Sento and Onsen

 Note that since phones and cameras are not allowed inside onsen and sento (since everyone is naked), these photos are almost exclusively taken off of various sites from Google photos.

A mural of Mt Fuji is typically shown on bathhouse walls

A highlight of our time in Tokyo so far has definitely been sento and onsen culture. Sento are bathhouses oriented towards cleaning and onsen include natural hot springs and are oriented towards rest and relaxation.  It’s estimated that there are over 3,000 onsen in Japan!  Historically sento were priced so that even a poor person could go daily to bathe. However, as baths have become commonplace at home, demand for sento has greatly declined and they are becoming rarer and rarer.  Fortunately, there is a sento, Komeisen, across the street from our Airbnb.  

At ¥500 or about $3.40 USD per visit, Komeisen is still quite affordable. The baths are gender segregated and feature a locker room, an area for showering, hot and cold tubs of various temperatures, and a sauna.  Considering how much walking and exploring we have been doing, spending a few hours at the bathhouse has been a much appreciated way to unwind.

The unassuming outside of Komeisen- our local sento

Step 1: The outdoor shoe locker.  All shoes must come off before entering the main building.  You are to slip them off on the tiled area and pick them up before stepping barefoot onto the raised wooden platform.  Lockers tend to either be free or require a ¥100 coin that is returned.

Step 2: The clothing and belongings locker.  Men and women go into separate locker-rooms and undress before going to the showers.

Step 3: The showers.  Yes- they look exactly like this!  Everyone must shower and soap before entering the baths, which keeps them remarkably clean.  Karen read that its recommended to sit on the plastic stool while showering and while most women seem to do this, a few stand.  Karen finds the standing more comfortable and has been opting for that.  As a polite gesture to others, you rinse your stool and toiletry area at the end of your shower.

The operation of the shower head spigot is a push-timer mechanism.  The first time Karen didn't realize this.  When she turned it on and accidentally sprayed the woman sitting behind her (a definite no-no), she panicked and pushed the button again in attempts of turning it off to no avail.  She then tried turning the dial, which changes temperature but did not turn off the water.  As she pushed the button repeatedly, she accidentally knocked her towel onto the  floor, and still the shower would not turn off.  At this point, she had the shower head pointed downward under control, and asked another woman for helping turning it off.  That's when she learned you just have to wait ;)  You'll be relieved to learn that Karen's subsequent showers have gone smoothly.

The Komeisen bathing area includes one tub at 37C and 42C, which includes jets and helpful handlebars so you can brace yourself in different positions in front of the jets.  Not pictured is a smaller tub kept at 15C and a sauna (which costs an additional fee).  We can last tens of minutes at 37C, up to 5 minutes at 42C, and maybe up to 2 minutes at 15C.  Most tubs have small buckets next to them that you can use to splash onto yourself and allow your body to acclimate to the new temperature before getting in.  This method is surprisingly effective for the 15C cold tub.  We've found cycling among the stations to be a fun variety!

Our Airbnb host mentioned that Komeisen features a rooftop jacuzzi.  Our first visit there, Karen couldn't find the women's one.  Matt found the men's one, no problem.  Our second visit, Karen tried harder to find the women's access point.  Still having no luck, she asked a stranger who explained that men and women alternate access to the rooftop jacuzzi every week.  The men's week had started that very day.  So... Karen has to wait 6 more days for her turn.  One silver lining, is that the Japanese woman Karen asked works for an international bank, and spoke fluent English, and they enjoyed chatting in the bath for about half an hour.  Maybe a new friend!

On another rest day, Matt did some research and found the Saya-No-Yudokoro Onsen, located about a 45-minute subway ride, plus a 10-minute walk away.  This one charged ¥900/$6 USD for the day, but included a natural hot spring, about 10 different types of bathes, a sauna, and a steam room.  The facilities were also beautiful, featuring a restaurant that overlooked a garden and a tatami "nap" room.  We didn't opt for any of the "extras," but they did offer massage, a heated rock bed, massage chairs, and private dining rooms.

One interesting feature of this onsen, is that your shoe locker key is attached to a wristband that you keep on you at all times.  It includes a chip that is used for payment on any other amenities you want during your stay, ranging from drink and soap vending machines to massage chairs and meals.

