A janitor who loves hot springs is trying his hand at a mixed bath!
My first mixed bath was with Aomori Sangayu.
My first mixed bathing debut in a non-swimsuit area was at Ashigayu Onsen in Aomori Prefecture.
Ashigayu Onsen allows women to wear yumi-no-maki (swimsuits), so it's a relatively easy mixed bath for women, but I took on the challenge of no towel, no yumi-no-maki (swimsuit) (laughs).
This is because Sangayu Onsen has a blindfold from the women's changing room until you enter the mixed bath, so you can enter the onsen relatively naked.
Once you're in the water, you can't see at all because of the turbid water, so I didn't feel any resistance.
For reference, the last mixed bath that allowed swimsuits was Kowakuen in Hakone.
It felt more like a hot spring pool than a bathhouse, so I didn't mind at all.
This was already in high school.
Toshichi Onsen where I met my first kinky guy
Other than wrapping a towel around myself, I always avoid mixed baths if there are other men, and aim for a gap of 0 men (laughs).
After all, it's quite uncomfortable to throw off the towel and enter the transparent water... Me still practicing mixed bathing....
Even in mixed baths where you can wrap a towel around yourself, I never encountered a crocodile, but rather men seemed to be more uncomfortable and avoided eye contact completely.
The existence of a crocodile that I only heard in words, there is such a person in the world... I thought so, but I met Mr. Crocodile for the first time! I did it (←Why is there a strange nervousness lol).
It's the anniversary of my first kinky encounter at Bitang Fujishichi Onsen in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture.
The mixed-use open-air baths here are okay to enter with a towel wrapped around you, they're spacious, and there are plenty of baths, so it's probably less challenging for women.
The water is very good, the location is very good, and I think it's a pretty good onsen.
The crocodiles I've encountered stare at women when they come to the open-air baths.
They follow her with their eyes, and when they see that she's in the bath, they move to the same bath.
It talks to her anyway, pretends to cool off, and then gets out of the water to cool off in the grass by the pond... Is it showing off?
He's not an overnight guest, but a day-tripper.
The day-trippers had good manners.
If you're a day-tripper, you don't know who you are, and if you do something wrong, you can just run away, right?
Some people might say, "If you don't want to be seen, don't get in the mess, or put up with the crocodiles! Some people might say, but often the best baths on the property are set up as mixed baths in the first place, and even if there is a women-only time slot, it's either too short or at night when you can't enjoy the view.
It's not like you're going into a mixed bath to get naked... And what about the people who make some of those judgmental comments, or the people who do the crocodile tears?
As a woman who loves to take a bath, I'm thinking.
Because alligators are like molestation!
I think it's like saying, "Don't wear a miniskirt if you don't want to be touched! Don't wear skimpy clothes!".
The men who come to this blog, or the hot spring lovers I know on social media, also say that they have encountered female crocodiles, or that they have been exposed by couples, so let's not do things that other people don't like, not just men, but also women or couples, because there are many men who don't want to see women naked or couples making out.
Mixed Bath Onsen Blog Posts
Sangayu Tianyintang
Huge gym-like baths with a total hiba structure allow for mixed bathing
It's a mixed bath, but there are separate changing rooms for men and women, and there are blindfolds from the women's changing room to the bath, so I think it's less difficult for women to take a mixed bath.
The water is turbid, so it's hard to see when you enter the bath, and there's smoke in the bath, so there's no 'Oh, I can see everything! There is no such thing.
Alpine hot springs
4 hot spring baths / mixed baths are "hanasome no yu" bathrobes and towel availability TBD
The name alone is scary and terrifying... Hoosan is located in the middle of the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture.
At first, I thought it was a scary, dark, psychic place because a friend of mine who used to live in Aomori told me that she was incredibly scared when she stayed at a ryokan here. It's definitely not your typical tourist spot, with its desolate landscape and windy, circling Shuja Gongyang windmills.
Reed Onsen Fujisan Ryokan
You can't forget Shirasaru-no-yu, the deepest self-spouting natural rock bath in Japan.... Fuji Ryokan has many other hot springs besides Shirasaru-no-yu, but this standing onsen is really cool. The bath itself isn't very large, and it's a mixed bath, so it's really hard to get in during peak hours... The changing rooms are also clearly visible, so unless you're a very dexterous woman, you'll have a hard time getting in.
Songcheon Hot Spring 松楓荘
There is an open-air bath for mixed bathing! Women can go from the women's bath to the open-air bath.
