TRAVEL BUG WITHIN - Adventure, Road Trips, Travel Tips and Reviews

Travel writer Jennifer Johnston shares her travel experiences and tips inspiring midlife adventurers to explore further.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • Australia
      • Queensland
      • Northern Territory
      • New South Wales
      • South Australia
      • Tasmania
      • Victoria
      • Western Australia
    • Asia
      • Bali
      • Hong Kong
      • Japan
      • Thailand
      • UAE
      • Vietnam
    • Fiji
    • Europe
    • Iceland
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Scotland
    • USA
  • Travel Advice
    • Hotel and Restaurant Reviews
    • My Top Five or Ten
    • Book Reviews
    • Solo and Single Parent travels
      • Solo travel stories
      • Travel stories as a single mum
  • Who am I?
    • My story
    • Work with me
    • Contact Travel Bug Within
Home » Stories "outside" of the Travel genre » Naked communion – a divine Japanese onsen experience

Naked communion – a divine Japanese onsen experience

June 23, 2017 By Jennifer Johnston 6 Comments

Last updated 14 March 2021

My first onsen experience took place in Nozawa Onsen

Japan is a hierarchical society based on formal rituals and traditions. It’s suggested the naked communion experience the onsen provides, is a way of helping to break down those traditional barriers. Stripped of our clothing, we are all the same.

Walking carefully along the snow-covered village street, I’m unable to look up and take in my new surroundings. The snow on the ground is thick and crunches underfoot. I’m aware discreet patches of ice wait for the unwary. I’m doing my best not to slip and fall. Usually a curious observer, today I’m cautiously following my friend’s footsteps marks, like a puppy following its owner, as we make our way to an onsen.

With a name like Nozawa Onsen, it would be sacrilege to not have at least one onsen experience. The traditional Japanese village is located in the northern part of the Nagano prefecture, on Japan’s Honshu island. Nozawa Onsen (meaning hot spring village) in winter (December – March) transforms from a town of about 4,000 locals, into a ski town, packed with visitors. Only four hour’s drive northwest of Tokyo, Nozawa is a popular destination for anyone seeking a unique Japanese ski experience.

During the peak months of January and February, the town swells with tourists from many countries, hoping to catch some of the powder, referred to as ‘japow.’ After our slight delay, in getting to Nozawa, two of my lads and I are in Nozawa for that very reason!

Following those who know where they’re going

Table of Contents

  • Apres-ski Japanese style
  • Nozawa has many onsens to choose from
  • Always follow onsen etiquette
  • Onsen water is HOT

Apres-ski Japanese style

It is mid-January and we’d been making the most of the powder on the slopes. Three metres had fallen since our arrival a few days earlier. But with my skiing over for the day, I was craving relaxation – Japanese style! Trudging through the snowy back streets on a mission to find what the travel websites refer to as “a unique and traditional Japanese experience.”

Onsens are scattered throughout Japan’s islands. Below the ground surface lies an extensive network of geothermal-volcanic activity filled with underground springs and a ready supply of naturally hot water. Tapping into this natural resource, the Japanese have created bathing facilities around locations where they’ve engineered to draw the hot water from underground. Because of its origin (from the ground,) the water contains traces of minerals including iron, sulphur, and metabolic acid. These are said to have therapeutic value to the body, including removing the ache from limbs Perfect after a day’s skiing!

Nozawa has many onsens to choose from

Nozawa boasts 14 public hot spring baths (soto no-yu). Today we’re trying the Furusato No Yu onsen, which opened in December 2011. My friends (who’ve visited this onsen before) advise me we’ve arrived. It’s difficult to make out the ornate Japanese architecture through the heavy snow falling, but we step under the awning and slide open the doors. Embracing the warm interior we shake the snow from our coats and beanies.

Furusato No onsen, Nozawa

Not all public onsens require an entrance fee, but this one does. We pay the 400 Yen to the smiling ladies at reception who after the customary bowing, usher us to our separate change rooms. Furosato No Yu is not a mixed onsen – the men and women bathe separately which is usually the onsen trend, but not always. (Best check first if you feel uncomfortable being naked with strangers of the opposite sex.)

