Pure Nakedness

So we did it. We got totally naked with a room full of strangers and one or two friends. Last night, Aaron and I finally took the plunge and went to an onsen. For those unfamiliar with this- an onsen is a public hot spring resort. Some use natural hot springs, others heat the water on the premises. You bring your own towels- a large one for drying, and a small one to kinda cover you. You wash up and rinse off before getting into pools of super hot water.The men and women have seperate areas, although there are a few mixed onsens, where you have to wear suits. Traditionally the onsens were mixed sex, but when the Westerners came through, they imposed their Victorian sensitivities on the practice, resulting in the segregated bathing I enjoyed.

Wadayama just opened an onsen about a month ago. We hadn't gone because:
1. Being totally naked with other people kinda freaks me out
2. Being the only naked gaijin just begs people to stare at you
3. I really, really don't want to see any of my students naked or vice versa
I knew that I would be a convert, that I would get over the naked thing pretty fast, but I just hadn't gotten the courage to do it. We were waiting for a trip up to Kinosaki, a town famous for their onsens. Another plus- I'd be less likely to run into any of my students there.

But yesterday Aaron played some ultimate frisbee w' some folks, and for afters they wanted to hit the Wadayama onsen. So I sucked it up, and got naked.

And it was fantastic! Luckily, Jasmine was w' me [which helped when I had questions, but also made me a bit more nervous- being naked w' a pal being a new experience]. We washed up, used the small towels to conveniently conceal a few parts, and went to the outside pool. I didn't see any of my students, but we did run into Helen, a local ALT, her cousin[?], and her JTE. Aaah, hot water, nakedness, and socializing.

Not surprisingly, I have been totally converted, and now have to include a public-nakedness-soak into our weekly budget. Everyone in the world should experience the bliss that is an onsen!
Some onsens even have cool gimmicks, like waterfalls or spicy herbs. My pal Jason went to an onsen for his farewell enkai where there was something spicy in the water. After some pleasant tingling, everyone had to get out as various sensitive bits began to sting!