Enjoy the Moment by Getting Naked with Strangers in Japan

The semi-spiritual joy of the Onsen

Photo by Roméo A. on Unsplash

I’m surrounded by naked men. Old asses, wrinkled by the ravages of time, almost smack me in the face as they scoot by me. A six-year-old child stares at me without blinking.

A former yakuza, arms and back tatted up in traditional mafia irezumi (刺青) style, leans back and stares into nothingness. An elderly woman, clothed, comes in to clean up the towels and check the water temperature, no one bats an eye at her presence.

Sometimes I see snow falling softly into the bubbling waters, shooting up steam clouds as they touch down. Other times it’s cherry blossom petals, rain, or even the occasional dragonfly falling into the pools.

In this steamy, eclectic, and odd environment, I am at peace. I myself am naked, sitting in a Japanese onsen bath. And it is here that I have learned to enjoy the moment and appreciate the beauty of life.

After my story, I’ll share some info on what onsen are and how to enjoy them.

How onsen saved my sanity

I had been living in Japan for eight years when my body was racked with intense pain. I have a genetic skin issue that got so bad I couldn’t sleep, scratched myself continually until I bled, and often broke down into tears, with medication doing nothing for me.

During this time, I did a three-day road trip around the prefecture of Wakayama. There’s a famous hiking trail called the Kumano-Kodo which I recommend. You can do anywhere from a day hike to a several-week-long one, visiting ancient temples and deep isolated forests,

I stayed at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) and these are the places where most onsen can be found. Chances are that if you go to a bathhouse in Japan it’s probably a man-made sento since most naturally occurring onsen have been claimed by ryokan, though some do exist outside of them.

After hiking the misty mountains, hearing monkeys scream at each other from the tree tops, my body burning in pain, I would do the onsen for several hours each night.

These moments, after a day of adventuring, allowed me to just relax. Especially since my body was in pain, it helped me to focus on the enjoyable present moments around me and to not let that pain consume my mind.

We don’t give ourselves many chances to do this, do we? But with onsen, you are intentionally going there to do nothing at all but simply enjoy a bath and look at trees. It can also be an opportunity to talk to Japanese people if you feel comfortable enough. Yeah it’s weird talking to a naked stranger at first but can also be strangely freeing at the same time.

This has become a practice for me. Unload my mind of all cares for an hour or two and just be. The physical aspect of being in hot water does actually calm your nervous system down. So you’ll leave feeling relaxed regardless of your mindset, even more so if you choose to focus on nothing.

View from a private onsen on the Kumano-Kodo. Photo by author.

What are onsen?

Onsen are natural hot springs that dot the landscape of Japan. They usually contain minerals and are touted as being beneficial for your skin. No, they did not heal me, but I have heard from others with less serious conditions that they have been helped by these waters.

Check out this article for the ins and outs of how to enjoy onsen and its cultural importance.

Onsen are different than sento, the former being a naturally occurring, mineral-rich, bath, the latter being man-made and more common in urban areas.

Onsen were my first window into Japanese culture and making friends here. I lived up in Aomori (2nd most northern prefecture) and built some lasting friendships with some other men by hitting the onsen in the wilds of the mountains. Being naked in front of others in a non-sexual way is a great chance to be open and feel relaxed around friends.

The basic rules of onsen are:

• you must be naked. No bathing suits allowed.

• usually, genders are separated but some rare places are mixed.

• you must wash yourself before you enter. There are shower stalls outside of the baths, usually supplied with shampoo and body soap. To enter the baths without first cleaning yourself is extremely rude.

• most places do not allow people with tattoos in. There are a few that are changing their rules but they are rare. The idea is that the Japanese mafia (yakuza) were traditionally the only ones in the country who had tattoos so onsen would try to not associate with these people (If you visit Aomori most onsen actually don’t care about the tattoo rule because lots of ex-yakuza live there, fun fact). There are onsen where yakuza go, but these places are only for yakuza, so don’t worry about accidentally going there, you won’t even get past the front door.

Onsen high

I want to leave you with a final tip for maximizing your onsen experience. In short, it’s the natural high you get from exposing yourself to hot water and then cold water.

Note: If you have any health issues that may be exacerbated by an elevated heart rate or the sudden shock of cold water talk to a doctor before doing this.

This natural high is a highlight of the onsen experience for me. When you do it right, your body feels like it’s floating in the clouds, you become more focused, your mood improves, and basically you achieve max godhood.

This high is caused by various neurochemical changes that occur in your body, check out this article for an in-depth scientific explanation beyond my woo-woo talk.

How I do this is (all good onsen will have what you need):

• Spend 10 minutes in a hot bath (my favorite is over 40 degrees Celsius-104 Fahrenheit. Start at a cooler temperature if this is too much for you).

• Get out and cool off if you need to and then hit a sauna for 10 minutes.

• Make sure you’re not too lightheaded after that and hit a cold bath for at least 2 minutes. Yes, it sucks at first but it’s necessary.

• Lay out on a chair and let the high take you.

So that’s it. There’s some practical information on how you can enjoy your own onsen experience and why I find a measure of spiritual joy in them.