JAPANESE ONSENS...something we both are not sure whether we will gain this experience; the public eye is rather daunting!

1) Take off all your clothes in the changing room and place them into a basket together with your bath towel.

Coin lockers for valuables are often available, but if they are not you'll be leaving your things in an open basket.

2) Japanese hot springs are enjoyed naked. Swimming suits are not allowed in most places and you'll get many funny looks if you try and wear one.

However, it is the custom to bring a small towel into the bathing area, with which you can enhance your privacy while outside of the water.

Once you enter the bath, keep the towel out of the water. This is very important - never put your towel near the water or you will put impurities into the water.

3) Before entering the bath, rinse your body with water from either a tap or the bath using a washbowl provided in the bathing area.

4) Enter the bath and soak for a while. Note that the bath water can be very hot (typical temperatures are 40 to 44 degrees).

5) Talking in the onsen. Feel free to talk to people in the bath with you, but be sensitive to others in the bath.

Also, read the signs from the people around you - some people like to talk in the bath and some don't.

5) After soaking for a while, get out of the bath and wash your body with soap at a water tap (if you've not already done this before), while sitting on a stool.

6) Re-enter the bath and soak some more. You can enter the bath and get out as many times as you like, as the hot water affects you. However, never swim or splash in onsen water.

7) After you finished soaking, do not rinse your body with tap water, for the minerals to have full effect on your body. If you like, you can sit on the side of the bath for a while for your body to dry off and cool down a bit before changing back into your clothes.

This is particularly handy if you've visited an onsen ryokan that only provides you with a　small hand-towel with which to dry yourself.

Hot Spring Vocabulary

rotemburo

outside bath

daiyokujo

main bath in an inn

hanare

little house set apart from the rest of the inn

iwaburo

bath made out of rock formation, natural or constructed

kazokuburo

family baths, private baths that can be enjoyed by specific parties. If you are nervous about public nudity, a kazokuburo is a good thing to find.

konyoku

mixed bathing, where men and women can bathe together. Often at these baths swimsuits are worn, either mandatory or optional. Check before you enter!

otokoburo

men's bath - usually indicated with a blue cloth noren with the kanji for "male" or sometimes this kanji is used.

onnaburo

women's bath - usually indicated with a red cloth noren with the kanji for "female". Sometimes the mens and women's bath changes daily so that everyone can

experience different baths... the noren are just moved to a different door on different days.

takiyu

a stream of hot water falling down from a height - lovely if you've got stiff shoulders but make sure not to splash others

yukata

the light cotton robe in your inn's closet. The idea is to change into your yukata when you arrive at the inn and not change back into your clothes until you leave

yunohana

bits of sulphur and other minerals in the water that form together to look a bit like moss floating in the water. Yunohana are not a sign of dirtiness, they are

welcomed by onsen lovers as they mean the water is full to brimming with wonderful elements.