What It’s Like To Get Naked With Strangers at a Public Onsen in Japan

Before our trip to Japan, we spent quite a lot of time researching and reading about the top cultural experiences that you couldn’t miss out on. And one thing that we saw mentioned over and over was to visit an onsen — a traditional Japanese hot spring. Most of the recommendations were to book a private one for your family, typically in your hotel or guesthouse, and most often quite far outside the major cities.

We had already booked all our hotels for Japan, and it didn’t sound very convenient to go super far outside the city, anyway. But I still wanted to have a traditional onsen experience. So I turned my attention to the other type of onsen: public ones.

As I was reading about public onsens, I found that pretty much all of them were gender-segregated. And that’s because you have to be naked.

We decided we wouldn’t let the potential awkwardness prevent us from having a totally unique experience on our trip, so one night we made a short trek out to a Tokyo suburb to a public onsen called Toshimaen Niwa no Yu, with basically no idea what we were in for.

So… here’s what it was like to get naked with strangers at a public onsen in Japan.

The Public Onsen Experience in Japan

When we arrived, the first thing we noticed outside the building was a sign stating that no tattoos are allowed. Apparently, in most traditional Japanese onsens, tattoos are strictly prohibited — though there are some that are tattoo-friendly or that allow you to cover them with patches during your visit. Neither Matt nor I have any tattoos, so it wasn’t a problem for us, but be sure to check the rules before you make the trek to any onsen!

We entered the building and went to the reception desk. It was kind of like being at a gym or a fitness center. We had to take off our shoes and put them in lockers in the lobby, and then after paying at reception, we each received a bag with a large towel, a small towel, a locker room key, and some clothing that I am going to call “pajamas” but I feel like it’s not quite the right word. Also, they gave us a little paper with a bunch of instructions in English, along with illustrations, to help us figure out what we were supposed to be doing.

Besides the naked part of the onsen, which was the “Hot Baths Zone,” there was also the “Bade Zone,” which was a large swimming pool where people of all genders were allowed, and swimsuits were required. You could rent swimsuits at the facility if you didn’t have one, but Matt and I both brought ours. We decided we’d start in our separate Hot Baths Zones and then meet in the Bade Zone when we were done.

We had to make our plan like that because the biggest rule at the public onsen was no phones and no cameras allowed. I am pretty sure we had to put them in the shoe lockers when we first came in, so there was no way to communicate with each other after going our separate ways. There was also no way to take pictures for this blog post, so please enjoy whatever stock imagery or pictures I pulled from the onsen’s website (please don’t come after me for copyright infringement! I loved your onsen).

The Locker Room & Hot Baths Zone

When I got into the women’s locker room, I changed into the “pajamas” and wandered around for a few minutes, trying to figure out where everything was and exactly what to do. There were some signs but most of them were in Japanese only. It was pretty obvious that Matt and I were the only non-Japanese people in the whole place. Which was intimidating, but also kind of cool. It made it feel like such an authentic experience.

Eventually I figured out the next step after getting naked — you are supposed to go to the shower area before getting in the baths. But the shower setup was different from anything I’ve seen before. It was almost like having all these miniature vanities with mirrors and body wash, side by side, with a low plastic stool you would sit on while you cleaned yourself. Once you were clean, you could go get into the hot baths.

After showering, I wandered out of the shower area and into the hot baths zone. There were a handful of women already in the room, and I was feeling a little shy, so I chose one of the baths that didn’t currently have anyone in it. The water was really hot, so it was hard to stay in there for too long, but I tried to just notice what the other women were doing. It seemed like most people would spend about 5-10 minutes in one bath before they moved to another one. Like the instruction picture had shown, no one was letting their towel get in the water, though the rule about not letting your hair hang in the water didn’t seem to be as strict.

There was also a small outdoor garden with some lounge chairs, another hot bath, and even some large buckets filled with hot water that you could sit in. I tried everything. It was pretty crazy to be looking up at the night sky — I could actually see some stars out there! — and think, “Wow, I’m naked and sitting outside in a bucket in Japan right now.”

