onsen

As I was finishing up the last pages of a book about Japan last night in bed, I was reminded by one of the stories about Japanese hot springs. Onsen, is what they're called over yonder, and they're something else.

We, Ryan and I, always had a timid relationship with them. It wasn't that they weren't wonderful; it was that the women and men were separate, so going to an onsen together actually meant going alone.

Now, to clarify things here, these hot springs had a similar ambience to your typical spa out west, without all the makeup, massages, manicures and pedicures. There were a number of pools, usually, and the different places had different levels of minerals in the water. Some were outdoor, some were indoor. (there are many places in Japan where you can find snow monkeys hanging out in the actual natural hot springs - it's a real tourist draw) Some smelled strongly of sulphur, which sounds really gross, but was wonderful to the skin. Some hardly smelled at all, and you wondered whether they had just lied about the whole "hot spring" thing and were just charging people to sit in a really hot tap-water bath.


The thing about the onsen in Japan is that you don't wear a thing. Yes, you're buck naked. You can imagine how Ryan and I felt a tad hesitant going it alone, being the only non-Japanese in the place. We both came out with slightly humiliating yet funny stories of people ogling our parts while we did our thing. What a feeling.

I, once again, had the advantage of weak eyesight, which helped me to not see the stares of those I bathed near. :)


These places were lovely, all strangeness aside. They had numerous pools, some hotter than others, often one which was freeeeeezing cold, and some places had massage jets falling from above or a "walking track" in the water. No matter where you went though, the rules were the same.

1 - Take off your clothes and stick them in a cubby.
2 - Take your little onsen towel (everyone had one of these), which is about 1 ft by 2 ft, into the bath area with you.
3 - Find an empty shower stall.
4 - Sit on the sketchy, dingy looking plastic stool and with your five hands, hold the high-powered shower hose so you don't spray anyone else, soap yourself up all over, shampoo your hair, and rinse off.
5 - Rise and turn off your shower hose.
6 - Take your wee towel, using it to cover the very least of your parts, but make it look like you couldn't care less because you ARE in an onsen...
7 - Casually walk into a scorching hot pool and sit down, placing your towel in a ball on your head. (Yes, really.)
8 - Sit there. Enjoy the onsen.

I grew to love the places, nudity aside. They were actually really relaxing.

On one occasion, I was sitting on my dingy stool doing my business, trying to control the high pressure shower hose and juggling soapy hands and body, when I made a horrible mistake. In the midst of my shampooing and lathering, I suddenly lost control of the hose, and it shot straight back, fire hose style, at a woman who had her back to me at another stall. She gasped and turned around with a shocked and appalled expression on her face. I looked at her, in utter horror and quickly said, "Sumimasen!!" (excuse me) Thankfully, upon seeing that I was a foreigner, she softened her expression and smiled, as if to say, "Ooooh, you're not Japanese. That's fine for you to make that mistake.....once."

I was thankful for that, and we both went back to our lathering. The trauma, I tell you. I was so careful with those showers after that time! Woah.

Well, if you're ever in Japan, I do recommend the onsen. If you can get over the nudity, and enjoy sitting in sulphur-smelling water, it's quite a relaxing treat.