Naked and in public
Your worst nightmare or embrace it? This is how I bathed in Japan
Hi! This is Leyla from A Day Well Spent, a newsletter seeking pathways to more purposeful living.
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Japan is my favourite country — it is bonkers
If you visit Japan, you will notice a lot of things. A lot of beguiling, unfamiliar and often perplexing things.
Chairs on trains swivel 180 degrees so as to always face the direction of travel. The doors to taxis close automatically. You can smoke inside many restaurants, but only in designated areas on the street.
Toilets are more advanced than the International Space Station, with buttons for services you didn’t even realise were desirable toilet features. Men openly read violent manga pornography in public — perhaps involving giant octopus tentacles — and no one will bat an eyelid. And there is absolutely and equivocally no tipping in Japan.
Shop and restaurant staff cry out the ‘Irasshaimase!’ welcome at the top of their lungs when you enter their premises. It’s acceptable to get obliterated on a Friday night, puke up on your boss’s shoes, pass out on street corner and turn up for work on Monday morning with no judgement passed. But it’s frowned upon to be seen eating while you walk.
Oh, and bathing is traditionally done in communal baths, in the complete buff.
A fascinating quirk of the isolated evolution of the Japanese culture
Outside on the street, you’ll be hard pressed to engage in much eye contact thanks to the mostly coy demeanour of the Japanese. But bump into that person in the onsen of your hotel room and they’ll happily strip off and sit naked in a bath with you.
The Japanese tradition of bathing with others in your birthday suit often causes a state of alarm for westerners. Particularly for the British, with our stiff upper lips and aversion to general nakedness.
Most of us can just about handle a doctor asking us to drop our pants for the sake of our health. I myself am that person who will hide my modesties behind a precarious towel wrap as I try to shuffle on some underwear in a public changing room.
But let me tell you, when it comes to being in Japan and embracing the culture, my advice is to leave your anxieties and insecurities about this arrangement at the arrival gate.
Because doing so may well be one of the most liberating things you ever do.
What is an onsen?
The word onsen is in fact a term for a geothermally heated hot spring, although it’s often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns situated around them. Thanks to its volcanic activity, Japan has a lot of these scattered across the country and they are used as public bathing spaces.
They were traditionally located outdoors, but a large number of properties have harnessed these waters and brought them inside to provide the facilities under cover. They are believed to have healing properties, thanks to the multitude of minerals that can be found in them.
Why is bathing in them such a popular pastime?
As well as all those minerals, the purpose of wallowing in these warm waters is to provide an escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life and embrace the virtues of hadaka no tsukiai (naked communion).
It allows people to get to know each other in an environment where there can be no barriers or hierarchy. The idea is that spending time together naked allows for more open and honest conversation. Nudity is a great leveller.
Whilst finding yourself naked in front of your boss is the stuff most nightmares are made of, it’s not uncommon for company groups to visit onsens en masse, as well as friends and families.
Work away day, anyone?
In the past, men and women bathed together and everyone was fine with it.
But since Japan opened its doors to the west, gender separation has been enforced and is strictly adhered to. But the traditional mixed bathing does still persist in some rural parts of the country.
Ok, I’m up for it. How do I do it properly?
There are two parts to enjoying an onsen: 1) first get yourself squeaky clean at a shower terminal then 2) submerge into the hot onsen waters and relax.
You unequivocally cannot do 2) before you have done 1).
Here’s what the sequence of events looks like.
If you are in a hotel, it’s common for your room to provide an onsen towel and yukata (casual kimono – like a thin dressing gown) which you can wear between the onsen and your room.
If you prefer, you can remove your clothes in your room, slip into the yukata and walk to the onsen wearing it with nothing underneath. It is completely normal to be seen walking around in a yukata within the hotel grounds.
When you arrive at the onsen, remove your shoes before you enter the tatami mat area. Go into the relevant changing room (male or female) and remove all your clothes (or your yukata). There will usually be lockers or woven baskets to place them in.
Somewhere in the onsen or provided in your room, there will be a washcloth for you to take to the shower area. This can be used to cover your modesties as you walk around the onsen.
Or strut like a peacock, either is fine.
On entering the onsen, you’ll see a number of showering posts, often in rows, which usually consist of a mirror, a stool to sit on, a shower hose or tap and a bucket.
Take a seat and wash yourself thoroughly with the washcloth. Soap and shampoo are often provided, particularly in the nicer hotels, or you can take your own.
The idea is to conserve water. You’re meant to fill up the bucket and chuck the water over you, rather than use the hose. Once you’re clean, rinse the area and put everything back in its place for the next person to use.
