Kinosaki Onsen

May 14-15 

After Osaka we headed out to the west coast to enjoy a traditional onsen town, or Japanese bath. Kinosaki has seven public baths concentrated in a tiny little town. Our ryokan (guest house) provided a yukata (light cotton kimono with jacket) and geta (traditional Japanese wooden flip flops) to wear around town as you visit the baths. Our room had a great view of the main street downtown, and as we prepared to head out to the first bath around 3:00pm we hadn't seen anyone else wandering the streets in yukatas. Tim had to overcome his fear of public shame as we dressed up (down?) and headed out. Later on we saw lots of people out in their yukatas, both Japanese and western tourists, it just happened to be a slow afternoon. 

The town is lovely, and so are the public baths. You have to leave your American sense of modesty at the door along with your footwear (those wooden flip flops are horribly uncomfortable) and strip down before entering the baths with just a small towel. There are rows of detachable shower heads with small stools and soap and shampoo to thoroughly wash before soaking in the hot pools. Each onsen had its own layout, often with an outdoor area with rocky pools surrounded by a relaxing garden or waterfall. The pools are mostly incredibly hot and you sweat profusely, maybe with your towel on your head. One of the men's areas had a cold pool (quite cold!) that Tim could alternate between, but none of the women's baths did. 

After the onsen we grabbed a meal at the nearby grocery store (salmon sashimi!) to eat in our room, then headed out for another bath experience in the evening. We hit one more onsen the next morning before catching the train. We never did find out if there was a shower in our ryokan, who needs one? It was a wonderfully relaxing day!

Getting a little help from a friend! (Ryokan owner)

Outside of one of the onsen