Gender-segregated baths are common at many onsens, such as Yunessun onsen and family water park in Hakone, Japan, near Tokyo. (Photo courtesy of Yunessun)
Gender-segregated baths are common at many onsens, such as Yunessun onsen and family water park in Hakone, Japan, near Tokyo. (Photo courtesy of Yunessun)
Petty Officer 3rd Class Oscar Garcia and his wife Liliana, both from Atsugi, enjoy one of the virbrating baths at Yunessun. (Rick Chernitzer / S&S)
Bathers enjoy the atmosphere of the grotto bathing area at Yunessun onsen. Unlike many onsen, Yunessun allows bathers to wear swimsuits. (Photo courtesy of Yunessun)
Autumn’s cool weather is ideal for a visit to your neighborhood sento.
Sento, or Japanese “bathhouse,” dates from when homes were built without bathtubs.
They doubled as a social gathering. Families could soak and visit with friends and neighbors in communal pools.
Many of today’s local bathhouses have changed. Amenities can be high-tech: Restaurants, karaoke, massage rooms, nap areas and recliners with blankets for TV viewing offer bath-goers a mini-retreat.
Many facilities operate around the clock or at least into the morning’s wee hours. Little preparation is required: Towels and wash cloths are available on site.
What hasn’t changed is the baths’ popularity. Families gather and friends meet to catch up while scrubbing and soaking.
“We were looking for a place to go to relax,” said Patty Centeno of Camp Zama’s Sagamihara Housing Area. A friend recommended “this wonderful onsen” close to Sagamihara.
“The people there were very friendly. When we walked in, they waved to us to come over, and they talked to us in English,” she said. “It was very easy.”
Onsen, Japanese for “hot spring” or “spa,” commonly refers to naturally occurring geysers of hot water containing minerals. Many resorts and recreational areas are built around onsen, making them a popular destination for rest and relaxation.
But some local bathhouses use natural hot spring water and don’t require as much planning or travel. For Centeno and her husband, going to the local bathhouse has become a regular activity they look forward to doing together.
“When I get done, I feel like this wet noodle that’s ready to start a brand new day,” she said.
A visit to the Centenos’ favorite bathhouse costs 530 yen (about $4.61) for full use of the facility for as long as you like. Children 3 and younger are 250 yen (about $2.17). And for another 100 yen (about 87 cents), frequent bathers can purchase a membership card that discounts all services.
Several hot pools display digital thermometers set at 36.5, 41.5 and 42 degrees Celsius (respectively, 97.7, 106.7 and 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit), giving patrons a choice of hot, hotter and hottest. Water jets, waterfalls, indoor, outdoor, smooth tile and natural stone-lined pools make it fun to explore or settle down and stake your claim to some personal space.
“It’s a big open space, so you try to find your own little area so you kind of have your privacy. When you sit in the bath, people usually don’t sit close together but spread out,” said Centeno.
Customers can sit in a large sauna room and watch television. A wet-scrub and massage room is adjacent to the bathing area; foot massage and shiatsu also are offered.
Monday and Saturday nights are best for adults without children, said a Sagamihara bathhouse employee.
Mothers and children frequent bathhouses in the evening. They offer moms a chance to wind down and relax and are affordable places to eat.
For newcomers, the experience can be daunting. But bathhouse veterans recommend doing what others do in the bath. Take a long, soapy, thorough shower and rinse before dipping into the pools or tubs. Make certain all soap is rinsed off and tie up your hair. Don’t take towels into the bathtub.
If you hit someone’s leg accidentally, whisper a “gomen nasai” or “sumi masen” — “I’m sorry,” in Japanese. If you’re uncertain about using the facility, don’t hesitate to ask.
Staff Sgt. Ramon Intalan, 42, of Camp Zama MEDDAC, first went to an onsen about three years ago in Sapporo during a February snow festival.
“A Japanese friend invited me to go and try it. I said it’s too cold, but he said there was an indoor and an outdoor. I thought it was crazy, but it was awesome,” Intalan said. “Once you get out and soak into the water, it’s great. I said I’m going to keep on doing this kind of thing.”
And he’s been doing this kind of thing ever since.
“Once a month, I go to the bathhouse. It’s nice after doing some exercising, [to] relax a little bit. It’s not that expensive, it’s pretty reasonable,” said Intalan. “I just soak a little bit, have some sake and go home.”
