First a (very!) quick introduction: my name is David Calhoun and I'm from the United States. Ok, on with the post!
A few days ago I had the pleasure of experiencing my first onsen in the mountains north of Kyoto, in a nice area known as Kurama (鞍馬). This area can be reached via the Eizen Railway, a small railroad which starts at the bustling Demachiyanagi Station and conveniently ends at Kurama. The Eizen Railway has stations closer to the KICL area, notably Mototanaka and Chayama stations, however I recommend heading to Demachiyanagi, which is the only station you can purchase discounted onsen and train tickets. The total cost was 1700円 (yen), which is quite a nice deal!
It had snowed a little the night before, and as the train got closer you could see more and more snow that had dusted the landscape.
After arriving at Kurama station I took a bus a short distance to Kibune Shrine (貴船神社) and took some photos around the area.
Eventually I hiked back to Kurama a short distance through the snow-covered mountains.
After spending a few hours taking pictures and hiking, I felt more prepared than ever for the nice relaxing onsen experience.
An onsen (温泉) is a type of public spa of sorts, piped with hot relaxing water and full of nude patrons. At this particular location, the sexes were divided for privacy, but I've heard there are also mixed onsens in Japan.
It's important to note that an onsen isn't a public pool. For instance, you won't find people jumping in or doing laps in a relaxing onsen. It's also not a public bath (they have those too - they are called sento [銭湯]). You will find that at the onsen, you must get clean BEFORE entering the water. You do this by stripping down, removing all the dirtied clothes from your body, and then showing in a separate area where shampoo and body soap is provided.
After rinsing away the dirts and soaps, you're now acceptably clean. Hooray! And now it's time to scurry over to the water, covering private parts with a small cloth you purchase beforehand for 200円 (it comes in a plastic bag, which you can use to take your souvenir home). Just be sure not to let the cloth touch the water. Most folks seemed to just leave next to them on the side of the pool.
Before entering the water, I saw many folks take a water bucket and use it to splash water on themselves before entering the water. I didn't know this the first time, but tried my best to emulate it later. You see, part of the experience is to re-enter the water once or twice in order to experience the relaxing temperature change from cold .
The water wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, but it was just as relaxing as I expected. Once in the water, any anxiety about being nude (us Americans come from a modest Puritan background, you see) disappeared.
Since this was an outdoor onsen, it was a nice experience being able to see the wilderness outside. I watched it until I couldn't watch it anymore, as the sky become increasingly darker, trading darker shades for even darker shades.
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