A Real Onsen Godsend!

Posted on 02/24/2023 Last updated on 01/11/2024

Top photo: makoto.hさん on PhotoAC

Arima, December, 1999. I’m about to embark on an experience that I’ve never taken before and to be brutally honest, I’m as nervous as hell!

Going to take a bath at a local hot spring seems mandatory to most common Japanese folk, however to a thirty years old Englishman, (as I was then) whose parents hail for Jamaica, a country well known for their conservative attitudes towards nudity, exposing myself to a bunch of Japanese males seemed daunting.

Arima is a small mountain side town located just a few miles away from the city of Kobe. It is one of the most famous hot springs in the area of Kansai, if not Japan. I arrive there with my wife, who was then my girlfriend and her mother.

On the way there, Kazumi my wife’s mother kept on going over the finer points of onsen manners much to the annoyance of Mayumi my wife, who keeps on saying leave him alone, leave him alone. Anyway, we get there and outside is cold!

There are a number of people in front of us, but it isn’t too long before we enter the establishment. It isn’t as grand as my wife had told me about before. She was quick to add this was the local bath run by what I would expect to be the council and it only cost 500 yen mind. That’s a lot cheaper than the fees the hotels charge in the area.

So, I get undressed and I feel like everyone is watching me, well at least everyone in the changing room. Most people there were older than me. I was far to busy washing and scrubbing myself to pay them any mind and I wanted to make sure I was as clean as I could be considering that your body has to be clean before climbing into the tub.

It was a bit hot to begin with, but as I relaxed and laid my head back, I started to say to myself, “this feels bloody good”. The big event was yet to come, as five minutes after I had sat myself down in the boiling water, some old boy who had, umm likely never seen a foreigner before in his life tripped up on the edge of the spa and nearly fell face first into it. I was trying so hard not to laugh!

Fast forward to now and I’ve taken to public bathing like a duck to water. All the tension and angst that I felt when I went to take my first bath is way in the back of my mind. An onsen, spa, public bath or what have you is a great experience. I’m glad to say that I have been to all four major islands of this great nation, Shikoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido and of course Honshu, and I’ve managed to take a bath on all for occasions.

I would love to give you some tips, but then I’d sound like my mother-in-law. What I would like to share with you are some of the amazing places you should see. Osaka may be the stand out city in Kansai or indeed western Japan, but it isn’t that great for famous hot springs. I’ve already mentioned Arima up in Kobe.

How about farther afield in Kinosaki, the far north of Hyogo. It’s a beautiful place which is perfect whatever season you choose to go there. Ryujin in the middle of Wakayama is an onsen town within a forest. It’s marvelous but not so easy to get to. Shirahama is another onsen resort in Wakayama which is has many places to have a soak although you want to avoid going there during the summer as it is very hot and crowded.

It happens to double as the most popular beach resort too. If you really want to go further but not so far as to jump on a plane, get on a bus at either Osaka or Kobe take a long ride across the longest suspension bridges in Japan and make your way to Iya-onsen on the beautiful island of Shikoku. The views are mystical and the baths are great.

I’ve been to my fair share of onsen both near and far. I can only say that each new one I go to makes me feel better and strengthen my idea that you’ll never find a better way to relax!

Photo Credits:

Top photo: makoto.hさん on PhotoAC