Hotels tend to be expensive here since it is a very tourist-oriented town. The cheapest hotel we cou

Many Japanese people visit the spa town of Noboribetsu, Hokkaido s most famous hot spring resort, so we thought we should do the same. Noboribetsu is a haven for onsen fanatics, since the hot springs in this town produce 11 types of thermal waters, each having its own set of healing properties.
Each of the hotels in this area have their public baths set up differently, as well, so you will often see people onsen hopping, as we did, to see what the baths are like. Most times if you re a guest at a hotel, you can go to the bath for free; visiting another hotel incurs an admission fee. Oh, um, by the way: we re all buck naked in these public baths. (Sorry, no cameras allowed in these places, so I can t show you everything.)
Hotels tend to be expensive here since it is a very tourist-oriented town. The cheapest hotel we could find was the Noboribetsu Manseikaku, at $200 a night ( click here to see how our room looked). The one we wanted to stay in, with 29 different baths, was the Daiichi Takimotokan — but that was $400 per night. You ll find a small shopping street with stores that offer all kinds of regional souvenirs; there s also a bear park just above the town, but we couldn t bring ourselves to go (we were told Westerners would find it disturbing). Most importantly, the food is good, as you will see:
Noboribetsu is often referred to as "Hell's Belly" due to the geyser action, causing many huge pockets of steam and, subsequently, sulphuric aroma. There are demons all over the town to symbolize this nickname.
Delicate Blossom:  Yup, them's small towels.  First time I went to a sauna in Europe, it was buck neked and co-ed!  It takes about 30 seconds to get used to it, then it is a great way to lose inhibitions.