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Onsen 

Outdoor pool, Naruko, Miyagi
Outdoor pool, Naruko, Miyagi
Guidebook to Hakone from 1811
Guidebook to Hakone from 1811

An onsen (温泉?) is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. A volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth. Onsen were traditionally used as public bathing places and today play a central role in directing Japanese domestic tourism.

Onsen come in many types and shapes, including outdoor (露天風呂 or 野天風呂 rotenburo or notenburo?) and indoor baths. Baths may be either public run by a municipality or private (内湯 uchiyu?) often run as part of a hotel, ryokan or Bed and Breakfast (民宿 minshuku?).

Onsen are a central feature of Japanese tourism often found out in the countryside. They are a major tourist attraction drawing Japanese couples, families or company groups who want to get away from the hectic life of the city to relax. Japanese often talk of the virtues of "naked communion" (裸の付き合い hadaka no tsukiai?)[1] for breaking down barriers and getting to know people in the relaxed homey atmosphere of an onsen inn.

Japanese TV often features programs where the hosts visit a local onsen, interview the (female) owner (女将さん okami-san?), and try out some of the local delicacies.[2]

The presence of an onsen is often indicated on signs and maps by the symbol ♨ or the kanji, 湯 (yu, meaning "hot water"). Sometimes the simpler hiragana character ゆ (yu) is used, to be understandable to younger children.

Contents

Characteristics

Outdoor onsen on Nakanoshima in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture
Outdoor onsen on Nakanoshima in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture
Indoor onsen in Ōfuka (大深温泉).
Indoor onsen in Ōfuka (大深温泉).

Traditionally, onsen were located outdoors, although a large number of inns have now built indoor bathing facilities as well. Onsen by definition use naturally hot water from geothermally heated springs. Onsen should be differentiated from sentō, indoor public bath houses where the baths are filled with heated tap water. Major onsen resort hotels often feature a wide variety of themed spa baths and artificial waterfalls in the bathing area (打たせ湯 utaseyu?).

Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. A particular onsen may feature several different baths, each with water with a different mineral composition. The outdoor bath tubs are most often made from Japanese cypress, marble or granite, while indoor tubs may be made with tile, acrylic glass or stainless steel.

Many bathers come for only an hour or so to soak in the waters. Food also plays an important part in the attraction of a particular inn.[3] While other services like massages may be offered, the main reason most people visit the onsen is to enjoy the baths.

Traditionally, men and women bathed together at the onsen, as they did at the sentō, but single-sex bathing has steadily become the established custom since the opening of Japan to the West during the Meiji period. Mixed-sex bathing persists at some onsen in the rural areas of Japan, which usually also provide the option of separate "women-only" baths or different hours for the two sexes, although young children of either sex may be seen in both the men's and the women's baths.

People often travel to onsen with work colleagues, as the relaxed and open atmosphere helps to break down some of the hierarchical stiffness inherent in Japanese work life. However, most visitors to onsen are not work groups but friends, couples and families.

Etiquette

Baskets
Baskets

Ensuring cleanliness

At an onsen, as at a sentō, guests are expected to wash their bodies and rinse themselves thoroughly before entering the hot water. The indoor baths have faucets with removable shower heads and stools to sit on, for showering and shampooing. Entering the onsen while still dirty or with traces of soap on the body is considered unacceptable.[4]

Swimsuits

Soakers are not normally allowed to wear swimsuits in the baths. However, a couple of modern onsen having more of a waterpark atmosphere require their guests to wear a swimming suit in their mixed baths.

Towels

Onsen guests generally bring a small towel with them to use as a washcloth. The towel can also provide a modicum of modesty when walking between the washing area and the baths. Some onsen allow one to wear the towel into the baths, while others have posted signs prohibiting this, saying that it makes it harder to clean the bath.[5] In this latter case, people normally set their towels off to the side of the water when enjoying the baths. However, some people place their folded towels on top of their heads.

