Racism has never been absent from Japan, but in the last few years it has become especially evident at Japanese resorts known as"onsens." Apparently the notion of mixing Japanese and non-Japanese bodies in the same water is deeply disturbing. The sign above, typical of many, warns non-Japanese to keep their polluting bodies to themselves and out of all-Japanese tubs.

More subtle, but just as real, are the Japanese facilities that suddenly and explicably" close for maintenance" when foreigners show up and request services. I was once told that an"onsen" near Hakone was out of commission, while Japanese patrons continued to enter and jump into the hot water pools (visible through a plate glass window behind the manager's desk.)

There are positive features to Japanese ethnophobia, of course. Anyone seeking an education in open discrimination based on race can visit Japan for a first-hand look. And now that Japan has selected a super-nationalist prime minister, Abe, one can only assume such opportunities will multiply.

The reasons for Japan's pronounced drift to racial ethnocentrism will be the subject of another message -- with a few more pictures, to boot, from Japan's many"exclusive" hot springs resorts.