I came across a twitter thread talking about how great outdoor onsen are (they are absolutely fantastic!), and I prompted the question to the OP about whether they have experienced a public mixed onsen in Japan before.
I realized that this experience might be limited for several reasons:
1) The issue of safety
2) Decreasing number of Mixed Onsen
3) Not high in demand
In terms of reason number 3, I mean... I don't suppose most people think about public mixed onsen since there are lots of private mixed baths that are available for rental these days. If you're out with your family, I think most people would choose this option over a PUBLIC one. Where anybody and nobody can just hop in right next to you if they so choose. Probably not so appealing, huh?
But before you scratch it right off your Do-To list (if it's on it in the first place), I hope you'll at least stick around and read my experience on it! Maybe change your mind a little about it? Or show you a world you've never considered? Whatever it is, I hope you'll read on.
Public Mixed-Gender Onsen
I want to talk about what my definition of a public mixed onsen is first before I jump in and talk about my experiences of them. Some of them are quite obvious, I mean... obviously, this has to be a hot spring, preferable natural. Whether it has healing properties is something that's highly subjective, of course... but anyway.
Of course, this hot spring has an area where without paying extra entrance fees, ANY ONE can hop into. Family or no. It doesn't mean that the place doesn't have areas that aren't separate by gender.
Actually, a lot of these public mixed onsen often have a women's only bath leading into the mixed gender area - sort of like a safe area for women to go back into the changing area to. Smaller onsen may not have this "safe path", but will still definitely have gender-specific baths somewhere in the vicinity.
Some public mixed onsen may provide some kind of disposal pants for men, and a wrap for women as cover-up, but a lot of them are basically just like any other onsen. You go in naked, with a small towel.
I don't consider the ones where you wear a swimsuit as public mixed onsen though. A good example of something like this would be Yunessun in Hakone. For me, that's just like... Spa World. It's a water park, almost. I don't know, I know I sound awfully like a purist, but if you're in Japan it just doesn't sound like an onsen experience if you're going to wear a swimsuit... /shrugs
Is it safe?
In my own experience, I do absolutely think it is safe.
But... As a woman, when my boyfriend initially said he was curious about mixed onsen, I definitely felt a little... uncomfortable. As you may know, Japan does have a lot of sexual harassment issues, mostly on public transit. This isn't a debate about whether Japan is safe or unsafe - point is, "women's only" spots (like train cars) wouldn't be a thing in Japan if women weren't a target for assault.
When I went to my first mixed onsen experience, it was in a small, secluded Japanese Inn in the middle of nowhere Gifu. There weren't many people around, but there were one or two other locals from the area.
Maybe because I was with my boyfriend, I never felt unsafe. The people we were with were obviously curious about us, as we aren't locals. We chatted very briefly, all surface level questions. After that, we all just sort of minded our own business. The onsen gave us a view of the winter spectacle along a river at the base of Mount Shin-Hotaka, so conversations just weren't necessary.
The rest of my mixed onsen experiences have been different, but similar. Conversations vary, but everyone just definitely minds their own business. I never felt like anyone was staring at me, and no one ever put me in an uncomfortable position. I do have to say that, many of the places I've been to have mostly been just men. Rarely do women ever venture into the mixed onsen side. Arguably though... a lot of "mixed baths" = men's baths. There isn't always a separate area for just men. So of course it's natural for the higher percentage of men (and lower number of women... I mean, if they have their own baths, why would they use the mixed one?).
Whether you are a man or a woman, and the idea of being naked in a public bath with mixed genders seem jarring - I would definitely recommend challenging a public mixed onsen with family member(s) or with a partner. Or just a friend you're extra comfortable with. As much as I think it is safe, I don't know if I would go to a mixed public onsen solo.
It's like how I would never eat yakiniku or shabu shabu alone... it's not a safety thing, it just feels... incomplete? Like it's meant to be an experience shared with others, if you get my drift.
But definitely do think about trying them out! :)
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Like I said in the beginning, a lot of these public mixed onsen are slowly turning into separate gender onsen or just closing altogether. A shame, if you ask me. But understandable. So you really have to purposefully seek them out. On a separate blog post, I will introduce some spots I've been to in the past.
Thanks for reading about my thoughts today!!