Noise

Onsen are generally considered a respite from the hectic pace of life and consequently they are usually fairly quiet. However, sometimes bathers will engage in conversation in this relaxed situation.[6]

Cubicles
Cubicles

Therapy

The volcanic nature provides plenty of springs. When the onsen's water contains distinctive minerals or chemicals, the onsen establishments display what type of onsen it is.

Some examples of types of onsen include:

  • Sulphur onsen (硫黄泉 iō-sen?)
  • Sodium chloride onsen (ナトリウム泉 natoriumu-sen?)
  • Hydrogen carbonate onsen (炭酸泉 tansan-sen?)
  • Iron onsen (鉄泉 tetsu-sen?)

In Japan, it is said onsen have various medical effects.[7] Japanese people believe that a good soak in proper onsen heals aches, pains and diseases, and visit onsen to treat the illnesses, such as arthralgia, chronic skin diseases, diabetes, constipation, menstrual disorders and so on.[7]

These medical benefits have given onsen a central role in balneotherapy which is called "Onsen Therapy" (温泉療法 onsen-ryōhō?). Onsen Therapy is a comprehensive bathing treatment conducted to maintain health, normalize dysfunctions and prevent illness.[7]

Infections

Although millions of Japanese bathe in onsen every year with few noticeable side effects, there has been concern that the warm wet conditions lead to the transmission of infections.[8] Some concerns include:

  • Athlete's foot fungal infection.
  • The Naegleria fowleri amoeba, which lives in warm waters and soils worldwide and can cause meningitis.[9][10] Several deaths have been attributed to this amoeba, which enters the brain through the nasal passages.[11][12]
  • Acanthamoeba, which can also spread through hot springs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[13]
  • Legionella bacteria, which have been documented to spread through hot springs.[14][15]
  • There is some suggestion that a bather's toe was infected with herpes simplex virus from a hot spring in Japan.[16]
  • There has been some concern that the temperature and mineral composition of natural hot spring water does not represent as much protection from infection as had been thought previously. There are viruses that have been collected from even very extreme environments in hot springs. For example, viruses were found in a hot spring in Pozzuoli, Italy, living in acidic water with a pH of 1.5, and temperatures of 87–93 °C (189–199 °F). These viruses were observed to infect cells in the laboratory.[17]

Many onsen have posted notices for visitors, reminding anyone with open cuts, sores, or lesions to not bathe. This precaution limits the overall risk to bathers and the overall risk to individuals in good health is very slight. The case scenarios of herpetic and amoebic infections are remarkable not so much in that they occur, but rather that the affected persons are predominantly persons with reduced immune systems and likely skin lesions. (The herpetic infection cited above occurring on the foot of a diabetic individual is a good anecdotal representation.)

Recent controversy

"Japanese Only" sign at Yunohana Onsen
"Japanese Only" sign at Yunohana Onsen
See also: Sentō#Tension between social groups

In recent years, there has been some controversy over the exclusion of foreigners and non-ethnic Japanese from entering hot springs.[18] This issue was highlighted in February 2001, when Debito Arudou and two co-plaintiffs sued Yunohana Onsen in Otaru, Hokkaido, for refusing service to customers based on race. Yunohana Onsen lost the lawsuit in November 2002.[19]

Selected onsen

This rotenburo at Jigokudani Onsen is for Japanese Macaques.
This rotenburo at Jigokudani Onsen is for Japanese Macaques.
Macaques enjoying an open air hot spring or onsen in Nagano
Macaques enjoying an open air hot spring or onsen in Nagano
Yumura-onsen's hot-spring resort and forests in Shin'onsen, Hyogo
Yumura-onsen's hot-spring resort and forests in Shin'onsen, Hyogo
Hotels in Nanki-Shirahama Onsen in Shirahama, Wakayama
Hotels in Nanki-Shirahama Onsen in Shirahama, Wakayama
Dōgo Onsen Main Hall in Matsuyama, Ehime
Dōgo Onsen Main Hall in Matsuyama, Ehime

