Word: rotenburo
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...cozy, over-sized tub feeling, the Kanaya is a steaming behemoth of a bath, half the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. A thousand people might be hyperbole (a hundred is more like it), but so what? With wood paneling, high ceilings, statues of frolicking nymphs and a rotenburo, or outdoor bath, this steamy classic offers bathers the chance to par-boil in elegance or cool off under the night...
...stumbled upon a mention of the Green Plaza Shinjuku in a magazine, but grew alarmed at the cheesy, basement entrance. I ascended to the 10th floor, and was relieved to find the 24-hr. spa clean and respectable. Moreover, it features a real gem on its roof: the rotenburo, or outdoor bath. There's something gleefully luxurious about floating in a steaming hot bath the size of a small swimming pool, gazing out at the city lights...
...your tatami-mat room, change into a yukata and head to the baths. Before you cannonball in, though, take your washcloth to the showers, soap up and shampoo. Only when squeaky clean should you hit the baths. The indoor one is nice, but the true gem is the rotenburo (outdoor bath). The stone-ringed pool overlooks the river, with your privacy protected by rhododendron and cedars...
...colder months, Nagano prefecture--site of the 1998 Winter Olympics--offers the delightful contrast of piping-hot springs amid snow. Two hours west of Tokyo lie the vast Lake Suwa and the onsen town of Kamisuwa. At Saginoyu saginoyu.com) a historic inn, some of the grandest rooms offer private rotenburo, round cedar tubs overlooking the lake. But don't miss the communal onsen on the ground floor, where the rotenburo are shielded by tile roofs from which icicles hang in winter. In spring, cherry blossoms provide a pink feast for fatigued bathers' eyes...
What both lodgings lack, in my view, is truly satisfying onsen. Luckily, around the corner are several public baths, including the Rakuyujurin, its rotenburo shaded by maples. Next day visit Japan's most famous volcano. Between the views, meals and baths, you will be grinning all the way back to Tokyo...