A closer look
Earning a UNESCO World Heritage title usually means you cannot even touch the artifact, let alone strip naked and soak in it. Tsuboyu is the glaring exception. Tucked into the lush mountains of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route, this tiny wooden cabin hides a natural rock basin barely large enough for two people. Shinto pilgrims have been lowering themselves into these scalding, color-changing sulfur waters for over a millennium to purify their bodies before approaching the grand mountain shrines.
