Kinosaki Onsen

On the next leg of our trip, we once again grabbed ourselves a bento box and this time headed to the coast on the train to Kinosaki, which is a town famous for its onsen- hot spa baths. We are currently writing this post together by the river in the moonlight as everyone strolls to and from the onsens.

Train Bento Box – 2 rice ball score

Kinosaki

The host of our ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) was very accommodating and welcoming, even putting out green tea for our arrival and giving us an introduction to the town. Our room was laid out in the traditional Japanese style (with traditional air conditioning, thank goodness!!) and the host showed us how to wear our Yukata gowns (thin cotton types of kimono) which he informed us we could wear anywhere in town. We took him on his word. We were also given traditional wooden sandals to wear. Thing is they don’t make them for size 10 feet so I have been hobbling round town for the last three hours. The point of dressing up is so you can go from onsen to onsen and the number of people on the streets doing the same thing adds a bit of festivity to the whole thing.

 

Ryokan

Grace outside our first onsen in her Yukata

Now the onsens themselves require some getting used to. Ponds Forge they are not. They are split into male and female baths and everyone is totally starkers. You have to have a good soapy scrub sat on a little stool before you can even get in. You are allowed a friendly little hand towel for modesty but once in the pool you can’t put him in the pool and the preferred place to sit him is on your head. It certainly desensitises your British modesty. By the end of it we were both strutting confidently and nakedly around with everyone else. Onsen bathing is seen as a great social leveller and the communal bathing is known as hadaika no tsukiai which our Lonely Planet guidebook tells us translates as ‘naked friendship’, and who doesn’t appreciate a bit of naked friendship?! The baths themselves are set within pools lined with local rock and are LOVELY and hot. One favourite even had an outdoor bath overlooking the mountains and scenery. Grace has been suffering from mosquito bites and the hot water has helped ease them.

Out and about in our Yukata

Initially we didn’t quite get the point of going to sit in a very warm bath when it is so warm and humid outside. However after emerging from our first onsen even warmer than when we went in, we figured out how to cool off after bathing and then we really began to feel relaxed. After touring three of the onsen we went out for dinner still feeling a little like we were out and about in our dressing gowns. Kinosaki is near the coast and is particularly famous for crab during the winter months, so we treated ourselves to a delicious seafood feast with accompaniment of Japanese curry and rice AKA. Broomhill friery curry sauce.

On our way back to our ryokan we caught a public show by the Kinosaki mascots. The Onsenrangers. Basically Power Rangers who we think get their power to fight evil from nude bathing?

Rice ball count 4 (2 each)

Grace’s additional notes:

I feel very relaxed. I’m totally finding myself.