Name: Bathing at a Japanese Hot Spring | Onsen Etiquette
Uploaded: 2025-07-18T18:33:59.000Z
Duration: 13 min 1 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Japan is one of the countries with the largest number of active volcanoes in the world.

A positive aspect of this is the presence of natural hot springs, or onsen, of which there are many.

Hot spring bathing culture in Japan started as a means of gaining health benefits.

But these days, it is commonly associated as a relaxing holiday where one can go sightseeing in the hot spring areas, enjoy the local cuisine, and soak in the baths.

Every region of the country has its share of hot springs and resort towns.

And baths come in a wide variety of styles, shapes, and sizes.

The most common hot spring baths are indoor baths, or uchiburo, and outdoor baths, called rotenburo.

But you can also find foot baths, waterfall or beating baths, sand baths, steam baths, and mud baths.

Some types of onsen water also have health benefits when drunk, while in some areas, the naturally hot water and steam are used for cooking.

In order to help you get the most of your onsen experience during your trip to Japan, here is our guide on how to onsen.

The hot spring law defines an onsen to be water, water vapour are the gases that emerge out of the earth at at least 25 degrees Celsius, or contain a certain amount of natural minerals.

Hot springs were traditionally discovered where water naturally emerged from the ground.

However, with modern technology, it is now possible to bore wells several kilometres underground and pump out naturally hot water pretty much everywhere.

Hot spring sources can be classified into three categories.

Natural springs that produce water spontaneously from the ground with no boring or pumping required.

Dug or bored wells that produce hot spring water without the need of pumping.

Bored wells that use pumps to bring water to the surface.

Needless to say, historical baths in long-established onsen resorts will provide you with a more authentic onsen experience than a modern bath in the middle of a metropolis.

A wide variety of hot spring waters can be enjoyed in Japan, differing in the minerals contained.

Some are strongly acidic or alkaline, milky or colourful, and fragrant while others look, smell and feel like regular water.

Many are rich in minerals, including elements such as sulphur, iron or radium, while others contain little or no minerals.

And some are drinkable, while others must not be drunk.

Some onsen waters also come with various health benefits, such as helping with fatigue and help with skin and joint issues.

The best onsen baths are those fed directly by a constant flow of water from the source without any treatment.

They're known as gensen kakenagashi and are common in historical hot spring resorts gifted with an abundant flow of high-quality waters.

However, the water in many other baths across Japan is treated before it reaches the bathers for various reasons.

These treatments include heating the water because it is not warm enough, adding or recirculating water because there is not enough of it, and adding chlorine to the water, which often means the flow of fresh water is in abundance and which leaves a rather undesirable chemical smell in the water.

There are thousands of hot springs across Japan, but they're particularly numerous in the more volcanic areas of the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu and Kyushu regions.

Some are found in nature with no facilities around them at all, often requiring some hiking to access them.

But the typical tourists will encounter hot spring baths at a public bath or an accommodation, such as a ryokan.

How to bathe The first step before enjoying a soak in a hot spring bath is finding the changing areas.

Most onsen baths these days, with some rare exceptions, are gender segregated.

Changing rooms can usually be recognised relatively easily from the curtains that hang outside their doors.

Blue curtains are often used for the men's bath and red for the women's bath.

But be careful as it sometimes might not be the case.

In addition, kanji characters specifying the gender for each changing room are often present nearby.

Inside the changing room, you'll find shelves, baskets and or lockers where you can store your clothes and belongings before entering the baths.

You can also sometimes find sinks and amenities, such as hairdryers and various skincare products.

Understandably, some might feel a little uncomfortable about bathing naked with strangers, but note that most quickly get over it after their first experience.

If nudity is really an issue, consider using private baths which are available at some establishments and will allow you to experience the water in privacy, although sometimes with a less attractive setting than the larger public baths.

Note that tattoos are prohibited at many hot spring baths due to their association with organised crime, although the number of tattoo-friendly baths has been increasing.

To avoid an unpleasant surprise in being refused entry to a hot spring bath, we recommend doing a little bit of research on listings of tattoo-friendly bath houses on the internet.

It can also be acceptable to cover up smaller tattoos with tape, and private baths could be another option to consider.

Now that you're ready to soak in the water, let's get on to how to take a bath.

Two types of towels are popularly used at Japanese baths, a small one and a large one.

Take the small towel with you, since it is meant to be used for washing and enhancing your privacy, and leave the large towel in the changing room.

You will use it later to thoroughly dry your body after bathing.

Before entering the bath, thoroughly rinse your body with water from a trough, tap, or the bath itself using a ladle or bowl, or take a shower.

