Onsen Culture

If anyone finds themselves in Japan, I strongly urge you to visit the Onsens.

An Onsen is a public bath house, often fed by natural springs! Now don't cringe with disgust, this is nothing like going to a public swimming pool. The Japanese take this experience very seriously and they're a very hygienic culture. Long before anyone has dipped a toe into one of the baths, they've spent a good hour scrubbing themselves down.

Living in a hectic high pressure culture, they have refined the art of relaxation, ensuring you get as much out of it as possible. The men and women are separated, but there's usually a common area attached, where there's food and drinks available. In the city they're huge building housing games, entertainment and a wide selection of food vendors, some of them follow the Vegas style of presentation. Outside of the city it's smaller, a more personalized feeling, far more rustic.

There are both indoor and outdoor baths. In the countryside you get the mountain mist, the flowers naturally spilling into the pool of water, petals floating by your head.

Each individual bath is a different temperature. People start at the cooler ones and move into hotter and hotter baths as their bodies adjust. When you sit down, the water goes right up to your chin.

When you go into the country sides, there are specialty Onsens. That means the natural spring naturally carries some kind of property, each believed to have theraputic properties. The water might have sulphur (awesome for your skin) Sodium Chloride, Hydrogen Carbonate, Iron. I saw one that was an Uranium Onsen, forbidden to preagnant women, and apparently awesome for skin disorders.

If you have tattoos you might have a problem getting into some Onsen's. This is actually a way to keep out organized crimminals. I've seen them turn a blind eye to foreigners with tattoos but this isn't always the case.

Oh and they're all nude. In the common arrias you wear a Yakata, which is like a casual Kimono. However, once segrigated, everyone's naked!

It's civilized and luxurious!

A most civilized culture.

yes, it is something to experience. As you stated, the best houses are located in the countryside and highlands. Respectful foreigners are treated very graciously because you have taken the time to travel to seek them out. They do get the giggles watching you attempt the different water temps, I myself have worked my way up to the extreme, and you come out feeling like a noodle! I was rewarded with local sake and a buffet and the company of the owners. You need to be comfortable nude in front of people, but there is no stigma; everyone is treated royally. Thanks for the post!

Anyone ever play golf in Japan- I hear it is quite different than ours. I havent had a reason/excuse to get up to Tokyo yet but hope to sometime soon.

Onsens are a MUST if you ever visit Japan. I was lucky enough to live in Japan for 3 and a half years. One of my favorite experiences was going to an onsen in the countryside and bathing on a mountainside with a waterfall right beside the onsen. Another was when I went to an onsen at my hotel in Tokyo, the locals didnt like to bathe alongside a gaijin with a tattoo, so when I stepped in the oyaji's stepped out. A whole onsen to myself! There's nothing like going to an onsen when it's snowing or a cool breeze flowing!

If I am ever fortunate enough I will visit the Onsens, I will spend plenty of time in the Gaijin/Japanese pickup bars in Shibuya and the red light district is going to be getting a whole new level of business. Onsens are just one of many things I am dying to do there. I hope when I die, I go to Japan, because that is my idea of heaven.