Japanese Hotels, Onsens, And Nudity: What’s Your Take?

I’m curious to hear where OMAAT readers stand on this…

Onsens in Japan typically require nudity

Onsens are one of the many joys of visiting Japan. For those not familiar, onsens are essentially bathhouses with water that comes from hot springs.

These are often found in hotels, and can come in different forms. In some cases, you might have a private onsen in your room (essentially a large bathtub or hot tub, but with spring water), while in other cases, the hotel has a shared onsen that you can visit during certain hours.

Traditionally and culturally, nudity is required in onsens. Why? Well, it’s considered a part of the cultural experience. If I’m understanding the logic currently, the idea is that nudity promotes communal equality, as everyone is essentially “equal” when naked (which is ironic, because, well… never mind).

Anyway, this brings me to the meat of this post, if you will. Western hotel brands often water down aspects of culture, to make them more palatable to foreigners. In the United States, we’re generally super prude-ish about nudity. In some cultures it’s totally normal and not stigmatized, while in the United States, it’s the opposite. How does this impact the onsen experience?

Does anyone defy hotel nudity policies?

Story time (no, not in that way). I remember the first time I visited a hotel onsen in Japan, and I followed the rules. I got in the onsen, and a few minutes later, someone recognized me. I always appreciate when blog readers say hi, though I must say, this was a scenario I hadn’t played out in my head.

It was a totally pleasant and innocent interaction, but ever since, I’ve kind of thought twice about getting in onsens naked.

That brings me to my question — to the more prude(ish) among us, what’s your approach to hotel onsens when nudity is required? Do you not use them? Do you get over it? Do you wear a bathing suit?

I find it funny, because typically the nudity requirement is just written on a sign somewhere, and there’s no one actively enforcing it (it’s not like there’s something walking around telling people to take their pants off).

At hotels geared at western guests, I’m surprised that these policies actually exist. For example, at the Park Hyatt Niseko, there’s a sign saying that tattoos in the onsen are totally fine, while nudity is still required (tattoos are taboo, and traditionally, would need to be covered in an onsen).

Fortunately this was mostly a non-issue for our visit to Japan. We had a private onsen in our room, which we could use however we wanted. But it got me thinking as to whether these policies are enforced in any way, and to what extent people defy the rules.

Bottom line

Onsens are absolutely lovely, though if you’re a bit of a prude (or just American), the nudity requirement can take some getting used to. When it comes to onsens, it’s funny to me how western hotels compromise on the tattoo tradition, but not the nudity tradition.

But all of this has me wondering — do people actually consistently follow the nudity requirement in hotel onsens, or is it an unenforced rule?