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TRANSCRIPT
In
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atio
nal
Aff
airs
Div
isio
n, K
um
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to P
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熊本県国際課
6-1
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Su
izen
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o W
ard
, Ku
mam
oto
Cit
y 8
62
-85
70
〒8
62
-85
70
熊本市中央区水前寺
6-1
8-1
Tel:
09
6-3
33
-21
59
Fax
: 09
6-3
81
-33
43
Win
ter
20
13
The
Yo
ka
Contents
Guarding the Yokozuna. Page 2 - 4 by Hugo Dragonetti
Positivity and Teaching. Page 5 - 6 by Mollee Reitz
Onsen Etiquette. Page 7 - 14 by Chris Ott
In Pictures: International Friendship Festival. Page 15 - 17 by Kumamoto PAs
If you would like to contribute to the next edition of the
YOKA, please contact the PAs at [email protected]
よろしくま!
Des
ign
by
Lau
ra T
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C
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 2
Guarding the Yokozuna
By Hugo Dragonetti
November 3rd, 2012
We waited at the entrance to the temple grounds in our yellow happi coats for about ten minutes. During that
time I’d spoken briefly with a couple of visitors who seemed convinced that I was training to become a Buddhist monk.
As the coach arrived, a number of suited representatives quickly disembarked. They were followed by three top
rikishi, one of which was Harumafuji, the recently promoted yokozuna. They had just arrived at the beautiful Rengein
temple, located in the mountains above Tamana.
I was at the temple as part of a group of local volunteers drafted in to help out at Oku No Ni Taisai, an annual
sumo festival held in Tamana. We were essentially working as bodyguards for the sumo wrestlers, shielding them from
their adoring fans. The arrival of the wrestlers marked the beginning of a practice that was to be repeated throughout
the day. As a means of keeping the fans at bay we, the volunteer
bodyguards, divided into two groups at the temple’s entrance.
Each group positioned themselves on a side of the path, and held a
massive rope as a barrier between the rikishi and the public. Prior
to the arrival of the wrestlers, the crowds had been feasting on
chankonabe and watching sumo bouts between elementary school
students. The arrival of the coach signalled a shift in focus away
from the dohyo, as crowds lined the pathway that runs through the centre of the temple’s grounds. From here on out,
our ability to hold massive ropes and fend off troublemakers, whilst moving in unison with the wrestlers, would be
tested.
We managed to complete our first task of escorting the rikishi
from the entrance to the temple’s housing quarters without any issues.
After some preparations for the prayer ritual that would follow, the
yokozuna met with a few lucky members of the public. Among them was
a young couple with a baby of about six-months old. The baby, all
dressed-up for the occasion, was thrust into the arms of a bemused-
looking Harumafuji. The next minute or so was spent taking pictures of
the yokozuna with the baby. The wrestlers all appeared courteous and
good-humoured, but not very talkative. Aminishiki Zeki was by far the
most sociable. While Harumafuji posed for photos with the baby, Zeki
joked around and poured shochu for the volunteers, including myself.
After this, we escorted the wrestlers to the prayer ritual.
As we moved towards the rear of the temple, the excitement of
the fans was palpable, but most people were fairly restrained. The older
members were definitely the exception. As I walked next to the yokozuna,
a woman who appeared to be in her sixties was running, and sometimes
jumping, alongside the barrier trying desperately to get his attention.
Like a teenager at a pop concert, her excitement at seeing him was so
From here on out, our ability to hold massive
ropes and fend off troublemakers, whilst moving
in unison with the wrestlers, would be tested.
Shaking hands
Photo courtesy of Joel Marrinan
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 3
Baby thrust into the arms of a bemused-looking Harumafuji
intense that I was worried she might hurl herself in front of him. Our destination was on the other side of a carp-filled
lake to the rear of the temple, and fortunately by the time we had reached the lake she had fallen back into the depths
of the crowd.
Once the rikishi had crossed the bridge, the ceremony
commenced. Highlights included arrows being fired and an enormous
bonfire, the dark smoke from which engulfed the crowd. The crowd
also witnessed Harumafuji perform the yokozuna ceremonial dance
and the leg stomping intended to drive away evil spirits. We had
walked about 30 metres
from the bridge after the prayer ritual had finished, when an elderly
gentleman lunged to grab Harumafuji. He was repeatedly told to let go of
the wrestler and, having ignored these requests, was quickly pushed away.
As I was walked alongside the yokozuna following this incident, he
suddenly stopped in the middle of the path and extended his arms. The
sun was shining down brightly, and this gesture, horribly cheesy as it
sounds, gave the impression of him embracing the energy of the sun.
Our return to the housing quarters was brief. At around 2:30 pm,
the wrestlers, this time wearing more than just a mawashi, were escorted
out for the tolling of the temple’s 37.5-ton bell. As our group shadowed
them, I tried to crouch down and give the fans a better chance at an
amazing snapshot with their cameras and smart phones. I noticed around
this time that although the rikishi were relatively oblivious to the crowd,
they were quick to sign autographs for children and even quicker to touch
hands with attractive women in their twenties. Rather than shout
Harumafuji, the fans seemed content to just call out ‘yokozuna’. This
reaction is understandable though; the rank of yokozuna is the highest
that can be achieved in professional sumo. We made it back from the
tolling of the bell and prepared for the final event of the day: play fighting
between the rikishi and elementary school students.