                                    

                                    

The locker key/payment device/wrist band - an onsen essential

We set a meeting time to reunite for lunch a few hours into our visit.  We got tempura, soba, curry udon, and a mango pudding dessert.  Not what we're used to as "spa" food, but all delicious and in a very peaceful environment.

The garden at Saya-No-Yudokoro Onsen

A hot "bath" where you lie down in a couple inches of water and rest your head on the rock pillows shown.  Most women lay a towel over their bodies for modesty.

The outdoor natural hot spring.

Individual bathing tubs.  These were Karen's favorite since you could dangle your arms and legs out and look at the sky.  Apparently, the men's area was so busy Matt didn't have a chance to try them.

Other features of note not pictured: The entrance to the steam room here included something we've never encountered before: a bowl of salt.  Once inside, people would scrub themselves with the salt and then shower off outside before continuing to bath in other areas.  We liked it!  The steam room was a bit too hot for Karen, otherwise she would have enjoyed spending more time there.

One of the hot "baths" was a tall bench (with back support) made of flat rock.  Warm water flowed over the top of the bench, down your back, then under your legs to the ground.  It was a crowd pleaser when the full immersion tubs felt too hot.

To "check-out" of the onsen, we had to scan our wristbands at the exit and pay off our balance.  Once settled up, we could then scan our wristbands at an automated turnstile, which was efficient and a cool use of technology.  Finally, we unlocked our shoes from the outermost locker and were ready to head home.  We definitely want to come back!

We cannot seem to get enough of the onsen, so we tried out a different one this week called Niwa-No-Yu (check out the website- it has lots of nice pictures!).  This was the most expensive of the 3 we've been to, and cost about 2,400 yen/$16 USD for the day.  We weren't sure if the extra cost would be worth it, and were pleasantly surprised!  Here's what Niwan-No-Yu offered in addition to many of the features of the other two locations above:

• A mixed gender bathing area where swimsuits are required.  Note that swimsuits are still prohibited in the gender segregated areas.  This was a nice feature so Matt and Karen could spend some time together at the onsen.
• The sauna featured an hourly guided program.  Matt and Karen didn't know what was happening at first, but followed a crowd headed for the sauna after an onsen employee made an announcement.  As part of the 10-minute program, the onsen guide adds scented oils to the sauna charcoal and then takes a towel to individually fan everyone participating.  The hot blast of air is quite dramatic, and also looks like a lot of work for the employee, who put his whole body into flapping the towel.  We didn't realize you were supposed to cool off beforehand, so we didn't last the full 10 minutes.  Upon exiting the sauna, we were greeted by another employee who gave us ice cubes to eat and rub on our bodies.  
• Not one, but two brands of soaps, shampoos, and conditioners were available for free use in the shower area
• Some private shower stalls in the bathroom in addition to the traditional open format showers
• Included towels and loungewear (for the dining area, nap room, and massage areas)

                              

Karen sporting her loungewear in the dining facility.  Both onsens we went to had great cafeterias! This time we got a tonkatsu curry dish, a somen curry soup, and a minced tuna and chive donburi rice bowl.  (We probably shouldn't eat that much the next time we go to an onsen, but it was hard to stop...)

The Bade pool located in the mixed gender section featured 9 different stations.  These were each labeled with an order and suggested amount of time to spend at each station and were accompanied by a countdown clock on the wall to track time.  Stations included a neck massage area, back massage area, "float" massage area that shot water vertically upward (to help you float), a walking area, a colder tub, and a steam room.  It was fun!

One feature Karen particularly appreciated about this onsen was the variety of ways to stay cool.  You can pull the rope on this bucket, for example, to douse yourself in cool water.  Another alcove had a sort of vertical column sprinkler system that sprayed you from 360 degrees with cold streams of water.  

Finally, the cold tub here was kept at a "comfortable" 20C.  The sento near our Airbnb has its at 15C and the other onsen we went to kept its at 10C.  Cooling off seems to be the key to spending a lot of time at an onsen, and we found it much easier to spend more time in the 20C tub than the previous locations.  We also spent a full 5 hours here without overheating!

The tiled steam room at Niwan-No-Yu was also particularly beautiful.

Here we are at a sauna photo-op at the entrance to the onsen.  Note the character to the right demonstrating the towel fanning technique.  We plan to continue regular sento-ing and onsen-ing throughout our time in Japan!