A Great Time To Take An Onsen...a hotspring bath!

This time of year is great for going to a Japanese Onsen! There's nothing quite like sitting in a hot spring bath with nothing but your birthday suit on and feeling the cool breeze on your face! Most of the hot springs in Japan are located outside in a somewhat secluded area. Most of the locations have beautiful scenic views if you can get past sitting naked in a pool of hot water with strangers. It's great!

I recently was reminded of an onsen trip that we took this time last year with our friends Morrio and Yukiko Shiraishi. This is the same couple that we've had many adventures with including tromping around grape vineyards and visiting fire stations! Our onsen adventure was more traditional Japanese style! The picture below is a huge traditional style house that has been transformed into a beautiful "bed and breakfast."

Our room was outfitted with tatami mat floors and the ever to popular Japanese sliding doors!

We also got to wear a kind of Japanese Kimono called a Yukata. People wear these when visiting an onsen so that they can walk from their room to the springs. Sometimes there is more than one spring and you can wear this to walk from one to another. Yes, they are always to short for Nick!

Near the place we stayed is the same onsen that I mentioned earlier in my Interesting Signs post! The one that is described the water being so hot that it was like entering into Hell itself! Well, here are a few other amenities that they offered. As you can see there is mixed bathing...but of course we didn't participate in that one! Most onsens are separated male and female or you can share a private one as a family. There are not many left that offer mixed bathing.

When you visit an onsen town you can always see steam rising up from different places. Some people in the town actually use the steam in their houses.

I think this is a very traditional kind of steam sauna. But then again, I could be wrong!

We never miss the chance to cook some food with the steam from a hot spring. You'd be surprised how quickly some eggs and a few vegetables will cook!

Ahhhh! Japanese Onsens are just one of many things that we'll miss about Japan!