#39;d love to find a romantic little location to cozy up together (privately would be nice) in the natural hot spring water! Does anyone know of such a place in one of the following locations: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Hemeiji, Koyasan(or other day trip from Osaka), or Ishigaki/Yaeyama Islands?

romantic onsen

What you look for is a in-room onsen(expensive and about the size of hot tub but nicely done %26amp; some with view, many in Hakone) or a larger time reserve private outdoor onsen. You need to go to other places than those listed and depend on your budget.

Here is the site to begin to search the onsen towns.

If you come back after you have some destination ideas, others also can help you.

http://www.secret-japan.com/onsen/

romantic onsen

Yep, unfortunately in-room onsens are out of our price range and staying at onsen towns are out of our schedule...which is why I wanted to know if there were any onsen in Tokyo or these other cities (or within a day trip from osaka) where we could rent a private room.

Do you have time for an overnight to Hakone?

Found a site that might be something you%26#39;re looking for. It%26#39;s a ';Minshuku'; -- meaning that it%26#39;s not as fancy as a hotel, but it%26#39;s clean and comfy. Often, it%26#39;s run by a family.

According to their site, they cater to foreigners. You can use the bath as a ';family unit.'; It%26#39;s not a bath within the room, but you can lock the door. There are many small ryokans and lodges which have this option.

Fuji-Hakone Guest House

http://hakone.syuriken.jp/hakone/

Where are you staying in Okinawa? Ishigaki/Yayeyama has lots of minshukus. My guess is that you%26#39;d be able to lock the bath door there, too. Just a guess.......

Hey, thanks for the feedback, but, no, we have no times for extra overnights and would be looking for something a little more ';romantic'; anyway. (We can%26#39;t afford the most expensive hotels, but we%26#39;re not really B%26amp;B people, either...I%26#39;ll admit I%26#39;m a bit of a design snob.) I was really looking for something like I%26#39;ve read about in Dogo, where you can get a private room with snacks, etc. in the old public bathhouse...but accessible in a day trip from Osaka, or within Tokyo or Kyoto. The surroundings of the bath (or, better yet, view from an outside bath) is important to us. :-) Otherwise, I%26#39;m afraid we%26#39;ll just have to give it a miss... :-/

Okay, I%26#39;ve done some research and narrowed it down to Arima Onsen in Kobe and Shirahama in Osaka. Anyone have any advice about these two?

I%26#39;m leaning toward Shirahama b/c of these pics: images.google.nl/images…

But, I%26#39;m trying to find out more...

You may need to imagine differently to be romantic:

Exclusive in-room

www.hakoneginyu.co.jp/english/bath.html

Free time reserved at a moderate rate ryokan

www.yawaraginosato.com/onsen_yawaragi.htm

think Shirahama is in Wakayama pref. which is much further than going to Arima from Kobe

The Shirahama in Wakayama is Nanki-Shirahama.

http://www.nanki-shirahama.com/eng/index.html

Shirahama Onsen Park -- the site mentions ';renting'; a family style bath.

http://www.onsenpark.com/us/

Here%26#39;s the Arima Onsen site.

http://www.arima-onsen.com/eng/index.html

Bath info (don%26#39;t see any private baths for daytime use)

http://www.arima-onsen.com/eng/spa.html

Osaka to Arima Onsen is a bit over an hour with lots of transfers.

Kobe to Arima Onsen is closer, but also with lots of transfers.

It takes 4 hours from Kobe, and 3 and a half hours from Osaka to Nanki Shiramaha.

You can look up your train schedule with

jorudan.co.jp/english/…e-norikeyin.html

Good luck!