Hot Springs

This vacation marked my first trip to a Japanese hot spring. Known in Japan as onsens, these are immensely popular throughout the country. They are relaxation centers for the overworked and overstressed. Some are in cities, while others can be in the mountains overlooking the ocean.

Entering the onsen is immediately soothing. My friends and I slip off our shoes and place them in lockers. Inside families and friends sit around long tables sipping tea and eating snacks. Beauty products and expensive lotions are on sale. There is a vending machine to buy tickets. We choose a day pass and procede to the front desk. They give us a locker room key in exchange for our ticket and shoe key.

Upstairs in the locker room, we slip off our clothes and only have the small handclothes we brought with us for cover. Younger women hold these over their bodies modestly; older women are more accustomed to the onsen culture and are not shy at all. The hot springs are segregated by gender at this onsen, as in most. After entering the locker room, we will see no men until we retrieve our keys at the front desk.

The next step is the shower. There are small booths along the walls where we shower. Shampoo and body wash are provided, but many bring their own supplies. After that we are free to slip into the baths. Most onsens have indoor and outdoor baths, and this one is no exception. Inside there is a hot tub with a variety of jet styles. Next to this there is also a milk bath. I soak in these while we all assemble before we move onto the natural springs. The water here is so hot most of us prefer to sit rather than lie in the water. There are many tubs outside. Two mineral springs; one piping hot and one larger one, where the women do a lot of talking. There are hot water baths with no pure water. There is a collegen bath, and there is a place to lay down while the hot water runs below you, keeping you warm enough, but allowing you to cool off from the steaming baths. This is my favorite spot.

We soak for an exceptional long a and a half hours. After we finish, I stand up to fast and climb into my winter clothes again. It is a rush. Sometimes people will pass out at this point, so I take a long break to sit down and relax with a large bottle of gatorade. But the best part comes when we go downstairs and have some delicious ice cream cones. Yet, sleeping in the car on the way home was what finally made me understand the popularity of the onsens. They are relaxing indeed.