Back inside, I moved on to the sauna and steam rooms. The sauna was full of women just lounging on chairs, and some of them used extra towels to cover themselves, while others didn’t. The steam room was extremely hot and I could only last a minute or two in there before needing to leave. But once you were in the sauna area, you were supposed to shower again before getting back in any of the baths, so I decided it was finally time to go change into my swimsuit and go to the Bade Zone.

The Bade Zone

The first thing I noticed, after changing into my bright orange two-piece swimsuit and entering the Bade Zone, was that 1) no one else was wearing a two-piece swimsuit, and 2) no one else was wearing anything nearly as bright. Oops! Kind of forgot that Japanese culture is a lot more modest. But I had asked at the front desk when we came in whether it was okay to wear a two-piece swimsuit, and they said yes. I guess we probably stood out enough anyway, being the only foreigners there.

The Bade Zone was mixed gender, but I’d say that it was at least 75% men — most of the women seemed to be with men, but there were a lot more solo men. It took me a minute to find Matt before I spotted him enjoying one of the super-strong massage jets. These massage jets were placed around the pool, with several different styles depending on what body part you wanted to massage.

The jets were so strong that they had built-in metal bars for you to hold onto so the pressure wouldn’t make you float away! I liked the ones for my feet the most — we’d only been in Japan about 10 days but we had been walking soooo much that the foot massage was very much needed.

Outside, there was another Japanese garden with yet another hot spring bath and a Finnish sauna. Plus, a little trail you could follow to walk all the way through the garden! They provided rubber slippers for you to wear on the trail, and then there was also water for you to clean your feet when you came back inside — everyone was required to be barefoot through the whole facility.

After we’d had enough time in the Bade Zone, we decided to go back to the locker rooms, put on our “pajamas” and meet up in the lobby to go check out the rest of the building.

The Relaxation Zone

Upstairs, there was a full bar and restaurant, as well as a small “souvenir shop,” which was selling skincare products and local handicrafts. There were a few people in this area.

But more people were in one of two relaxation rooms. The first relaxation room was full of recliners, each with a little personal TV screen, and the audio was playing through speakers in the headrest. We sat there for a few minutes and flipped through the channels, all of which were in Japanese, so we couldn’t understand anything.

The other relaxation room was similar, but with one key difference. It was probably twice as big as the first one, and not only was it full of recliners, but the lights were turned out. There had to have been at least 50 people all sitting in their individual chairs, in silence, in the dark, mostly staring at their phones. (Which I guess they took from their lockers, or they came into the facility and went straight upstairs without going to the baths.)

I had never seen anything like this before, but the more I thought about it, the more it kind of made sense? I thought about how Tokyo is the biggest city in the world, and it must be really difficult to have any space of your own, or any peace and quiet. I also know that the work culture in Japan can be very intense — often with expectations of working long hours. So I could imagine how people might need a dark, quiet place they could decompress alone after a long day.

At that point, we felt like we had pretty much seen everything the building had to offer, so we went back to the locker rooms to change and get ready to head back into Tokyo.

Final Thoughts on the Public Onsen… and Getting Naked With Strangers

While neither of us were sure what to expect from our public onsen experience, we actually both really loved it! And I think we’d both say it was our favorite thing we did in Japan.

As far as being naked with strangers, it was definitely uncomfortable… but only for about 90 seconds. I was surprised how quickly I got used to it. Honestly, it was pretty cool being around so many different body types and just seeing everyone being unapologetically themselves. It felt really empowering actually!

It was also interesting because, at least on the women’s side, I noticed that there were friends, family members, and even co-workers hanging out together at the onsens. Moving from one bath to another, chatting away, like they weren’t even aware that the others were naked.

While I was able to get used to being naked with strangers, I’m not sure I would have acclimated as quickly to being naked with friends or co-workers. 😂 But I guess if it’s part of your culture, and you grow up with that being considered normal, then it would feel normal.

Overall, it was a really unique experience that I’m glad we had — I think we got the real Japanese experience by going to a public onsen rather than booking a private one in our hotel. That’s how we like to travel anyway, so we’re super happy to have taken the “risk” and tried something new.

And we’d definitely do it again on our next trip to Japan!

 

Have you ever visited a public onsen in Japan, or do you think it would be too weird to get naked with strangers? Did you know that ♨️ is the official symbol for onsen? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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