温泉 (Onsen)

If you know anything culture-wise about Japan, you probably know that Japanese hot springs are sorta a big deal. People in Japan go to the onsen at all times of year, where they chose to get naked and sit in a big ol' bath tub with their friends and revel in their nakedness. In general, Americans are a bit more modest than Japanese, at least in the terms of taking group baths together. I feel like Americans are ok being naked in the locker room, changing their clothes and what not, but I don't think they'd want to strut around naked, no towel in sight, and just sit in a bath with their peers. Well, I know that's how I feel. I knew the onsen was not going to be my cup of tea, but as one of the most representing acts of Japanese culture, when my friend Emily told me she was going to the onsen, I decided, well, I might as well. I'm in Japan, when else will I get a chance to do this.
A small group of us rode our bikes down the road to the onsen. After working so hard to bike against that strong wind, I was actually kind of looking forward to relaxing in the water. The onsen was really pretty on the inside! It looked like a hotel! The touristy things were all expensive, but to go into the baths themselves it only cost us 600 yen a piece. So the 6 of us headed up to the locker room...
And found a bunch of naked old ladies. Not like middle-age old, I mean old, old. The kind you don't want to walk in on a locker room full of if they plan on being naked. I mean, yeah, we're all girls, it's fine, it's just...Americans are more sheltered than we like to believe. I try to be accepting and willing to try new things, but I was already starting to be really awkward and uncertain if the best way to bond with my JCMU friends was to take a bath together. Don't they make like, manicure parties for that sort of thing?
So as us Americans were wrapped in our towels as we awkwardly shuffled around, the Japanese ladies kept staring at us. I don't get it. They should be used to the Americans by now in Hikone. They live there all year round. A whole bunch. I'm pretty sure there are more Americans living in Hikone at one time than in like, Tokyo. But maybe it's because we were so awkward, and they were wondering "why do the Americans always hide behind their towels? what wusses". That's the vibe I got, any way. 
But once you get into the bath room, you are expected to sit on a little upside down bucket and wash every inch of yourself. Those Japanese ladies take that to the most literal extreme. They spend longer bathing themselves before they get in the water than they do being in the water. After we did the awkward sitting-on-a-bucket-feeling-very-self-conscious thing, we went into the water. It was...not what I thought it would be. I thought it would be deep and you can sit and relax and it'll be warm and steamy and dark so you can't see people in the water and full of healthy minerals and yay-ness. It actually was really shallow. If I wanted to stand up, it'd have been to my knees. You couldn't even just sit in it if you wanted to be covered, you had to awkwardly lay down like a seal or something. And the water wasn't dark with minerals. It was regular water.  And it was clear. Unfortunately clear. And the water wasn't a relaxing warm either. It was hotter than comfortable, and after only about 5 minutes, everyone vacated for the smaller "not-as-hot" pool. This pool felt maybe only like 2 degrees cooler, which was still way too hot. We tried to just sit around the edge of the pool, but there is really hardly any room to sit if you don't want your body in the water, so it was very uncomfortable. Eventually an old Japanese lady who decided we didn't need to be avoided at all costs came over and talked to us, and stomped on a giant tea bag thing to release minerals into the water. It was too late for me though, I couldn't handle the water anymore, and according to the others, my face was already bright pink. So after about an hour total of being there, in and out of the tubs, locker room shenanigans and all. Although this isn't my cup of tea, I wouldn't knock it until you try it. There is a reason they are popular, and to maybe some people it's fun and relaxing, but for me, even when I got over the initial awkwardness and was only mildly awkward, I still couldn't enjoy it because of the extreme heat of the water, and for the lack of sitting place in and out of the baths. But. You never know. I might try it one more time and see if my mind changes. It might be worse next time though, because it's been a record cool summer so far, but once the rainy season ends it'll get way hotter O_O. I guess I'll just have to see.


Mary

The Onsen lobby

Giant Hikonyan!

Me and Alisa

After our wonderful bonding bath

View of Lake Biwa

Location: My bed
Mood: Sick **achoo**
Listening to: Another Postcard - Barenaked Ladies
Japanese for the day: 気分が悪い　きぶんがわるい kibun ga warui - I don't feel well (lit. My feelings are bad)