- 15 Things to Book in Advance in Kyoto & Osaka - 23 January 2025
- There’s a New Tokyo Disney Shinkansen. Here’s How to Ride It - 23 January 2025
- Is Visiting Saihoji Moss Temple Worth It? - 23 January 2025
Using an onsen is a uniquely Japanese experience, but it’s also something you need to know a little bit about if you don’t want to make a faux pas or feel embarrassed about the process. So, here’s our beginner’s guide to using an onsen.
Article by Helen Foster. Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
One of the first things you need to know about onsen soaking is it’s done nude. Yes, you, in a bath full of strangers, naked!
The second thing to know is that no one cares how you look in this situation but you.
They don’t care about your poochy stomach, your stretch marks, or that weird toe on your right foot. They are there to relax, and so should you.
Once you get this out of the way, everything becomes much easier.
The Most Important Part of the Process
The next thing you need to know is that an onsen is not there to get you clean. Unlike the Western idea of a bath, the Japanese use the onsen as a way to relax or even to socialise. The cleaning part of the experience comes before you get into the bath.
Step-By-Step Onsen Visiting
While every onsen is slightly different, here’s how it will likely go.
1. Get the Entry Code
This might not be relevant, but, if you’re staying in a hotel with a public bath, the women’s bath will often have an entry code that you enter on a keypad to get in.
If your hotel uses this system, you’ll usually be told about it at check-in and given a code then – but many hotels change the code after the onsen is cleaned each day, so make sure you have the right day’s numbers.
Also take note of the onsen cleaning time so you don’t head down there when it’s closed (been there, done that).
2. Enter The Right Bath
Public onsens are segregated by gender, so, make sure you enter the right one.
The doors themselves will be marked with the appropriate gender or covered with traditional curtains that can give you a clue. Usually, there is a dark pink/ red one for women, and men usually have a navy one. In most hotels, the words for men or women will also be written on them in English.
But, if you’re somewhere more local, knowing the kanji is also helpful.
This one is for Woman
女
This one is for Man
男
You may also see some other kanji, as per the door below, but the symbols above are the important ones. So long as you see the right one on your door you’ll be okay.
3. Remove Your Shoes
The first place you enter will have a shelf or sometimes lockers for your shoes. Take them off here.
4. Strip!
You’ll then enter the changing room. Here, you’ll find more lockers or baskets to put your things and other items, but also things to primp yourself after your soak, like lotions and hairdryers,
This is where you leave your clothes—all of them. And don’t forget to remove jewellery and watches. I always forget my watch, and many Japanese ladies have reminded me of it!
Proper onsen water will tarnish jewellery, so don’t forget this. But if some Japanese ladies start waving at you, it’s likely you might have, so check your watch, ring, or earrings.
Do not try to wrap yourself in a bath towel; just go with it.
However, you will either have been given a small hand towel or find a pile of them somewhere in this room.
You can take this into the onsen room with you, and as you do, you can drape it cleverly over your arm to conceal some of your blushes if you like. It can be a good security net the first few times you go.
5. Shower and Scrub
Now, it’s time to get clean. The shower room is usually through the door to the onsen, but even if you walk straight out and see the baths, do not be tempted to jump into it and hide. Getting into an onsen without showering is the worst thing you can do here.
Instead, find the showers. Often, these will be low-level, and you’ll get a tiny stall to sit on. If you can’t sit on them for mobility reasons, sometimes you’ll find a taller stall or, you can just stand. I have before now.
Now, start scrubbing.
Like your life depends on it.
I always feel this part becomes a bit like a competitive cleaning competition as to how long someone can spend doing it. I have washed and soaked in the time some people have spent on this part. The key thing is to soap every part of you well. I’m always a bit noisy doing it so that it’s clear that I’m scrubbing effectively.
How long should you spend? Personally, I do three rounds of soaping and rinsing. I feel that’s enough to cover everything!
6. Do You Need to Wash Your Hair?
I don’t always. Some days, I go to my hotel onsen twice a day. After a wash, my hair takes two days to calm down. If I washed it every time I went for a soak, I’d spend the whole trip looking like Crystal Tipps.
