The secret I’m not supposed to tell you about Japan’s famous onsen town

There’s a thing I’m not supposed to tell you about Beppu, a hot-spring town in southern Japan that is known as a place of medicinal healing, a resort town with a wide range of accommodation and famously agreeable locals.

There’s a welcoming, communal atmosphere here, thanks to Beppu’s 350 public bathhouses that draw piping hot, mineral-rich water from thousands of natural sources. You get to know your neighbours pretty well when you constantly bump into them in the onsen, as you strip away your clothes – any sense, perhaps, of status or pretence – and just soak and chat.

People come to Beppu, on the island of Kyushu in Oita Prefecture, from all around Japan to heal, to relax, to tap into a traditional way of life, to eat well and warm tired bones. They return home refreshed and revitalised.

I’m allowed to tell you all that. What I’m not supposed to mention is that Beppu has another reputation that draws crowds: people, according to local lore at least, come to here to conduct affairs.

“I’m going to Beppu for my health,” people will tell their spouses. “It’s an onsen town. This will be good for me.” It’s easy to explain the reason for the trip.

And so they book lovely accommodation and take themselves off on a break and return to their families some time later, indeed revitalised. It’s certainly not unheard of around here.

I’m told this, somewhat furtively, by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, my guide in Beppu. He’s not just any guide, but an onsen guide, a master of the art of soaking in a hot bath, someone who has visited more than 88 public bathhouses in Beppu and who has the stamps in his “Spa-port” to prove it.

It’s not often you find yourself getting naked with your tour guide. In fact I would have to call this a first. But still, here I am with Kawaguchi-san in a small bathhouse, the two of us disrobing and storing our clothes in a locker and then moving over to the buckets and taps to give ourselves a rinse before settling into the onsen.

There are rules in Beppu that even those familiar with onsen culture in the rest of Japan might find surprising, and it certainly helps to have an expert on hand.

You always greet your fellow bathers at a Beppu hot spring. In most of Japan you pretend all the other naked people aren’t there, you allow them a sliver of privacy by not acknowledging their existence, but not in Beppu.

Here you say hello to everyone as you lower yourself into the steaming waters, and everyone already in the bath will say hello in return. Don’t sit on the ledge of the bath either – that’s where people rest their heads. Bring your own towels and soap, rather than expect it to be provided.

There’s more geothermal activity in this area than anywhere else in Japan and it literally pours out of the earth, you see pillars of steam everywhere you look. Beppu is an elemental place, you feel close to nature here, and you feel its power.

Kannawa, a neighbourhood of Beppu, is even more densely packed with onsens than the rest of the city. The bathhouses here are often small and modest, without the mod-cons you may become used to in other parts of Japan – it’s often just a concrete bath, a few coin lockers and a tap with a bucket.

Each bathhouse costs only a dollar or so to enter, and Kawaguchi-san, my guide, knows every one of them, he leads us unerringly through narrow streets pointing out tiny venues, explaining their use. This one is supposed to make your skin beautiful. This one heals digestive issues. This one sells baskets of vegetables that you can steam over bubbling waters.

It took just two days for Kawaguchi-san to become a master, to visit 88 onsens. Some bathing obsessives in this city challenge themselves to do it in a single day, racing from onsen to onsen, collecting stamps and soaking souls.

That, at least, is something you’re allowed to talk about.

THE DETAILS

FLY
Qantas flies direct from Sydney and Melbourne to Tokyo (Haneda or Narita). Onward domestic flights connect to Oita Airport, followed by a 50-minute bus or train transfer to Beppu. See qantas.com

STAY
Amanek Yula-Re Beppu is a smart, modern hotel in the heart of the city, with spacious rooms and high-quality amenities. Rooms from $150 a night. See amanekhotels.jp

TOUR
Glide Japan offers the three-hour Hidden Onsen Crawl tour with an onsen master in Beppu for $186 a person. See glidejapan.co.jp

The writer travelled as a guest of Oita Tourism. See oita-tourism.com