Pdevine’s Weblog

OK, an onsen is a snazzy hot springs in Japan.  First you have to realize that in Shinto-Buddhism, whenever anything is considered really special a shrine is built to honor it, and then people can come and pay their respects at the shrine.  And then you have to build one or more gates to the shrine, and remember – the higher the shrine the more special and powerful.  So here’s the shrine at the Onsen.  This gate is special because it was designed by a famous Japanese architect and its construction is totally without nails or fasteners.  This current gate was built only 100 years ago – pretty new by Japanese measures of time.

Gate to Takeo Onsen

Well I can’t show you pictures of the inside of the onsen for two reasons – 1. It was wet and steamy in there and 2. this is a proper blog so I can’t include pictures of naked men…….alright I can hear the euw-w-w’s half way around the world, but being naked when you experience a hot springs is part of the Japanese culture and I firmly believe that when in Japan, you do as the Japenese do…..to a point. 

Now that we’re done with the juvenile responses, here’s the really interesting part culturally (at least to me).  First, as you reach the entrance you come to a wooden platform.  That’s the clue that you take off your shoes, being sure to put your stocking foot on the wood, not the concrete so as to keep everything as clean as possible.  If front of you are some cubbyhole lockers – each with a key sticking out.  You put your shoes and valuables inside and proceed to this machine that looks a little like an ATM vending machine – because that’s what it is – a vending machine for tickets to the onsen.  Taking our towels that the hotel provided, we walk up the stairs to a locker room with more keys.  Here you take off your clothes and put 100 yen (about a dollar) in the lock to get your key which you put around your wrist.  Now totally naked (except for the key and glasses) you go through a sliding door into the shower room with 16 short stools in front of shower wands and soap and shampoo dispensers.  Sitting on the stool you wash your hair and take a sitting shower.  From there you enter the onsen itself.  This includes two one meter deep hot water pools (we estimated 110 degrees F – very hot!), one inside and one outside on a balcony looking up at the lighted ridge  and a clear starry night.  Inside there is also a much smaller pool with frigid water and I mean frig-g-g-g-gid.  There is also a sauna room with cedar benches and dry heat.  You start in one of the hot pools by sloshing water on yourself and pouring it over your head to gradually get your body used to the change in temperature.  Slowly you ease into the pool.  This night there were the four American men from my group and about 3 or 4 others that came and went.  After immersing yourself in the hot pools for a while you need to get out and cool off in the frigid pool – again splashing and pouring before getting fully immersed.  We went back and forth several times between the hot and cold and also spent a few minutes in the sauna……..the whole experience was extremely peaceful and relaxing, and recharged our batteries for even more adventures the next day!