Your First Onsen in Japan: What Actually Happens
Naked? Towels? Tattoos? Here’s exactly what happens from the moment you walk in.
For Japanese people, going to an onsen is so ordinary that we sometimes forget how strange the whole thing can look to someone doing it for the first time.
You walk into a room with strangers.
You take off all your clothes.
You carry a very small towel that seems far too small to be useful.
Then you wash yourself before getting into the bath — which may make you wonder what the bath is actually for.
And somewhere in the middle of all this, you may also be wearing a yukata for the first time in your life.
If nobody explains the sequence, an onsen can feel surprisingly intimidating.
So forget the long list of etiquette rules for a moment.
Here is what actually happens.
You may start in your room wearing a yukata
If you are staying at a ryokan or a Japanese hotel with an onsen, you will often find a yukata in your room.
You can usually wear it from your room to the bath.
And yes, walking through the hotel in a yukata is completely normal. You do not need to change back into your regular clothes just to visit the onsen.
Most people wear underwear underneath it while walking around the ryokan.
One small detail: when wearing a yukata, the left side goes over the right side.
You may also find a small towel and a larger bath towel in your room. Take them with you unless the hotel tells you towels are available in the bathing area.
First, find the correct entrance
Most onsen have separate bathing areas for men and women.
Look for:
男 — Men
女 — Women
There may also be English signs.
Do not rely entirely on curtain colors. Red often means women and blue often means men, but not always — and some ryokan switch the male and female baths at different times of day.
Check the sign.
Once you enter, you are in the changing room.
This is where the part many first-time visitors worry about begins.
Yes, you take off everything
Everything means everything.
No swimsuit.
No underwear.
No yukata.
Japanese onsen are normally enjoyed completely naked.
Your clothes and large towel stay in the changing room, usually in a basket or locker.
At first, this may feel extremely unusual.
But here is something worth knowing: nobody is particularly interested in you.
For Japanese people, being naked in an onsen is not sexual and usually not embarrassing. People change, walk into the bath, wash themselves and relax.
That is all.
You may feel very aware of yourself for the first minute.
Then, surprisingly quickly, you probably will not.
Take the small towel with you
This is where the mysterious little Japanese towel finally makes sense.
The large bath towel stays in the changing room.
The small towel comes into the bathing area with you.
You can use it while washing, and if you feel uncomfortable walking around naked, you can discreetly hold it in front of yourself.
There is just one important rule:
Do not put the towel into the bathwater.
When you enter the bath, leave it at the edge of the bath if permitted, or do what many Japanese people do and put the folded towel on your head.
Yes, people really do that.
Before the bath, you wash
This is probably the biggest difference between an onsen and what many visitors imagine.
You do not get into the bath to wash yourself.
You wash yourself first.
Inside the bathing area you will normally see a row of low stools, mirrors, handheld showers and small buckets.
Sit down.
There is usually shampoo, conditioner and body soap provided, especially at ryokan and hotels.
Wash your body thoroughly and rinse away all the soap before entering the bath.
Try not to stand and spray water everywhere. The washing stations are designed to be used while sitting.
What about your hair?
You can wash your hair too.
If you do, rinse it thoroughly.
If you do not want to wash it, that is also fine — but long hair should be tied up so that it does not touch the bathwater.
The important thing is simple:
Your body is clean before you enter, and your hair stays out of the water.
That is why dozens of people can share the same bath without treating it like a giant bathtub at home.
Now you get into the onsen
Finally.
Before entering, some people pour a little hot water over themselves first. You may see buckets near the bath for this.
Then step in slowly.
And I mean slowly.
Japanese onsen can be much hotter than first-time visitors expect.
There is no prize for immediately sinking up to your neck and enduring it.
Start with your legs.
Sit lower gradually.
If it feels too hot, get out.
You can sit beside the bath for a while and try again later.
An onsen is supposed to be relaxing, not a test of endurance.
What do you actually do once you are in?
Almost nothing.
That is the point.
You sit.
You look outside if there is a view.
You feel the hot water.
You may hear almost nothing except water moving.
People sometimes talk quietly, but an onsen is generally not a swimming pool, bar or social club.
Do not swim.
Do not splash.
Do not use your phone.
And definitely do not take photographs in a shared bathing area.
For me, this quietness is one of the best parts of an onsen.
Japan can be busy. Trains, stations, schedules, restaurants, sightseeing.
Then you enter hot water and, for ten minutes, there is absolutely nothing you need to do.
That is the experience.
When you get out
When you are finished, step out carefully.
You do not normally need to take a full shower again unless you want to or the facility gives specific instructions.
Before walking back into the changing room, it is polite to wipe some of the water from your body with your small towel rather than dripping all over the floor.
Then use your large towel to dry yourself properly.
Put your clothes — or your yukata — back on.
Many ryokan have drinking water nearby.
Have some.
Hot baths can dehydrate you more than you realize.
And if you see Japanese people drinking milk or coffee milk afterward from a little glass bottle, congratulations: you have discovered another part of Japanese bathing culture.
And what about tattoos?
This is the one thing I would check before arriving.
Japan does not have one universal rule for tattoos at onsen.
Some facilities allow them.
Some allow small tattoos if they are completely covered with a special patch.
Some do not allow tattoos in the public bath at all.
Rules are gradually changing, especially in places accustomed to international travelers, but you should never assume.
Check the ryokan or onsen website, or ask before booking.
If tattoos are not allowed in the shared bath, look for a private bath, usually called a kashikiri-buro.
Some ryokan also offer guest rooms with their own private onsen bath.
That can be a particularly good option if you have a large tattoo — or if the idea of getting naked with strangers simply does not appeal to you.
You can still experience an onsen.
Just choose the right one.
The rules are actually simpler than they look
For a first-time visitor, Japanese bathing culture can seem full of mysterious rules.
But most of it comes down to four things:
Get naked.
Wash before entering.
Keep your towel and hair out of the water.
Be considerate of the people around you.
That is almost everything.
You do not need to imitate every movement of the Japanese person sitting next to you.
You do not need to know obscure traditions.
And nobody expects an international visitor to behave like someone who has been going to onsen since childhood.
Just understand the basic idea.
The water is shared.
Keep it clean.
Keep the space quiet.
Then relax.
Your first minute will probably be the hardest
I think this is the part most explanations of Japanese onsen miss.
The biggest obstacle is probably not etiquette.
It is opening the changing-room door and realizing:
Oh. I really do have to take everything off.
That moment can feel strange.
But five minutes later, you may be sitting outside in hot spring water, looking at mountains, snow, trees or the night sky and wondering why you were so worried.
And when that happens, you will understand why Japanese people keep coming back.
Not because an onsen is complicated.
Because once you are in the water, almost everything else disappears.
Going deeper
Knowing what happens inside an onsen is one thing.
Choosing the right ryokan is another.
A beautiful room or a famous name does not always mean a better onsen stay. I would look at a few specific things before booking — especially the bath, the room, and what kind of experience the ryokan is actually built around.
Deep Guide: Your First Ryokan in Japan — 3 Things I Would Check Before Booking
What I would look at before choosing a ryokan for my first onsen stay.
