Its well known and strictly advised to foreigners that you must always wash well and completely with soap etc before getting in an onsen. Particular your privates and stinky soden areas.
Pretty easy to get why, and agreeable.
However in practice living here i dont always observe this being followed by japanese people. In fact depending on where i go (basically anything outside Tokyo. In tokyo i notice everyone washes well before getting in) its not that common to see people do this.
When i go hiking or skiing in particular i rarely see people do it. They usually just splash water on themselves a bit and get right in! Then they wash after.
Seems kinda gross to me and annoying when i make sure to wash well then realise im bathing in post skiing sweaty ass and ball soup from so many doing that.
So what is the correct way??
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Obviously not all Japanese people do it the right way
If you know you’re dirty (walking around all day, skiing, whatever) then it’s the full wash down before getting in. If it’s your 2nd or 3rd bath at a Ryokan and you’ve just been hanging out in a yukata, eating dinner etc (nothing strenuous) then just a quick rinse.
Oh yeah, I see older ladies do this a lot.
Or girls wearing sheet masks while soaking…
If I would dare to do that, I would probably get swarmed by the „We Japanese“ police immediately.
On another note, I never knew what the heck to do with a towel in the bath area. Like, I don’t care about modesty, it gets soaked immediately and then I’ll have to awkwardly put it by the side of the tub?
So I just stopped carrying one.
In my experience it depends on the demographic, rough gut feel :
High end onsen / nice ryokan : 100% people wash thoroughly
Mid tier hotel ofuro : 90% wash thoroughly, 10% quick rinse
Low tier onsen/ hotel ofuro / local sento: 80% wash, 10% rinse, 10% don’t even bother
The weiredset I once got, at a Mitsui garden ofuro: some ojisan washed, but didn’t rinse and went in the bath full of soapy foam, then he slowly watched his soap wash away in the bath with a big smile on his face. His family was there and said nothing. Weird.
It’s been my observation that people usually just rinse off before getting into an onsen and then do a full bath afterwards.
Perhaps people feel less obligated to do that because more and more toilets these days have the bidet function? Don’t get me wrong, I think soap is DEFINITELY needed but given that I would dare to say, most people here (observation of women’s toilet sinks) skip the soap too when washing their hands at a public toilet, they might think just water is enough too for other parts….
Even if people were squeaky clean before entering the onsen is full of everybodys dashi(sweat) so I just rinse and do a full shower after
People be people. Not everyone abides by the same rules. Depending on the person or situation one might not think a full wash down necessary.
Japan or not, it’s a public bath. If you’re disgusted by public sweat, don’t go to public baths.
I regularly see people in public toilets just dash their hands under the water for a split second and leave, at which point they might just as well skip the sink altogether.
Just worry about yourself and wash.
If you see others not washing then don’t go if it bothers you
I also done think I’ve ever seen that washing your body is the proper etiquette. Most places just require you to use かけ湯
Some folks are just too darn excited I reckon. Japanese or otherwise they’re jonesing to get in that steamy bath.
Maybe they took shower just a moment earlier? I always wash though because I expect someone like OP to misunderstand.
Just get in the onsen. No bath. Chances are, nobody will notice anyway, and even if they do, they won’t have the cajones to say anything. In the off chance they do, just say NOHONGO TABENAI. If they speak in Engrish, say NO NINTENDO.
There were a few onsen visits I’ve had that were in the middle of nowhere in Oita where I had the entire men’s bath all to myself for an hour and a half. If it’s a busy place I will wash before and after just in case.
Anyone have tips on glasses? I never see people with glasses in there but if I don’t have them I can’t see anything. Actually I can’t see anything anyway because the steam fogs them up, and then I stumble around blindly trying to find out where the doors and baths are. I feel like it makes people really uncomfortable because I don’t see them and I get really close and am staring in their direction?