Bathe Naked in Japan's Hot Springs

Background

So my family traveled to the other side of the world, Japan specifically, in the middle of August - while I couldn't stop thinking about the food (ramen fans, anyone?) and the culture, one of the first Japanese traditions my dad notified me of was Japan's hot springs, or onsen (温泉) in Japanese.

hot springs depicted via monkeys

Subsequently, my mom and I each packed our suitcases the next day after remembering what my dad had said. But he looked over and grinned...in the dad way where you know he's about to kind of roast you - "you know you're naked in hot springs right?"

A literal shudder went through my spine. If you don't know, I believe I'm one of the most to-myself people out there, especially with my bare body (then again in that situation I hope we all are). For instance, my mom will publicly tell strangers that I won't go to get a massage with her because I "don't like when people touch me." Think about how many boys fell for me after hearing that line.

And on the last day of packing, my sister and I wanted to learn more about the hot springs. And of course, we read another blog about how tattoos often are not allowed.... yay me.

But I knew if I went to Japan for the first time, I was gonna embrace as much as I could... no matter how uncomfortable I felt. And dodge anyone judgy who'd force me out because of my tattoos.

The Baths

During my 10-day stay, I went to two different hot springs located in two different hotels and cities.

The first was near Mt. Fuji area - so Japanese hospitality is definitely up there, so when you stay in hotel rooms, they give you these decorated cotton robes called Yukata. They're recommended to cover you as you waddle down to the hot springs all naked on the inside.

Before going in, we found a rules sheet which my mom legitimately laughed at for 5 minutes.

Her personal favorite was "Please do not run at the bath area" because of how dorky the drawing looked. But my personal favorite was "please refrain from washing your clothes or underwear." I mean... isn't that kind of obvious and just... polite?

You walk into a shared dressing room, separated by gender, where you take off your shoes and put your clothes away in the locker.

And then you slide the door and you're in.

The steam immediately hits you and you make your way over to the shower area because you have to follow the rules. Many mirrors are on the wall in front of you along with individual showerheads and stools - you are required to wash yourself. I walked in and just looked down at my feet, trying to avoid the awkward "oh hey there...not looking at your boobs or anything... just a first time hot spring-er."

Then you're presented with a few options. At this hot spring, there were two small indoor hot pools. The left was bubbling like a hot tub at the local YMCA while the one on the right was a bit more calm. And the last was an outdoor hot spring - not sure why I expected an open view because a wooden gate was propped up for our privacy from outsiders.

While walking around, you're provided with a small rectangular towel about 2 ft long and 1 ft wide to "enhance your privacy." And while some privacy was enhanced, one little towel slip and you're showing off that birthday suit.

I dipped into all three for a few minutes since the recommended time for hot springs is like 10 minutes anyway. Yes, the hot water was very soothing but I was sort of confused... it felt like a glorified hot tub.

When I mentioned this to my mom, she was quick to remind me that "the water is from the springs! so it's ! good ! for ! your ! skin !" I mean, that may be true but the experience legitimately felt like the ones I had in Ocean City, Maryland trying to avoid the sun's heat by submerging my body in a hot tub. I just happened to be naked.

But for some reason, maybe because I was with my sister and mom, the naked aspect didn't feel too uncomfortable. Everyone was in their own world so you didn't feel like you were being watched. And bonus point to me, no one nastily looked at my tattoos.

The second was a few days later in a small town near Kyoto. The process to enter was the same, but we had different options - a larger indoor pool and outdoor pool with a few more plants than the first hotel. So the experience of bathing in 100 degree water was the same and knowing that I excitedly wanted to go back to the hot spring solidified that they actually were really relaxing. Even though the naked part eeked me out before I got to Japan, I sort of stopped thinking about it after the first time. I will be honest and say my sister and I forgot our "enhancing privacy" towel the second time around...

Funny enough, when leaving the bathing house, there was a sign in Japanese that my mom read to me with the line "tattoos must be covered up." Guess who didn't follow that one? But hey, it wasn't my fault - I had only found out after the fact.

So now I've returned back to the US and one thing's for sure: I just want to go bath naked in a hot spring right now.

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