Only at this point, are you permitted to enter the hot onsen waters.
These waters must not be contaminated with anything other than your squeaky clean self, so do not allow your washcloth to touch the water. Either leave it on the side, or fold it and balance it on your head like the natives. Similarly, if you haven’t washed your hair at the shower stage, you shouldn’t submerge your head.
It’s not a swimming pool, so don’t start doing laps. The idea is to soak and relax and enjoy its cathartic properties.
When you’re done get out, walk back to the changing room, dry yourself off with the towel, slip on your yukata and walk back to your hotel room.
Congratulations, you’ve now taken your first Japanese onsen in the nude.
Who’s going to see me naked?
Firstly, only your own sex. Onsen baths and changing rooms are single sex.
But in all honesty, likely very few people if anyone will see you naked. No one is there to look at anyone else and everyone keeps themselves to themselves.
Also, if you use the washcloth (which when fully unfolded will be a decent size) to cover yourself as you walk about, it’s likely no one will catch a glimpse of anything.
And once you’re in the water, hardly anything is visible anyway.
Can I just not be naked and go in with a bikini / shorts?
No, you cannot.
Swimming costumes are strictly forbidden as they are seen to contaminate the water. If you walked in wearing a one piece, everyone would stare at you and you’d probably be reported to some poor staff member who would be burdened with the task of having to ever so politely ask you to please get out.
I’ve heard of the odd place allowing costumes where they permit both sexes to use the same onsen. But these are usually water-park themed, uncommon and not traditional.
I’d like to experience it with my partner, is this possible?
If you’re of different sexes, the short answer is likely no. You will both need to visit your respective onsens separately, unless it’s those theme park type ones.
There are some places that might allow the onsen to be locked and enjoyed privately, and in this case both sexes could enjoy it at once.
For example, Hotel Mizuhasou on the island of Miyajima had a couple of onsen rooms with two showers and two tubs in each (pictured below) and a lock on the doors to allow this.
The only problem here is queues would form outside, waiting for you to finish and leave, which is far from relaxing.
What if I don’t want to shower in the onsen, will my room still have a bathroom?
Large hotels that cater to westerners will usually have rooms with private normal bathrooms, as well as a large onsen to use if you wish to.
Smaller hotels will sometimes have two types of rooms for sale, western ones with private bathrooms, or traditional tatami rooms, perhaps with a private toilet but not a private bathroom.
Interestingly, it’s usually the latter rooms — without the private bathroom — that are the more expensive.
Some very traditional ryokans (the name for a traditional Japanese hotel as opposed to a western style hotel) won’t have any private bathrooms available at all and will only have an onsen to get yourself clean in. This was the case with the hotel mentioned.
Don’t be put off by this set up. If you just want a quick shower without the soaking, it’s very easy to pop in, have a wash and leave without barely being noticed at all.
Like I said, no one is looking anyway.
What should I expect when I go into the onsen?
Based on my own experience, a glaring observation I made was the lack of westerners in the hotel onsens. I suspect many get put off by the idea, which is a great shame.
Don’t be surprised to see people really going for it at the shower stage, getting into every nook and cranny. The Japanese take down their toothbrushes and even their razors.
What sort of people use the onsens?
Everyone. There were mothers with babies. Old ladies. Young women. People on their own or with a friend.
My partner reported the same – business men, young men, elderly gentlemen, dads with sons. All shapes and sizes, all ages, all completely at ease with the whole situation.
It’s a fantastic environment to be in.
What sizes do onsens come in?
This can vary considerably. For example, Hotel Associa in Takayama had a spectacular open-air but covered onsen area, over multiple floors, overlooking the mountains.
There were many shower stations and a number of pools to dip into, each with different temperatures, as well as waterfalls and jacuzzi tubs. There was a huge amount of space which made it very easy to find your own corner away from everyone else.
At the other end of the scale, an onsen may consist of a small room with just a couple of shower stations and one or two small tubs. This may initially feel awkward, but again, no one is looking. If it is only two of you in a tub, just go with it. It will be fine.
Anymore than two in a small tub and it might be a little too close for comfort. What usually happens in this situation is whoever has been in the longest will kindly bow out of the scene once a new person has entered and showered, to allow them to take a dip in their place.
Any tips for enjoying the experience?
Take a bottle of water with you. Onsens can be quite hot and you’ll need a cool drink when you get out, some places will have a water cooler.
Otherwise, there’s really nothing else to it.
If you’re due to visit this spectacular country, I highly recommend kicking off your knickers and getting involved — I’m so glad I took the plunge. I left feeling rejuvenated and empowered in both body and soul.