I went to the open-air bath, but it was dark and the water was really only up to my ankles... I thought, "Maybe I can sleep! but it was snowing and very cold outside, so it was impossible (laughs).
By the way, the men's bath is separated from the indoor bath by an open-air bath, so you have to get dressed to go there. The onsen at this inn has two sources, so you can enjoy two different temperatures: atsume and lukewarm. The rich, milky white water of the sulfur springs is blissful, surrounded by the scent of the sulfur springs as it soaks into your skin.
Shinyu Onsen Bathhouse
There is a mixed bath open-air bath! Women can go from the women's bath to the open-air bath
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Shinyu Onsen is a hot spring located deep in the mountains of Kirishima, 920 meters above sea level, in a valley surrounded by red pine forests, and is home to Kirishima Shinnenso, a traditional Japanese-style inn. Shinyu Onsen is a historic hot spring that has been passed down to people for a long time as an effective treatment for skin diseases such as athlete's foot, jock itch, eczema, and atopy.
후지시치 온천 입욕기
혼욕 노천탕 있음! 여성은 유미복 착용 OK이고 목욕탕도 넓고 많기 때문에 난이도도 매우 낮다!
노천탕은 수영복 차림으로 들어갈 수 있기 때문에 여성도 쉽게 들어갈 수 있어 편리하다.물도 탁해서 일단 들어가면 문제없다. 부부와 커플, 여성 그룹, 남성 그룹 등 고객층이 다양했다. 외국 분들도 많이 오셨어요! 아마 당일치기로 온 남자분들일 것 같은데, 변태도 있었어요!
Dandruff Bath
Mixed bathing open-air baths are available! Women are allowed to wear yumi.
A gushing sulfurous spring! A super open-air bath for mixed bathing. Hachimantai's oldest onsen, Fukenoyu, in Kakaku-Hachimantai, Akita Prefecture, was on a rain bath pilgrimage in Iwate, which is a neighboring prefecture but close enough to stop by.
Kyounso Bathing
Mixed bathing open-air baths available! Towels and bathing suits are NG, easy to be seen by others
The bathhouse has separate indoor and outdoor baths for men and women. There is also a mixed open-air bath, but there was no time for women only, so I gave up this time. The innkeeper laughed and said, "Well, it's the same as the women's open-air bath. If you feel like it, please go in (laughs). A milky white sulfurous hot spring was flowing out, and the entrance to the hot spring had turned white from the strong sulfurous hot spring ingredients. You could almost smell the sulfur.
Kyounso Bathing
There is an open-air bath for mixed bathing! You can see all the way from the locker room to the bath.
The five open-air baths are all foot-baths, where the source is the bath itself, and fresh hot spring water is always bubbling underfoot. Four of the open-air baths are mixed baths, which can be a bit intimidating for women....
The hot springs here are neutral, meaning that no bathing suits or bath towels are allowed for hygiene reasons. However, all the mixed baths have a women-only time slot, so we entered all the baths first! During the women-only time slot, it gets quite crowded due to the large number of female guests staying overnight (laughs).
Koganezaki Bulobusa Onsen
A golden hot spring facing the ocean with a spectacular mixed bath open-air bath.
In the observation open-air bath, you bathe while looking out over the raging Sea of Japan, braving the wind and rain. This could be a truly priceless experience... But it was too much for me, so I immediately moved to the safety of the indoor bath. The water is an amazing color. And it's so thick that it settles to the bottom of the bathtub. The water was so strong that if I didn't get out of the bath, my butt would turn yellow (laughs) and my skin would be damaged....
Kawayu Onsen Midoriya
It may come as a surprise, but I love mixed baths. I went to stay at Midoriya at Kawayu Onsen in Wakayama, which has a mixed bath! It's a cute inn with a mixed bath open-air bath right next to the river! I loved the mixed bath! Both women and men have to wear baby clothes, which is a little embarrassing, but it made for a different onsen experience than usual. Recommended for couples and families. I thought it might be a little lonely if you were alone.
There are still many mixed baths in Japan!
In Japan, it used to be taken for granted that a large bathtub was a "mixed bath".
However, mixed baths are no longer allowed to be built.
This is because mixed baths are generally prohibited by local public bath laws and regulations.
The only exceptions to this are in hot spring areas or where it is an old custom and does not pose a health or hygiene problem.
Mixed bathing is on the decline, but not on the rise... With more than 60 percent of bathhouses closing in the last 20 years, it's possible that mixed baths could become extinct in the not-too-distant future....
So here are some of the precious mixed baths that still exist! Please don't disrespect women by calling them mixed baths!
Pick up hot spring accommodations with mixed baths
