Kusatsu hot springs in Japan

A historical image showing the public bath at Simoda, Japan. Hot springs are an integral part of Japanese history Photograph: Philip de Bay/Corbis

A male bather in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn type hotel, bathes in naturally hot volcanic spring water, in Kusatsu town Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

5,000 litres of water gush out of the Yubatake spring every minute Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

The Yubatake spring in the centre of Kusatsu town Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Mayor Takahashi Nakazawa, in Kusatsu town, also opposes plans to divert the springs from the public baths to a new geo-thermal power plant Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

In Ueno neighbourhood Tsubameyu Public Bath only allows entrance to tattooed men, photographed October 1980, in Tokyo Photograph: JP Laffont/Corbis

Hot steam rises from the Yubatake spring at night Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Hot steam rises from the Yubatake 'Field of Hot Water' spring in the centre of Kusatsu Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Nobutada Kuroiwa, Chairman of the Council in Kusatsu, who is worried about plans to re-divert the natural spring waters to feed a proposed geo-thermal power plant. The plant intends to harness the naturally-occurring heat to produce energy, but threatens to take the tourists away from the town Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Women performing the 'Yumomito Odorii' water cooling dance in the 'Netsu No Yu' hot spring Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Hot steam rises from the Yubatake Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

A statue of a deity stands in front of a waterfall of naturally-occurring hot volcanic spring water in Sainokawara park Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Steam baths on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, where the hot springs of Noboribetsu provide 100,000 gallons of hot water a day, circa 1950 Photograph: Evans/Getty

Hot steam rises from the Yubatake 'Field of Hot Water' spring in the centre of the town Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Women performing the 'Yumomito Odorii' (water cooling dance) to cool down naturally occurring hot spring waters so that it will become a temperature suitable for bathing in, in the 'Netsu No Yu' spring Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Eggs being cooked in naturally-occurring hot spring waters, in Kusatsu Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

An image by Katsushika Hokusai titled 'Roben Waterfall of Oyama in Sagami Province', 1830-1831, from the Series 'A Journey to the Waterfalls of All the Provinces' showing the hot springs falling into the town from the waterfalls above Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert