After coming across some YouTube videos about onsens (hot springs and bathing facilities found around Japan) prior to my trip to Japan in December 2023, visiting an onsen was on my list of things to do. However, I never ended up actually going. I guess this was because the idea of being completely naked around strangers in a public setting was a bit out of my comfort zone and wasn’t something I’d ever done before!
On my second trip to Japan, I was keen to visit an onsen and overcome my fears, which I knew were just inside of my head. Whilst in Osaka, I was suggested a tattoo-friendly onsen located in Kyoto by another solo traveller I met. Many onsens are known to not be tattoo-friendly, as in Japan there’s an association between tattoos and the Yakuza. Therefore, locals and visitors that have tattoos, such as this friend, usually have to seek out an onsen that is tattoo-friendly. Although, I do not have any tattoos, I liked the idea of going to a onsen that was tattoo friendly.
My next stop after Osaka was Kyoto, and at this point I still wasn’t too sure if I’d go ahead with my plan to visit an onsen. However, on my first night in Kyoto I met someone who on the previous night had visited the same tattoo-friendly onsen that I was suggested back in Osaka, and he was planning on going again tonight. Before I knew it, we made a plan to visit together, and I felt a lot more comfortable with the idea of visiting with another foreigner who already knew the protocol for using the onsen.
Umeyu Onsen, Kyoto
Thanks to my friend Ren for sharing the above photo with me as I didn’t manage to take any!
The name of the onsen is Umeyu, and is located in the Shimogyo Ward of Kyoto, very close to the hostel where I was staying. Once entering, I paid the cost of 510 yen to use the onsen, before leaving my shoes in the locker. I was also given laminated instructions on how to use the onsen. I used this, along with the guidance of the French guy I was visiting with, to follow the protocol.
After placing my shoes in the locker, we entered the male section of the onsen into a room where we got undressed and placed our belongings into another locker. Following this, we moved on to the next section – the onsen. The onsen was a large room, with around 3-4 baths on the left side, with a row of taps and cleaning tools along the right-hand side wall. On the rear end was a sauna on the left, with another bath on the right.
The first step was to find a stool, sit down and have a thorough wash with the shower gel, shampoo etc that was provided – and when I say “thorough” I mean “THOROUGH”! Once finished, we proceeded to enjoy the hot baths. The last time I’d done something similar was in Budapest, Hungary back in 2019, which was a very different experience as we were not fully naked and the location we visited was full of tourists, whereas this felt like more of a “local” experience.
The hot baths obviously were very hot and I initially found it difficult to submerge myself to shoulder level, but as the water in the different baths were of different temperatures, I would spend a few minutes in one before switching to another.
A picture I took of a Christmas decoration right outside the onsen
Electric Bath and Cold Bath
The friend that had suggested this onsen, also talked about it having an “electric bath.” At the time I wasn’t too sure what this was, naively thinking it might refer to the fact that the bath has stylish LED lights or something along those lines. This electric bath was situated near the entrance in a small corner, and I learnt from the French guy explained to me that “electric bath” actually refers to the tiny electric shocks that the water gives you!! Yes, you heard that right! After seeing the look on my face, he assured me that it “feels good” and I had nothing to be scared about. And he was right! I stepped into the tiny bath, and immediately felt pleasurable electric shocks pulsate through my body. I’ve always had a strong fear of electrocution, but this was a lot of fun, and I returned to the electric bath at least 3-4 times during my evening at the onsen.
The bath on the far end of the onsen next to the sauna is actually a cold bath. Well, more like freezing cold bath. I was hesitant about this, and initially only dipped my leg in, but as the evening went on, I gradually became more open to submerging myself in the cold bath. By the end of the night, I’d entered the cold bath multiple times, staying in for approximately 10 minutes at a time. There was an unfamiliar but nice feeling of transitioning from the initially uncomfortable few seconds after first entering the cold bath, to eventually experiencing a sense of peacefulness, and wanting to keep still as to not disrupt the stability and calmness I’d found in the freezing cold water – its a difficult feeling to describe!
Sauna
The sauna, although a fun experience, was definitely difficult for me to tolerate for long periods. The first time I entered I sat down on the wooden bench but within a few seconds I realised that everyone else was sat on a blue pad. Once noticing this, I exited the sauna, found the basket of blue pads and washed one with the water from the cold bath like I saw others doing – I guess this was to help make sitting on the bench a little more tolerable, and possibly also for hygiene reasons (bum sweat, ew). Whilst others in the sauna looked like they were spending 5, 10 and even 15 minutes plus in the sauna, I could only tolerate it for a few minutes at a time. I’d also like to think that as this was my first time in an onsen, and I’d only visited a sauna maybe 2-3 times in my lifetime, I’d be able to build a tolerance (for lack of a better word) and have a more enjoyable experience if I was visiting more frequently.
Some of the guys in the sauna were sat in a typical meditating position/pose, and I could see why. Although at times I’d be glancing at the timer in the corner so I could get to the 5 minute mark and exit the sauna, at other times I’d also get lost in the moment and find myself in a meditation mind space.
Reflection
After approximately 2 hours in the onsen, we dried off, retrieved our belongings and exited. Overall this was a really fun experience that I’m glad I threw myself into. The first 5-10 minutes, especially whilst sat down butt-naked on the stool cleaning myself, felt the strangest, but very soon after I became at ease. I quickly realised that in the same way I don’t care about the fact that there other naked guys around me, they probably also don’t care about me. There were still moments where I felt slightly conscious, especially because I was the only South-Asian person in the onsen (until towards the end of my time there when another South Asian guy entered) and everyone else was Caucasian or Asian. However, this isn’t a comment on the rest of the people at the onsen, but rather something in my own head. I also feel like after visiting an onsen a few times, I’d probably become less conscious, and be able to be present in and enjoy the moment more.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit another onsen on this brief trip, but I would definitely like to check out other onsens, including at a ryokan, on my next trip to Japan.
PS: if you end up visiting an onsen, make sure to bring some cold drinking water – I forgot to!
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