Japan's Hidden Hot Springs [Paperback]

Robert C. Neff (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Charles E. Tuttle Co. (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804819491
• ISBN-13: 978-0804819497
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #955,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of 'Hidden' treasures, June 10, 2000

By 

"matttatami" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs (Paperback)

I say hidden as books in English on traditional Japanese hot springs (onsens) are rare. Neff is a real traditioalist at heart and refuses to recommend any onsen that has tried to fit in with the modern city-driven development of Japan. His enthusiasm for finding peaceful, beautiful locations, with onsens set in natural locations knows no bounds! Locations given in the book live up to their expectations. This is certainly the best onsen guide showing a side of Japan that has resisted change, and will hopefully continue to do so - see it before it does!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the purist, February 2, 2009

By 

Tim Wu (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs (Paperback)

This book is somewhat like the dead sea scrolls of onsen -- it is cryptic, out of date, idiosyncratic -- yet nonetheless powerful.

In this book are a unbelievable gems that you would otherwise never, ever, find by yourself. Japanese people are often shocked that you found such a place. But they can be hard to find; and sometimes disappointing or abandoned.

The date of this book has had its effects. I place that was "slow" 15 years ago can now be a spooky crumbling ruin (especially in Hokaido). Other places have sometimes gotten better.

Bottom line: a manual for the onsen purist. You really don't know what kind of place you'll reach using this book, but I can guarantee it will be a real adventure.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best sources on Japanese Onsen, March 24, 2006

By 

rumirose (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs (Paperback)

After reading almost every book that is out there on Japanese onsen, I always come back to this one. It's a very concise collection of the "true and traditional" Japanese onsen ryokan. It is for anyone who seeks a traditional experience of what onsen used to be before modernisation set in. His selection stays away from the modern, overpriced, and ugly. Of course you have to be willing to do the extra work to find these onsen, but what the other review says that these are "impossible" to find places, is simply not true, you just have to be willing to look at a map. The book also includes one. Some onsen are in fact very close to Tokyo. My only negative: the rating system is a bit confusing. Overall I highly recommend this book. It's a jem.