Originally Posted by
MSYtoJFKagain
On the subject of kashikiri/private baths, my SO is much less comfortable with being nude in public than I am. We are planning 3-4 days in Hakodate/Sapporo/Otaru during the Ice Festival and were hoping to go to spend one day/night at a premium onsen. I know that most are not coed baths but she's indicated that if they were she'd be much more comfortable. Is there anywhere that fits the bill for this? I'd rather not be pigeonholed into a private onsen situation.
One place with coed onsen that's pretty famous is Manza Prince Hotel. It's easy to get to from Tokyo, as I believe they still run a bus service from the Karuizawa bullet train station to the hotel. Hotel itself is a bit rundown as is the case with most Prince Hotels. However, the onsen quality there is pretty fabulous, although I've not been in their coed bath.
As Laplap says, most coed baths (other than the one in Manza) are located in older, semi-historical type ryokans... type of places that appeal to certain crowd, but does not to me. I have little reservations about going butt-naked in communal onsens, but I'm opposite of your SO and I just wouldn't feel comfortable in coed baths. I've never been in one. I've also heard that many women bathe with towels wrapped around their bodies in coed onsen, which sort of goes against onsen etiquette and norm.
Try to talk your SO into trying the communal onsen thing once. I understand the fear. But once she experiences one, she might be hooked. Perhaps the best place to ease her into that might be somewhere like Hakone or Atami or Noboribetsu, where there's a ton of other foreigners.