Hi, there! It’s Saori.
I love traveling abroad and I’ve fallen in love with Toronto. I don’t want to go back to Japan honestly, but I definitely miss ‘onsen’!
When it comes to Japan, maybe onsen, hot springs, or spa is one of the most famous things to do. So now, let’s see and learn about onsen!
What’s ‘onsen’?
Onsen is a Japanese word meaning ‘hot spring‘ in English. It’s public bathwhere you go in naked and share the bath with random people.
I know that sounds really weird to many people from abroad, but onsen is one of the best in Japan!
How to make natural hot water ?
1, non volcanic
The hot water of onsen is generated by the energy of the earth. Generally, the soil temperature is 3 degrees Celsius higher each 100m deeper from the surface. And the heated water comes into the ground level some reasons, like boring or naturally, this is onsen.
2, volcanic
In Japan, there’re many volcano and the magma heatsthe underground water. The water come out to the ground level is onsen.
You can read some articles referring to onsen on this website.
How to take onsen?
There’re some rules to follow to take onsen.
- Check if the place accepts people with tattoo
- Take off clothes at the locker room
- Use locker / basket to keep your clothes at the locker room
- Leave your phone at the locker room for everyone’s privacy
- Bring a small towel with you to the bathroom ( use it before you leave to the locker room to keep the floor dry )
- Tie your hair if it’s long ( don’t bathe your hair in the bath tub)
- Take a shower before bathing
- Use chair when take a shower ( don’t stand and take a shower)
- Keep your bath goods with you ( don’t leave them at shower)
- Keep your towel out of the bath ( don’t put the towel in the bath tub)
- Don’t run, swim, speak loudly
- Wipe your body before going back to the locker room
Unfortunately, tattoo is a kinda social taboo in Japan although it’s very common in many western countries. If you have a tattoo, you should check the website of the onsen where you’re planning to go.
To see the list above, you might think there’re too many rules to follow, but don’t worry too much. If you look around you and do the same as them, you have no problems!
This page introduces the manners to take onsen and is easy to understand. I hope it’ll help you.
If you speak Japanese only a little, that’ll make Japanese much more relaxed and you’ll also feel more comfortable. Here’s some essential Japanese expressions to start.
Thank you for reading!
