Private Onsen - Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka "kashikiri"
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,344
The only (nude) mixed bathing places that I’ve ever been aware of in Japan are almost all rustic, rural places. They are not generally well developed and certainly not “deluxe”.
Here’s about as comprehensive a list as you can hope to find for Hokkaido
https://www.food-travel.jp/category/hokkaido
Places where swimsuits are required are another matter.
For instance, there are public baths within JR Gala Yuzawa station (Shinkansen line). As well as the usual segregated baths, there is a bigger area with a variety of small swimming pools, and part of this complex is a heated open air hot tub which over looks the snowy landscapes (in March there are some nice cherry trees nearby). In this pool complex, swimming costumes are mandatory, so it’s a way for couples to have a kind of public rotenburo experience with a mountain view.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kOLs_I-YOf...oc/s1600/2.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKFL9V8o3T...o/s1600/14.jpg
Here’s about as comprehensive a list as you can hope to find for Hokkaido
https://www.food-travel.jp/category/hokkaido
Places where swimsuits are required are another matter.
For instance, there are public baths within JR Gala Yuzawa station (Shinkansen line). As well as the usual segregated baths, there is a bigger area with a variety of small swimming pools, and part of this complex is a heated open air hot tub which over looks the snowy landscapes (in March there are some nice cherry trees nearby). In this pool complex, swimming costumes are mandatory, so it’s a way for couples to have a kind of public rotenburo experience with a mountain view.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kOLs_I-YOf...oc/s1600/2.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKFL9V8o3T...o/s1600/14.jpg
#18
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,298
Sample: https://travel.rakuten.com/hotellist...fset=0&rooms=1
Hakone is easy enough to get to from Tokyo. Kusatsu is also well regarded if you're looking for an onsen town feel but requires a change on the train to bus or highway bus https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7400.html Some larger ryokan will also run a shuttle bus to specific train stations.
#19
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,369
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.
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.
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,344
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.
https://www.food-travel.jp/hokkaido/yunokawaonsen.html
The Manza Prince is also featured (but not in Hokkaido, obviously!)
https://www.food-travel.jp/gunma/manzaprince.html
That seems to be it for Prince Hotels - good catch, evergrn!
I’ve absolutely no interest in mixed gender bathing (although we got an absolutely lovely family bath in the Matsushima Century Hotel - were given a choice of free perks when checking in, and booking an hour was one of the options (hire charge is usually over 3,000yen an hour. Here’s a photo https://goo.gl/images/aq4EFH ).
Am finding more non Japanese East Asian visitors in the Onsen and Sento I do frequent. Only time I ever encountered other Caucasians was in the Green Plaza in Hakone, a few young Italian ladies were entering as my daughter and I were leaving. For me, a big part of why I don’t feel self conscious is because nobody else does. Not sure how I’d feel around people who were embarrassed; emotions can be contagious. For someone aiming to lose “public bath virginity”, actively seeking other foreigners (presumably from a similar background) doesn’t sound like such a good idea to me. But that’s just my take. If they are Germans or Fins - great!
Last edited by LapLap; Sep 11, 2018 at 6:13 am
#21
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cape Cod
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,535
I appreciate the help. I'm trying to slowly bring her over to being comfortable with it but it's already proving to be a very tough road. She's totally comfortable around me but can't get over the embarrassment factor of a public bath.
It would certainly make my trip planning a lot easier to get her over her fear. I don't know whether having non-Japanese people there would help or hinder. It's really tough to say. It's confusing for me because I wasn't brought up to be ashamed of nudity and didn't realize that this would be a problem until I brought it up during some trip planning discussion.
It would certainly make my trip planning a lot easier to get her over her fear. I don't know whether having non-Japanese people there would help or hinder. It's really tough to say. It's confusing for me because I wasn't brought up to be ashamed of nudity and didn't realize that this would be a problem until I brought it up during some trip planning discussion.
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,344
I appreciate the help. I'm trying to slowly bring her over to being comfortable with it but it's already proving to be a very tough road. She's totally comfortable around me but can't get over the embarrassment factor of a public bath.
It would certainly make my trip planning a lot easier to get her over her fear. I don't know whether having non-Japanese people there would help or hinder. It's really tough to say. It's confusing for me because I wasn't brought up to be ashamed of nudity and didn't realize that this would be a problem until I brought it up during some trip planning discussion.
It would certainly make my trip planning a lot easier to get her over her fear. I don't know whether having non-Japanese people there would help or hinder. It's really tough to say. It's confusing for me because I wasn't brought up to be ashamed of nudity and didn't realize that this would be a problem until I brought it up during some trip planning discussion.
#23
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cape Cod
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,535
That is my current plan. I'm looking at a bunch of ryokan onsen in Hokkaido with private bathing rooms. The coed idea was more of a workaround than a fixed decision. I wanted to avoid getting pigeonholed but it looks like that's the best solution to the problem. I will be taking at least two day-trips to onsen by myself as well as going to a sento or two in Tokyo. Although if you guys keep it up with the great suggestions, I may have to add a third day!
#24
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
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