Onsen experiences in Japan

I obviously can't take pictures inside the onsens, so here are pictures of us on the mountain

The onsens were my absolute FAVORITE new experiences of Japan and I had very different experiences among the four I went to. The most popular thing to do after a day on the ski slopes is to grab some sake at an end-of-run bar and then hit up an onsen. What could possibly be better after a day out in the snow than a super hot bath? Let's get started with what they even are.

"An onsen (温泉) is a Japanese hot spring; the term also extends to cover the bathing facilities and traditional inns frequently situated around a hot spring. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands."

At the very first one I went to, I arrived with a group of girls who had all previously or currently lived in Japan. They weren't new to onsens and no one thought to explain to me HOW to correctly go about them. All I knew was "public" "hot bath". Cool. I'm cold, I love hot baths, let's go. We arrive to the public onsen, a big building which houses separate men's and women's locker rooms/dressing areas and then a sliding door which opens into the actual onsen room (also separate for men and women). It's important to note that I had just met, the night before, the three women I was with, all of which had dark brown/black hair. In attempt to sus out this whole naked situation, I took my time getting undressed in the locker room and in doing so - lost my gaggle of gals. Never having been to an onsen before, I really had no idea what to expect. I'm now completely undressed, thinking I'm going to walk into a mostly empty room with some sort of hot bath in it.

I slide open the door to a huge steamy room with a high ceiling, lined with probably 13-15 shower heads coming out of the walls. For each shower head there was a stool with someone else, also obviously butt-ass naked sitting on it showering. There was a big bath with probably 20 women in it, and 5-6 women and girls standing or walking around waiting for a shower. From the bare backs and butts on chairs, I couldn't easily pick out any of my new dark-haired friends from any of the dark-haired locals. I wasn't sure what my next step was and instead of standing around, ass and tits out and unsure, waiting for a familiar face to appear among the blur of nakedness, I ended up just plopping myself right into the onsen and using my new vantage point to make better sense of this system around me. I was wondering if they were showering before or after being in the onsen. I figured, if it's sulphur water, as many of them are, surely they would want to shower after? Then as I watched a few more minutes, I became even more self-conscious than I was entering the room. I realized that we were actually supposed to shower BEFORE we got into the onsen. Yes yes, I understand it makes perfect sense. But it's harder to make sense of things in the nude.

So NOW, I'm worried I've made everyone IN the onsen uncomfortable. Am I being rude? Have I fucked up the whole system? DID I RUIN THE WATER?! I'm looking around to see if any of the 15 or so showers are free, but they're not. Before long a familiar face showed up and I confessed my sins. Can I stay? How royally did I fuck up? Around this time, a shower became free and I quickly scurried over to give myself a proper wash. I was happy to discover the shower water was heated as well. Luckily, no one seemed offended enough to leave. I hopefully corrected my mistake quickly enough.

The water was inside was probably around 105°F or a toasty enough temperature that it was difficult to stay in for more than 10 minutes. After being delightfully warmed up, I was more than prepared for the 10 minute walk back to the hotel.

ski hill at Lotte Arai

After this first experience, my second one was in a very upscale spa that was a part of the second ski hill at Lotte Arai. The locker rooms and (hot) shower areas were very modern, posh body wash, shampoo AND conditioner, and a towel supplied. This spa had a steam room and both an indoor/outdoor onsen, which meant we could take a 105° hot bath that contrasted the 29°F weather outside. Divine any time, but especially to rest your bones and muscles after skiing (OR after sliding down a particularly steep run that you weren't expecting to have massive anxiety on). This time, Georgie & I and maybe one or two other random people, were the only ones around.

public onsen in Nozawa

My third and favorite was a public onsen in Nozawa (a modest, rustic town at the base of a mountain). It was much much smaller than either of the previous two, and much more local. This one was inside a traditional Japanese wooden building, still with high ceilings with separate entrances for men and women, but not very insulated from the outside. In fact, the roof was slightly raised from the walls to let out the steam. The water here was sulphuric and streaming into each of the two baths through pipes. There was no locker or changing room, just some shelves for us to put our things. A local woman laughed with us as Georgie and I used the yellow buckets to rinse off with freezing tap water, then struggled to get into the scalding bath. She left shortly after, which meant we had the whole place to ourselves. I leapt at the opportunity to take pictures inside, since I obviously would never have done so while someone else was present.

a room shared with 5 people in the ski 'resort'

My fourth onsen, was located in the basement shower room of this hotel we stayed at in Nozawa. This hotel was aged with little upkeep, but a great place to sleep and eat before getting back outside to ski. In the basement there was the tiniest (think: small jacuzzi) bath of them all. The perks of this one, were that it was right in the hotel with no one else around. We could shower + onsen with sake, change, and be ready for the 7:00pm sharp dinner that was taking place in the hotel. I really wished I had time the last ski day to get in one last bath in the local onsen from two nights prior, but we had a strict bus-time to make and sadly, ran out of time.

I am grateful to have been spoiled with such a diverse onsen experience. This is an incredible part of the Japanese culture, a culture that truly knows how to do cold temperatures right. Aside from hot baths, other ways the Japanese stay warm include heating their: subway cars, subway SEATS (yes, I was beyond pleased to discover this), toilet seats, KOTATSUS (a half table/half blanket with a heated underside to warm your legs), free hot tea, ramen, and excellent heating systems in hotels and busses. Seriously, if someone told me I had to spend a real winter somewhere... I would want it to be Japan!

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