The Art of Bathing - Soaking at a Japanese Onsen

I could not complete - or even start - my series on bathing without mentioning the Onsen of Japan. Just like with most things, the Japanese love to take things to the highest levels, and when it comes to bathing this might be more true than with any other thing. During my one year in Japan I got to know many interesting things, but my favorite one by far were the hot springs, thermal baths, or just simply public baths called onsen. They can be found easily following this sign. Looks kinda familiar, doesn't it?

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What Is It Exactly?

Thanks to good fortune, the region I stayed in Japan (the town of Shiojiri in Nagano prefecture) was famous for its thermal waters, and while the mountains and forests offered lots of great hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter, there were numerous hot springs which were at least as sought after by tourists. Some of them were tiny pools, hidden in the mountains, others were well developed spas offering a variety of pools and other amenities. However, later I learned that an onsen is not necessarily a natural hot spring, but can simply mean a bath.

After I had the pleasure to climb Mount Fuji with a good friend who came to visit me, we wanted to visit a museum in a coastal town. However, we felt quite uncomfortable for being utterly dirty after our mountain excursion, so we tried to find a place to wash up. What we found was beyond our wildest dreams: an urban spa with every type of pool, mineral rich water, and bathing facility that one could imagine, and more. It didn't even matter that all the thermal waters were shipped in from somewhere else. So in a way, the onsen is simply a place to indulge in the wonderful practice of bathing, the Japanese way.

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Onsen Etiquette

This first rule may seem like a no brainer, yet it's worth stressing each time: every time you go to an onsen, you need to clean up. It doesn't matter how clean or dirty you may be, what's important is that you show off how rigorously you take your scrub-down. The showers are generally along the wall in a common area, where the Japanese sit down of small stools, holding the shower head above their heads. Soap and shampoo is usually provided, and at the bigger onsen they even had disposable razors and single-use toothbrushes with the toothpaste already included on the bristles. Plus there was every single hygiene product you could imagine, and that was only the men's section. Since onsen are always separated, I could only guess the range of cosmetic products for women!

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The other thing that needs to be said is that the dress code is full nudity. What's completely fine with me may feel a bit uncomfortable to others, including some Japanese. Fortunately there are towels provided of all sizes, and some men like to carry a handkerchief size mini towel called tenugui with two hands when walking around. This same little towel you can also see on peoples heads quite often, while they are soaking in the hot water. Just make sure you don't drop it in the water. Another thing that is not allowed - so much so that you could get kicked out of the place for it if discovered - are tattoos. They tend to be associated with the organized crime, even if your tattoo happens to be of a Tweety Bird.

Experiencing the Pools

Once you are completely squeaky clean, you may go into the proper onsen to enjoy the pools. At the smallest ones there may be only one, such as the white, calcium rich pool, coming from the local hills, close to where I lived. At the big urban onsen there was also one pool with that same water, but there was also a red one rich with iron, a black one with coal, and a yellow, sulfur rich pool. But that was just the start. There was a line of pools with different temperatures, ranging from 20°C to 50°. Clearly, going into one or the other extreme you would not be able to stand it long, but once you got used to one, you could switch to the next one, and work your way up or down the scale.

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Other pools offered curious treatments for your back. I remember being in one pool with interesting nooks along the edge where people placed their necks into. I followed their example to see what would happen, and suddenly I felt a jolt! I quickly looked at it, and saw two electrodes apparently made to give you an electric shock. Being prepared, I tried again, hoping that I would enjoy it, but I never developed a taste for it. Instead, I much preferred the small pools with jets of water all around, massaging my back, my shoulders, my thighs and my calves.

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Other than these pools, there was quite often also a sauna, a steam bath, and funnily even wooden barrels where you could sit in the water, looking out at the ocean where the big container ships would pass by. After enjoying the waters to our hearts' content, there were also places to relax, enjoy a massage chair, or have some sushi and beer, which interestingly goes quite well together with the onsen experience.