Hotels in Japan

Japan's waterparks blend slides with the country's bathing culture, so a family trip often mixes wave pools with hot spring baths and a night in a ryokan or a business hotel. Our listings cover three bases within reach of Tokyo and the Pacific coast. Tokyo Summerland sits in the hills west of central Tokyo, at Akiruno, with outdoor wave pools and slides in summer and an indoor bathing hall that keeps it open well beyond the short outdoor season; families stay in Hachioji or Tachikawa, both on fast train lines into the city. On Sagami Bay in Kanagawa, Oiso Long Beach lies on a pine-backed stretch of coast in the town that became Japan's first seaside resort in 1885, and stays range from onsen inns in the hills to simple hotels near Odawara Castle. Further north, Spa Resort Hawaiians at Iwaki in Fukushima is built around the Iwaki Yumoto hot spring, with several water and bathing zones under one roof and its own hotels on site. Rooms in Japan are often compact, so check the occupancy for families of four, and remember that tattoos can be restricted in pools and baths.