The Onsen

When people think of winter they usually think of bundling up and staying in a nice, warm room with no desire to take a bath or otherwise get wet. Not so the Japanese. In Japan one of the greatest parts of winter is taking a dip in a steaming hot hot springs. Speaking from experience, these are great.

Generally an onsen is rather large and almost feels like a hotel. You walk in and pay the entry fee. The lobby is usually adorned with several chairs or sometimes sofas and other sitting areas. There is also often a restaurant on location as well. You can also buy towels if you did not bring your own before you enter the actual bathing area. In most cases the sexes are separated (co-ed ones are extremely rare). You go through a curtain, blue for men and red for women. You enter into a locker room where you must strip down. Yes, you are naked as the day you were born when you go into the onsen. Some foreigners might feel a big embarrassed doing this, but most Japanese won't pay any mind to a naked foreigner (most of the time).

Once you're done stripping you move into the primary washing area of the onsen. You see at ano onsen or other traditional Japanese bath, you don't use the bath itself to clean off, you do that before you even get in. So you sit down at a shower stall and begin to wash up. There is usually shampoo and soap provided, but you can bring your own. It is important to make sure that you rinse off any and all soap from your body. It is extremely bad manners to enter a bath with either soap or bypassing the washing stage entirely. After your clean up you can finally enter the baths.

The baths are generally extremely hot, often close to 30 degrees or higher. Some baths are infused with minerals or other helpful additives. You soak in these baths to relax and to aid in healing (some baths are renowned for their curative abilities). You can move around and try different baths. A cold bath is also provided for a cool down if you so desire. Another feature of the onsen is the outdoor area. This can be a bit intimidating especially in winter, but these are among the most relaxing of baths. The mixture of hot water and cold air is invigorating. A favorite of mine is the shallow water area in which you lay down and allow the water to barely cover your entire body. This is quite refreshing especially when you have someone to converse with. One of my most recent times at the onsen was with my host father and we talked about everything from philosophy to volunteer work with the Peace Corps.

After you finish your bath it's time to go and get changed. Before leaving the bathing area it is often a good idea to take a quick shower. Basically you want to cool down a bit and to wash off any mineral or what not that you might have on your body. Once back in the changing room and dressed, the traditional thing to do is enjoy a nice, cold bottle of milk. This is my favorite thing about the onsen. After being subjected to hot temperatures for an hour (and sometimes longer), cold milk is very comforting.

As awesome as onsens can be there are some possible downsides. One example is the glaring old folks. I don't know about women's experiences, but I've had a couple times where an older man often glared at me and I could feel the loathing from him. However, don't allow this to deter you. Angry, anti-foreign types are the minority. Go forth and enjoy a hotspring.

Great places to try onsens are Gero, Kurama and Takayama.