InsideJapan News Network

The Konyoku wo Mamoru Kai (Project Mixed Bathing Association) is urging visitors to the Sakayu Hot Spring resort to refrain from staring in the mixed baths.

This announcement follows complaints by female bathers about male guests staring at them and making them uncomfortable when bathing in the famous hot springs.

Sakayu's springs at contain a 260 sq m bath where bathers can enjoy the hot waters and steaming mist that is said to have therapeutic qualities.

A spokesman for the association said: "It'd be a real shame if we were deprived of the traditional practice of mixed bathing."

The city of Aomori is situated at the northern hub of Japan. It has a population of 290,000 and is bordered by the Hakkoda mountain range.

It is sited at the same latitude as the major European cities Madrid and Rome and also New York in the US.