See also List of hot spring in Japan, List of hot spring photographs in Japan.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ This term should be carefully differentiated from the word skinship (スキンシップ sukinshippu?) which refers to the benefits of physical contact, for instance, on babies by their mothers.
  2. ^ In March 2003, it was reported that there were 3,102 spa resorts in 2,292 municipalities in the Japan. There were also 15,400 lodging facilities, or ryokan, associated with the 6,740 public onsen. About 138 million people a year visit these facilities, according to this article
  3. ^ Because most people tend to eat their evening meal around 6 pm, the baths are often empty at this time. This can be a good time to visit the baths in relative privacy.
  4. ^ In very isolated onsen, where there is no possibility to use soap before entering in the bath, onsen users are expected to at least rinse their body with the water of the bath before entering it.
  5. ^ It is sometimes against the rules to immerse or dip towels in the onsen bath water, since this can be considered unclean.
  6. ^ There are usually prohibitions against rowdiness in the washing and bathing areas of onsen. A small amount of excess energy and splashing around is usually tolerated from children, however.
  7. ^ a b c Getting into hot water for health. The Japan Times. May 25, 2003.
  8. ^ Given the popularity of Japanese hot spring bathing, it is not surprising that many of the reports of infection in the medical literature come from Japan.
  9. ^ emedicine article on naegleria
  10. ^ Occurrence and Distribution of Naegleria Species in Thermal Waters in Japan, Shinji Izumiyama, Kenji Yagita, Reiko Furushima-Shimogawara, Tokiko Asakura, Tatsuya Karasudani, Takuro Endō, The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology Vol. 50 Issue s1 Page 514 July 2003
  11. ^ Primary amebic meningoencephalitis due to Naegleria fowleri: An autopsy case in Japan, Yasuo Sugita, Teruhiko Fujii, Itsurou Hayashi, Takachika Aoki, Toshirō Yokoyama, Minoru Morimatsu, Toshihide Fukuma & Yoshiaki Takamiya, Pathology International, Volume 49 Page 468 - May 1999
  12. ^ Southern New Mexico web site article
  13. ^ CDC description of acanthamoeba
  14. ^ Molecular determination of infection source of a sporadic Legionella pneumonia case associated with a hot spring bath, H. Miyamoto, S. Jitsurong, R. Shiota, K. Maruta, S. Yoshida, E. Yabuuchi, Microbiol Immunol., 41(3):197-202, 1997.
  15. ^ An outbreak of legionellosis in a new facility of hot spring Bath in Hiuga City, Eiko Yabuuchi, Kunio Agata, Kansenshogaku zasshi (Kansenshogaku zasshi), ISSN 0387-5911, vol. 78, no2, pp. 90-98, 2004.
  16. ^ Indolent herpetic whitlow of the toe in an elderly patient with diabetic neuropathy, Maki Ozawa, Tomoyuki Ōtani, and Hachirō Tagami, Dermatology Online Journal 10 (1): 16, 2004.
  17. ^ Viral Diversity in Hot Springs of Pozzuoli, Italy, and Characterization of a Unique Archaeal Virus, Acidianus Bottle-Shaped Virus, from a New Family, the Ampullaviridae, Monika Häring, Reinhard Rachel, Xu Peng, Roger A. Garrett, and David Prangishvili1, J. Virol., 79(15): 9904–9911, August 2005.
  18. ^ This might be because of Japanese stereotypes that foreigners are unclean, rowdy and/or more prone to criminal activities.
  19. ^ Arudou visited the hot spring after having heard of its discriminatory practice. This incident is often used to make statements that Japan is strongly xenophobic, despite the fact that out of thousands of onsen that exist in Japan, only three were reported to have practiced racial discrimination in recent years.

Further reading

  • Hotta, Anne, and Yoko Ishiguro. A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs. New York: Kodansha America, 1986. ISBN 0870117203.
  • Neff, Robert. Japan's Hidden Hot Springs. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1995. ISBN 0804819491.
  • Seki, Akihiko, and Elizabeth Heilman Brooke. The Japanese Spa: A Guide to Japan's Finest Ryokan and Onsen. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2005. ISBN 080483671X. Reprinted as Ryokan: Japan's Finest Spas and Inns, 2007. ISBN 0804838399.

External links
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