In June last year, visitors to the Shiobara hot-spring resort in Tochigi Prefecture were greeted by a notice informing them that one of the area's top attractions was now off-limits. Fudo no Yu, an outdoor bath nestled alongside a secluded forest trail, had been closed indefinitely "due to repeated offenses against public morals."
Shigeki Tashiro, head of the neighborhood organization responsible for managing Shiobara's public onsen (hot-spring) baths, confirmed that Fudo no Yu had been drawing a bad crowd.
"Groups of like-minded people would get together there on a regular basis, and watch men and women engage in indecent acts," he says. "It seems that adult videos were being filmed there, too."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.