However, if you do have long hair, tie it up on top of your head so it doesn’t dangle in the water.
7. Start Soaking & Relax…
Now it’s time to enter the bath. Depending on the size and type of onsen you’re using, there might just be one bath, or you might find one indoor bath and one with an open-air roof.
In larger onsen complexes or onsen towns, you might also notice different colours of water or types of baths; these have different concentrations of minerals or herbs in them for added healing effects.
Once you’re in, relax! It’s okay to lie in the bath, sit in it, to sit on the side with your legs in it if you get too hot, whatever you need. Just don’t swim or put your head under, and don’t put that little towel you were given in the water. It stays on the side of the bath, or you’ll sometimes see people with them folded on their heads.
Apparently, some people also need to be told not to drink anything, but I’m hoping you’re not that person!
Once you’re suitably relaxed, get out of the bath—be careful standing up if it’s been very hot. Then dry yourself off as best you can with the little towel before entering the changing room.
8. Should You Shower Afterwards?
If you’ve been in a proper onsen, no. The waters often contain minerals with restorative or healing properties, so you’ll want to leave them on your skin as long as possible. If it’s just regular water, though, it’s fine to shower if you want to.
Onsen and Tattoos
Tattoos in Japan are still associated with the yakuza, and while tourists won’t be judged for having them in most places in Japan, the exception is in an onsen. Most onsen do not allow tattoos, even in hotels. All three hotels with onsens I stayed in on this trip banned tattoos.
There are some ways around this. If your tattoo is small, you can cover it with a plaster. If you’re staying in a Ryokan that offers private onsen, it’s only you in there, so your ink won’t really matter.
You can also look for a tattoo-friendly onsen. Kinosaki Onsen, for example, is an entire onsen town that allows people with tattoos to bathe in all seven of its baths, and when I went to Thermae Yu in Shinjuku, they were allowing foreigners with tattoos to bathe, so check their latest policy.
What to Do Afterwards
Onsens are hot, so don’t rush straight out sightseeing again; take some time to chill. Many of the hotel chains with onsens, like Daiwa Roynet or Dormy Inn, will have a relaxation area by the spa you can use if you like. Look for a small fridge nearby. You might find ice cream or probiotic drinks inside.
Interestingly, the Japanese drink milk after an onsen (find out why here), so you might also find a vending machine selling milk and yogurt in the onsen area.
What to Wear to the Onsen
I’ve already explained that you go into the onsen naked, so this might confuse you, but I’m talking about what to wear to get from your room to the bath area. It’s okay just to wear your normal clothes, but many hotels, or ryokan, will provide slippers and either a robe (called a yukata) or a loose trouser and top set to wear to and from the onsen, and it kind of adds to the spa-like experience.
If you choose to wear the yukata, it’s important to remember how to wrap it. Always make sure that you first wrap the right side to your left hip, then for the top layer, cross the left side to your right hip. The other way around is how bodies are dressed for the afterlife, so make sure you wrap yours the right way.
You might also find a short jacket if you’re in a very posh onsen. This goes over the yukata. I always forget this and feel underdressed when I get downstairs and realise! If you have dining included in your rate and can wear yukata to your meal, definitely wear the jacket.
And I think that’s about it.
The first time I went to an onsen I was terrified. I’d read a guide just like this one by author and Tokyo blogger, and my now friend, Jonelle Patrick which gave me the confidence to go in there without making a terrible faux pas.
Even now, in bigger complexes like Spa World in Osaka, I always check I’m in the right room to whip off all my clothes, so I don’t end up walking out in the corridor starkers!
But after a couple of trips, I got over the fear of people seeing me naked – and now, I’ll happily head to public onsen in hotels, onsen complexes like Spa World or Thermae Yu in Shinjuku – and even sento, which are local baths for the neighbourhood where you’ll be very unlikely to see another tourist (although I still draw the line of people I actually know being in the same bath!).
If you’re a bit scared, though, many hotels in onsen areas like Hakone have private onsens where it’s just you (and any loved ones you might invite) and the hot water. But honestly, give it a try. It’s a wonderful, unique part of Japanese culture—and a fantastic way to revive your aching feet and legs after a day’s sightseeing.