Intalan also makes it a point to get himself to Hakone hot springs at least twice a year.
“The best part is the massage after soaking in the hot spring. It is so relaxing, you can sleep right there if you want. There’s a tatami room, and some pillows that is beside a garden outside of the sliding window,” said Intalan.
“It’s so relaxing, it’s like playing golf. After that, you’ll forget all your problems. When you reach home, you can sleep eight hours. I’m so relaxed, I can forget everything. It’s one of the things I’m going to miss when I leave Japan.”
James Chang, 28, is a registered nurse at Zama’s health clinic. He first visited an onsen about 4½ years ago while stationed as an active-duty specialist at Camp Zama’s MEDDAC.
“At first, I didn’t like taking my clothes off in front of other people, but the hot springs itself is comfortable and relaxing,” said Chang.
Now, he’s hooked.
“I try to go every month. I go because most of the hot springs are in nature spots away from the city. I find it very relaxing, and it relieves stress,” said Chang, who often goes with friends on hiking or fishing excursions that end up at an onsen.
“When it’s stressful at work, I just want to go and relax. It’s one of my top priorities.”
Sharon Reece and her husband enjoy the “absolutely best massage we’ve found anywhere,” about once every three months.
“If it were just the baths, we’d go occasionally. But it’s the massage along with it that really attracts us back,” said Reece of Camp Zama.
Massage at their bathhouse is either traditional Japanese shiatsu, similar to acupressure, or Swedish-type oil massage. Prices go from 2,900 to 9,000 yen (about $25 to $78) depending on length of time and type of massage. Body scrubs and facials also are available.
“There are eight or 10 different pools with different temperatures, including an ice plunge. Some have herbs in it, minerals in it, water jets all over the place,” said Reece of the Yu Kai Sou Kai bathhouse between Camp Zama and Naval Air Facility Atsugi.
She said they usually eat afterward, in the sento’s traditional restaurant, sitting on the floor in their yukata, or cotton kimonos.
“They even have a karaoke place. It’s really a fun experience,” Reece said.
Towels, washcloths and yukatas are provided as part of the 2,000 yen admission fee at this bathhouse.
“We very seldom see any other Westerners,” she said. Reece and her husband have never given nudity a second thought at the bathhouse.
“I’ve never had any reservations about going in. Everybody is just so natural about it. You see every kind of body in there, 80-year-old women ... There are people of all ages,” Reece said.
Her advice? Don’t be self-conscious.
“Just enjoy the experience and not be concerned at all about people looking at you, because they will look at you because you are a Westerner,” she said.
“They are all very friendly. They ignore you for the most part, but you catch glances.”
Blonde and not Japanese, Centeno said she doesn’t mind the stares too much.
“The first couple of times, I felt very stared at, but I just kept focusing on, ‘I’m here to relax,’” she said. “My mindset was just on being able to relax and getting into that nice warm water, so I didn’t worry about it too much.” She encourages others to be adventurous rather than modest in a culture that is comfortable with both.
“You only live once, and you’re probably only in Japan once in your life, so why not try something that most people probably will never have the opportunity to do?”
Where to test the waters in Japan ...
Tenzan, Hakone
Address: 208 Yumoto Chaya, Hakone machi, Ashigara Shimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Telephone: (0460)6-4126.
Price: 1,000 yen (about $8) per person.
Hours: 9 a.m.-11 p.m.
Kappa Tengoku, Hakone
Address: 777 Yumoto, Hakone machi, Ashigara Shimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Telephone: (0460)5-6121
Price: Day onsen, 750 yen (about $6) per person.
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Kogome-No-Yu, Yugawara
Address: 562-6 Miyakami, Yugawara machi, Ashigara shimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Telephone: (0465)63-6944.
Price: 1,000 yen (about $8) per person.
Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; closed Mondays.
Yutaro, Yugawara
Address: 1191 Yoshihama, Yugawara machi, Ashigara shimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Telephione: (0465)62-2688
Price: 1,050 yen (about $8.30) per person.
Hours: 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Thursdays.
Courtesy Yunessun
Gender-segregated baths are common at many onsens, such as Yunessun onsen and family water park in Hakone, Japan, near Tokyo (see more on the park on page 6).
