The unwelcome behaviour of some male customers is putting women off visits to hot springs, where both sexes have mingled for years
The rattle of someone sliding open the changing room door is the cue to execute a discreet turn of the head, gaze firmly directed at the steam rising towards the bathhouse’s intricate wooden rafters.
As it turns out, the precaution is unnecessary. The two bathers joining the Guardian in the restorative waters of a 140-year-old hot spring resort, or onsen, in the mountains of Japan’s Gunma prefecture were men.