Always follow onsen etiquette

Onsen etiquette requires undressing in the change rooms, down to your birthday suit. This is deemed a ‘cleansing’ experience. So one must shower first before entering the spring baths to thoroughly “cleanse” one’s self.  This is a ritual on its own! For the uninitiated, plastic stools in front of individual shower cubicles are used to sit on while showering (it’s rare to find a standing shower I’m told.) Sitting is more polite because it creates less splash for others around you.  Remember, the Japanese are always outwardly polite.

Public Onsen etiquette guide

There is little banter among the showering patrons. It seems to be the place for quiet contemplation. A small hand towel (the size of a face washer) can be taken into the baths. From observing the locals, the custom is to place these teeny towels on your head (they wouldn’t cover many body parts!)

Onsen water is HOT

A sign indicates the water temperature of the first bath (atsuyu) is 42°C. I cautiously step into the water, wary of the heat. It’s too hot for me, so I quickly exit and head to the outdoor bath (rotenburo.) Crossing the wet stone floor, it takes me an awkward minute to locate the handle on the steamed-up glass sliding door. Stepping into the open the brisk air is welcoming and there’s less of the pungent sulphuric smell.  I quickly slip under the warm water to escape the cold. At all times being careful not to splash the other bathers.  At around 39°C this bath temperature is more to my liking.

The outdoor onsen

In the distance, I can make out the peaks of the snow-capped Kenshai mountains. Their massive jagged outline overshadows the village below. Conversations from other women in the outdoor onsen are hushed, preserving the tranquillity, respectfully allowing the bathers to absorb the magical surroundings in a steam-filled silence.

With the snow falling beyond the timber roof awning, I feel my over-used aching joints relax from the warm mineral-imbibed water. The soothing heat and minerals work miracles on aching muscles.

A truly divine experience.

If it wasn’t so snowy you’d see the thumbs up for this onsen

Filed Under: Destinations, Japan, Single Mum Travel Tales, Stories "outside" of the Travel genre Tagged With: #NozawaOnsen, #seeJapan, #SkiJapan, destinationJapan, Japan, Japan insight, onsens in Nozawa, What to do in Nozawa

Comments

  1. Kathy Marris says

    June 27, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    It’s a truly unique experience. I snuck into an onsen in Shizukuishi during my trip to Japan last year and had the entire place to myself! The first time I walked in earlier on in the afternoon I was confronted by a naked Japanese lady and quickly walked out. I had to have a few wines first to pluck up the courage to go in again. I would love to go to Nozawa Onsen, I’ve heard lots of good things about the place.

  2. Jennifer Johnston says

    July 3, 2017 at 12:20 am

    Hi Kathy, Agree it is a truly unique experience and as with most things Japanese – there is a ritual around it. At least a few wines got you to go back! I’d like to go back and see Nozawa Onsen in the summer – it was so snow covered this visit, I wasn’t able to see much of the village.

  3. nakedwanderings says

    October 17, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    Great you had this experience and we hope that it has broa your mind about social nudity forever!
    We’re going to Japan as well and a visit to an Onsen is of course high on our list

  4. Jennifer Johnston says

    October 25, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    My mind has been forever broadened nakedwanderings. Absolutely you must visit an onsen when over in Japan – they’re all overJapan,so hopefully you will have more than one onsen experience!

  5. Stuart Forster says

    August 27, 2019 at 3:15 am

    I had some fantastic experiences of onsen in Tokyo, Nikko and elsewhere in Japan. Very relaxing and well worth trying.

  6. Jennifer Johnston says

    September 4, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    Hi Stuart,I’m looking forward to trying onsens in other parts of Japan. I agree they are definitely worth trying.
    Thanks for commenting.

    Jenn

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright Jennifer Johnston 2021 • Site by Swish Design