How we verify
How we verify
How we verify
Most travel writing is assembled from other travel writing. A number gets copied, then copied again, until repetition starts passing for proof, and nobody ever goes back to the spring. We went back to the spring. This page is the record of how we did it, and of what we refused to print when the evidence wasn’t there.
Most travel writing is assembled from other travel writing. A number gets copied, then copied again, until repetition starts passing for proof, and nobody ever goes back to the spring. We went back to the spring. This page is the record of how we did it, and of what we refused to print when the evidence wasn’t there.
Most travel writing is assembled from other travel writing. A number gets copied, then copied again, until repetition starts passing for proof, and nobody ever goes back to the spring. We went back to the spring. This page is the record of how we did it, and of what we refused to print when the evidence wasn’t there.
Why we exist
The record exists. It is in Japanese, and it is not online
Almost everything true about an onsen town is written down somewhere — a town office ledger, an association's fare table, the Ministry of the Environment's registry of hot-spring sources. Very little of it is in English, and a good deal of it has never been on the internet at all. So we go and read it. Then we publish what we can verify, with the date we checked, so someone planning from six thousand miles away is working from the same record the town works from.
Why we exist
The record exists. It is in Japanese, and it is not online
Almost everything true about an onsen town is written down somewhere — a town office ledger, an association's fare table, the Ministry of the Environment's registry of hot-spring sources. Very little of it is in English, and a good deal of it has never been on the internet at all. So we go and read it. Then we publish what we can verify, with the date we checked, so someone planning from six thousand miles away is working from the same record the town works from.
The method
Applied to every claim we publish
Seven standards hold this record together. These four are how we work.
The method
Applied to every claim we publish
Seven standards hold this record together. These four are how we work.
Primary sources first
Japanese, official, and clicked. We build up from the primary record, never down from a secondary republish.
Everything dated, everything traceable
Each claim carries its provenance and the date it was last checked.
Verify, or omit
If we cannot source a figure, it does not appear. Silence beats a plausible number.
Corrections are public
We keep a visible log of what we changed, and when.
We would rather publish less and have all of it hold.
Corrections
Kept current, in public
Seasons change, timetables shift, a bathhouse quietly moves its hours. Much of what is written about these towns was true once and has been left to fade. When the record moves, we move with it — and we show the change rather than overwriting it, so you can see how fresh the answer is.
Corrections
Kept current, in public
Seasons change, timetables shift, a bathhouse quietly moves its hours. Much of what is written about these towns was true once and has been left to fade. When the record moves, we move with it — and we show the change rather than overwriting it, so you can see how fresh the answer is.
Takimotokan: 1858 became 1888
In reviewing our content's accuracy, correcting the mix-up between Kinzo Takimoto’s 1858 arrival in Hokkaido and the inn's 1888 opening led us to its real origin story. Kinzo built a shelter in Noboribetsu to cure his wife Sata’s severe dermatosis, establishing a spa rooted in devotion.
Takimotokan: 1858 became 1888
In reviewing our content's accuracy, correcting the mix-up between Kinzo Takimoto’s 1858 arrival in Hokkaido and the inn's 1888 opening led us to its real origin story. Kinzo built a shelter in Noboribetsu to cure his wife Sata’s severe dermatosis, establishing a spa rooted in devotion.
Takimotokan: 1858 became 1888
In reviewing our content's accuracy, correcting the mix-up between Kinzo Takimoto’s 1858 arrival in Hokkaido and the inn's 1888 opening led us to its real origin story. Kinzo built a shelter in Noboribetsu to cure his wife Sata’s severe dermatosis, establishing a spa rooted in devotion.
The pH we left out
We could not find an official 温泉分析書 for several springs, so we published the water type qualitatively and left the pH out. There are figures we still do not print.
The pH we left out
We could not find an official 温泉分析書 for several springs, so we published the water type qualitatively and left the pH out. There are figures we still do not print.
The pH we left out
We could not find an official 温泉分析書 for several springs, so we published the water type qualitatively and left the pH out. There are figures we still do not print.
The Tokyo route, rebuilt end to end
"Take the shinkansen to Nagano" is where most directions stop. We published the whole thing: five numbered steps, the real time for each leg, which pass covers which line, and a photograph at every transfer — down to the 1.6 km forest path at the end. Followable on a phone, in a station, with no signal.
The Tokyo route, rebuilt end to end
"Take the shinkansen to Nagano" is where most directions stop. We published the whole thing: five numbered steps, the real time for each leg, which pass covers which line, and a photograph at every transfer — down to the 1.6 km forest path at the end. Followable on a phone, in a station, with no signal.
The Tokyo route, rebuilt end to end
"Take the shinkansen to Nagano" is where most directions stop. We published the whole thing: five numbered steps, the real time for each leg, which pass covers which line, and a photograph at every transfer — down to the 1.6 km forest path at the end. Followable on a phone, in a station, with no signal.
Corrections & updates
Found something we missed?
Tell us. We keep a public log.
Japan Onsen Society
The authoritative editorial registry of Japan's geothermal heritage
hello@japanonsensociety.org
Japan Onsen Society
The authoritative editorial registry of Japan's geothermal heritage
hello@japanonsensociety.org
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