Hot Springs in Hakone

Let me just start by saying, I was not comfortable being naked with my friends. 3 years ago, I had the chance to stay overnight at a monastery on Mt. Koya during my study abroad program in Japan. All the girls in my class decided to get over their collective fear of nudity, and went into the public baths together in solidarity. I chickened out and took a quick shower in a private room instead, using my headache as an excuse.

I knew this was something I needed to get over eventually if I wanted to have the hot springs experience in Japan this year. I got away with using towels in Taiwan (another story for another post), but it’s strictly prohibited in Japan. I paid a lot of money to stay at this ryokan, so I figured... why not?

*These photos are not reflective of my actual hot springs experience. I wanted to go in when it was empty, so I checked the baths every half an hour after dinner until it was finally empty at 11pm. Haha.

My friend and I knew each other growing up, but it was awkward at first having to walk around naked. Having the mirror in front of me as I sat on the stool to shower didn't make it any better. My friend and I chose to sit with our backs facing each other to minimize the awkwardness, but after a bit I think we just thought, "screw it, we're going to see each other naked anyway!" We started to make conversation about the very fragrant complimentary soap and laughed at each other. Afterwards, we hopped into the outdoor bath.

The water in the bath was so hot. It’s as if I didn’t even shower, because I was sweating bullets again, sitting there. Every 10 minutes I’d sit up on the edge of the bath to cool off, then sink back down. After half an hour of hanging around, we decided to go in and try the indoor baths (they have jets and waterfalls!)

Not pictured in this post is the small ice bath that was in the corner. It was too small to soak in, but there were a few buckets handy nearby, so we made the assumption that we had to pour the ice water over ourselves. Yeah... I regretted doing that.

Determined to get the most bang for our buck, we also sat in the sauna for 10 minutes. It was sweltering in there – it made the sauna at my rock gym feel like a breezy summer day.

We jumped back into the outdoor hot springs for another 20 minutes before calling it a night. By the time bath time was over, our feet were really gross and pink. Ew. Still, it was definitely a relaxing experience and a well needed break after the hardcore traveling we've been doing for the past week. Now that I've finally done it, I'm willing to do it again.

I drew this to summarize my experience:

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Hot Springs in Hakone