Onsen & Sento

Onsen are Japanese hot springs, and they're all over the country, especially in scenic spots. But that's not quite enough in Japan, so they also have sento, which are public baths (not naturally heated hotsprings). Sento are literally everywhere. Since Japanese homes and apartments are so small, many people don't have their own bath, so they come to sentos to relax.

Both are relatively inexpensive ($3 - 5) and are a great way to wind down the day. Most onsen and sento are segregated by sex (although little kids go wherever) and are entirely clothing free.

Nikko:


I took my brother to his first Onsen while we were visiting Nikko. It was definitely cold enough there to need it. We walked off the main road for about 5 minutes through snow covered fields and over a roaring river. We had no idea if we were going the right way or not until we crested a rise and saw the baseball field and parking lot full of cars. Apparently there was another entrance.

The routine at an Onsen is to change out of your clothes in the dressing room and then go into the main room. There you find an empty shower, which is basically just a half height shower nozzle, sit down on the little stool and wash yourself off before you enter the baths. You fill a little bucket with hot water and douse yourself with it to get started. It's actually quite relaxing to bathe yourself using a bucket. After you're done washing, you fold your little modesty towel and put it on your head. That way it doesn't get wet in the baths.

Good Onsen have a rotenburo, or outdoor bath, where you can soak in the hot springs while looking at the scenic mountains (or river, etc...). Onsen have a variety of baths, including bubbly and non, hot and cold, and they usually have a sauna as well.

The next weekend we tried a Sento, or public bath, in Kyoto while we were staying there. The sento works in much the same way, except they're usually not quite as fancy. This one had herbal baths, and a TV in the sauna. The real shocker was that out of the three identical looking baths in the middle of the room, one had an electric current flowing through it! I discovered this when I sat down in the next bath and draped my arm over the edge. At first I couldn't figure it out because the current was very subtle.

It was a lot of fun watching a young Japanese guy get into the bath without knowing it was an electric shock bath. You can't feel the current in the middle of the bath, but when you move your arms over to the edge, the hairs start to stand on end. If you get close enough, it's like those automatic muscle exercising systems that Bruce Lee used to use.

Eventually I worked my courage up enough to try the electric bath. It's amazing how strong the current is. When I put my arms 4 or 5 inches away, the muscles would spasm and my arms would shoot out straight. Yet I saw old men sitting with their backs against the electric plate, albeit grimacing much of the time.

The electric baths are a very strange experience, and definitely not for everyone.

Onsen, and Sento, however, are a crucial part of any Japanese experience.