If you're looking for a serious escape this winter, I strongly recommend a trip to Snow Country in Northern Honshu in Japan. You can take the bullet train from Honshu, and then rent a car, say, in Morioka. You can also fly from Osaka or Tokyo north to the Hirosaki/Aomori area.
You'll want to stay in some of the historic hot spring resorts--the equivalent of stepping back into a woodblock print in pre-war Japan. Imagine spending the day cross-country skiing through virgin snow and then returning to a 350-year-old inn, stripping, and slipping down into a steaming hot spring (coed, of course--though woman have their own baths, too if they're not up to a communal experience). My favorite resort is Tsuru-no-yu Onsen. Just stay in the 100-year-old main building, and avoid the more modern annex down the road. There are many historic hot springs in the area--ask the Japanese National Tourist Organization for details (www.jnto.go.jp).
To read more about Japanese baths, click here. To read about the current deals to Japan on JAL we reported in this Newsletter recently, click here.