While it is important to properly rinse your body before entering the bath, it should not be forgotten that the main purpose of bathing in a hot spring is to dirty your body with the same minerals provided by Mother Nature, rather than cleaning yourself.

You won't find taps and showers at older baths, and in natural settings, the use of soap and shampoo may even be prohibited.

However, at most onsen baths these days, you'll find showers for people to clean themselves, and soap and shampoo are often provided.

Make sure to rinse yourself well afterwards so that no soap gets into the bath water.

Be careful though, the water can be very hot, between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius.

If it feels too hot though, try to enter very slowly and move as little as possible, but don't overdo it.

Take breaks to cool and try out different baths if available.

Keep your small towel out of the water by placing it either at the side of the bath or on top of your head.

And although some people do it, avoid sitting with your behind on the edge of the bath as others will rest their heads there.

Also, be considerate of other bathers by not talking too loudly, and do not swim or submerge your head.

Those with long hair should tie it up before soaking in the bath.

Many baths come with slippery floors, while some hot spring waters are cloudy or non-transparent, making underwater steps difficult to spot.

Make sure to enter the tubs slowly and move around the baths carefully to avoid slip and fall injuries.

Finally, when you're done bathing, it is recommended not to rinse your body with tap water in order for the hot spring water's minerals to work their magic on your body, unless you have sensitive skin or visit a bath with dubious hygiene standards.

As mentioned earlier, use your small towel to pat yourself dry before stepping back into the changing room where you can use your large towel to dry yourself completely.

Now, don't let all these rules scare you.

Just remember to rinse your body before soaking, keep your small towel out of the water, and most of all, enjoy your onsen experience.

In fact, to help you get the best hot spring soak, here is a list of our recommended hot springs to visit in Japan, starting with our personal favorite onsen towns.

Kusatsu Onsen Two and a half hours away from Tokyo is the pleasant hot spring town of Kusatsu Onsen, located in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture.

It is said that the large volumes of high-quality hot spring water coming from the town's centers, yubatake, and other hot spring sources can cure any illness but lovesickness, and the town has constantly ranked at or near the top of onsen rankings for centuries.

Visitors can fully enjoy the hot spring town by walking around in yukata.

Nyuto Onsen If you wish to experience a remote and rustic collection of old-fashioned ryokan, we recommend checking out Nyuto Onsen in Akita Prefecture.

The highlight of a visit there is Tsurunoyu Onsen, with its mixed-gender baths dating all the way back to the feudal ages.

Okuhida Onsen For those looking to enjoy a scenic view of the Japan Alps while soaking in a large outdoor bath, then Okuhida Onsen in Gifu Prefecture is for you.

The area also offers a lot of great rustic ryokan.

Kurokawa Onsen Located in a forested valley in Kumamoto Prefecture, this particularly pretty onsen town along a river offers a traditional atmosphere free of big concrete hotels and neon signs that are encountered in many of Japan's other resort towns.

A wooden pass providing admission to several ryokan's baths is available for visitors eager to try out a large variety of different onsen baths.

Ginzan Onsen This secluded onsen town nestled in the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture is known as Japan's prettiest onsen town, with its historic ryokan dating back to the early 20th century, lined up along the river flowing through its town centre.

Kinosaki Onsen This pleasant onsen town located in northern Hyogo Prefecture is one of the top onsen destinations in the Kansai region.

The town has a charming old-fashioned style, with its guests strolling around in the evening in yukata and geta, visiting the numerous bathhouses and retro game arcades.

Beppu Onsen Also known as Japan's onsen capital, Beppu is not a particularly pretty city, but it offers more onsen water and more ways to enjoy onsen than any other place in Japan.

This includes hot water baths, mud baths, sand baths, steam baths as well as steam cooking.

Best Baths When it comes to the baths themselves, some of the best indoor baths in our opinion include Tsukayu Onsen in Aomori Prefecture and Hoshi Onsen in Gunma Prefecture for the best traditional indoor baths.

And the Daiichi Takimoto-kan in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido for the best modern indoor bath, featuring an amazing five types of different onsen water.

If you're looking for a scenic outdoor onsen, then we recommend soaking at Tsuruno-Yu in Nyuto Onsen, Akita Prefecture, the Dai-Roten-Buro in Zao Onsen, Yamagata Prefecture, and Takaragawa Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, which offers designated bathing clothes to wear in their mixed gender Roten-Buro.

So there you have it, our basic guide on how to onsen.

We hope this guide will have given you a nice place to start when planning your future hot spring journey in Japan.

For more information or to watch another video, click the links on the screen now or head over to japan-guide.com, your comprehensive up-to-date travel guide first-hand from Japan.

Be sure to subscribe and click the notification bell for more videos about Japan.