Its main bath house has been the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (2001). But despite a famous pedigree, the onsen still feels like a public bath in the neighborhood. By Agnes Tandler (Sapporo), JAPAN Forward.

Just a short tram ride from Matsuyama city center is Dogo Onsen, Japan’s oldest hot spring. Its main bath house has been the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (2001). But despite a famous pedigree, the onsen still feels like a public bath in the neighborhood.

“Please be careful“, says the kind assistant at Dogo Onsen’s main bathhouse. There is no witch and no wandering soot spirit. Instead she points out the dangers posed by low wooden door frames, ceiling planks and a steep, narrow staircase. The vertigo-inducing stairs lead straight down to the changing room covered with tatami mats.