JAPAN: Sand Bathing, Japanese Spa Experience

Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan, is home to numerous hot springs, the most famous of which are in the cities of Beppu and Ibusuki.

These cities, with their balmy subtropical climate and bubbling volcanic waters, are major tourist destinations. One of their most popular attractions is hot-spring bathing, known as onsen, offered by various spas. But there exist a few spas in these cities that offer a lesser known, highly relaxing experience – sand bathing!

Sand bathing basically involves getting buried in a large pit of volcanic sand for up to 30 minutes. The experience is not only soothing and satisfying, but believed to be highly therapeutic as well.

It is apparently great for treating infertility, diabetes, anaemia and asthma, and is also said to aid in weight loss.

The bathing areas consist of a huge boxes of sand, heated up with natural hot spring water. When the sand is thoroughly soaked in the water and steaming hot, the water is drained.

Visitors are then let into the box and asked to lie down, as workers shovel copious amounts of sand on top of them. The bathers remain buried until the sand cools down, and are then directed to bathing facilities to wash the dirt off.

JAPAN: Holidays To Kyushu, Japan Suspended After Earthquake

Organized trips to Kyushu were canceled by travel agencies, following the recent powerful earthquake

The 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Japan on April 14 has already affected tour operators providing trips in the region.

Full refund or alternatives were offered to the travelers planning to visit the southwestern island of Japan. Also, a travel warning was issued, advising holiday-makers to avoid visiting Kyushu.

For safety reasons, travel operator Ctrip has suspended trips to Kyushu and Kumamoto and has changed routes and schedules for the organized tours in the area.

Tuniu, an on-line travel agency, warned tourists visiting the island be cautious and also applies the free cancellation policy for Kumamoto until April 22, due to the high number of bookings for this destination.

Tongcheng is another agency that made routes adjustments to avoid potential hazards when visiting Japan.

Moreover, airlines have announced full refunds or free change of travel dates for air tickets until April 30. China Southern Airlines and Air China will apply this policy for all routes between China and Fukuoka.

JAPAN: Volcano Erupts In Southern Japan

Mount Aso, a volcano on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, has erupted, sending huge plumes of black and then white smoke 2 000m into the air.

The eruption on Monday prompted authorities to raise the alert level for the area, banning people from approaching within 2km of the volcano's mouth.

There are no homes within that area and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The national television network NHK cited local police as saying they had safety evacuated people from a ropeway station on the mountain and were having other visitors move to lower elevations. Police were still checking to see if any hikers were in the restricted area.

Some flights to the nearby city of Kumamoto were diverted due to the ash pumped into the air by the eruption.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the eruption fired bits of volcanic rock, smoke and steam into the air. It was unclear if there was any volcanic flow from the mountain.

"This could happen a few times," Yasuaki Sudo, a researcher at the Aso Volcano Museum, told NHK. "The most important thing is to stay out of the danger zone."

The Japanese archipelago sits atop the Pacific "ring of fire" and has more than 100 volcanoes. Mount Aso had a smaller eruption in August and eruptions in 2014 that disrupted tourism in the area.

During the summer, authorities closed part of a popular hot springs about 80km from Tokyo because of fears of an eruption of Mount Hakone, which is southeast of Mount Fuji.

The eruption last September of another volcano, Mount Ontake in central Japan, killed 57 people