To the amusement of the crowd, all three rikishi spent
the next 30 minutes wrestling with and deliberately losing to
groups of children. After returning to the housing quarters,
Harumafuji, surrounded by cameras and microphones, gave a
brief interview to waiting TV crews. After they said some
farewells, the rikishi, accompanied by their gang of helpers
and representatives, boarded the coach and left Tamana.
Before leaving, Harumafuji’s stable gave the temple a supply
of sauce to be used when cooking chankonabe. It was
presented in unmarked plastic bottles and the ingredients
were apparently a tightly guarded secret. In any case, the
chankonabe made with that sauce, which I ate with the other
volunteers that night was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
Like a teenager a pop concert, her excitement
at seeing him was so intense that I was
worried she might hurl herself in front of him.
Escorting the Rikishi
Photo courtesy of Joel Marrinan
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 4
Aminishiki Zeki pouring shochu for volunteers
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 5
Positivity in action with Mollee Reitz.
Positivity and Teaching
By Mollee Reitz
January 29th will mark the end of my sixth month in Japan. During my time here, I have been exposed to so many
traditions, customs, and foods. Some have been incredible, such as the Yatsushiro fireworks or the intricate kimonos
that were worn by my village’s young women on “Coming of Age Day.” Others, like nattou, have been much less
incredible. Within the walls of the six schools I teach at, I have worked with a variety of teachers and teaching styles.
After months of working and reflecting, I have reached one definite conclusion: that positivity in teaching is essential.
Today, I’d like to discuss why.
The scenario that I’m about to describe seems to be an almost
universally shared ALT experience. You have arrived on time for work –
which means that you are between five to 20 minutes early – and are
leisurely making your way to the teacher’s lounge. On your way you
encounter a student. You make eye contact. They say “hello.” You open
your mouth to reply but before you do another teacher suddenly appears beside you. The lights flicker, lightning strikes
and they cry out “not hello, GOOD MORNING!” Were they hiding in the broom closet? Were they suspended from the
ceiling in a Spiderman-like fashion? No one really knows - but that teacher is always there.
The first, second, and tenth times this happens, you may even try to explain that “hello” is okay. Usually, they
promptly reply “but good morning is better” to which you may have tried to reply “no, it’s just more specific, like dog
versus beagle. It’s always okay to say dog, but you should only use beagle when the dog is a beagle.” Sometimes this is a
success, but by the time this understanding has been reached, the student has made his or her way to class. If this
paradigm was an isolated incident, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, this same black and white attitude tends to leak
its way into the classroom.
Students have one of three reactions to this criticism. The first reaction is to shrug the critique off. The second is
to shrug it off until the teacher turns to face the chalkboard. Then, the student rolls their eyes, makes a face, or mouths
After months of working and reflecting, I
have reached one definition conclusion:
that positivity in teaching is essential.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 6 something to a friend. The third reaction, however, is for the kid’s smile to shrink. This final reaction, hits me particularly
hard.
I spent the first three years of elementary school in speech lessons. I couldn’t tell the difference between “f” and
“th” and “l” and “r.” Two times a week, I would be pulled out of my English class and forced to sit in a room with a
guidance counselor. She’d over-enunciate the sounds at me until I could see the letters dancing in my head. The thing is
that I really did try but my progress was slow. I could make the sounds individually and even apply them to words. The
problem came when I was trying to express bigger ideas and my focus wasn’t on the individual sounds coming out of my
mouth. My guidance counselor then decided the best way to fix this
would be to point out, loudly, “that wasn’t right.” She would do this in
hallways and at lunch. She urged my teachers to do the same. Rather
than becoming a better speaker, I began to speak a lot less. I stopped
volunteering to answer questions in class. When called upon, I slowly
began to answer “I don’t know,” regardless of the question being
asked. At lunch and at recess, I’d check to make sure that all teachers were out of earshot before talking with my friends.
If a teacher happened to walk by, I would stop talking altogether.
In the fourth grade, I had a teacher who had the common sense to say “good job” when I answered questions
and pronounced words correctly and the kindness to say “try again” instead of “you are wrong” when I did not. Under
her supervision, I was able to overcome my speech problems and regain some of the confidence that I had lost over the
three previous years.
Not every kid reacts the way that I did to frequent criticism, but some do. I can’t control how my JTE reacts
when kids make mistakes, but I can control how I act. So every day, I make a point to tell the kids that I teach “good job”
and that they’re efforts make me happy. When they make mistakes I do my best to always use “try again,” or “you can
do it,” rather than a more critical “you’re wrong.” When a student finally gets a word or grammatical point right, I go out
of my way to seem just as excited as I am when kids get it right the first time. I can definitely say that I’ve seen a positive
improvement. Kids that never spoke a word in
class before will now say “hello” in the hallways
and ask me how I am. Every now and then a
previously quiet kid will put their hand up. My
kids initiate lunchtime conversations more
frequently. Some of my kids even go out of
their way to praise me when I use Japanese well.
Positivity alone won’t turn our students into eloquent speakers overnight but it does provide a friendly
invitation in the right direction. At the end of the day, we all want to feel smart. We want people to notice when we do
well. We want to feel believed in. These are things that we all know and understand but sometimes forget to apply. So in
lieu of a formal conclusion, I’d instead like to invite you to make a conscious effort to praise your students when they do
well, and to tell them “you can do it” when they struggle. The results just might brighten your day.
I can’t control how my JTE reacts when
kids make mistakes, but I can control
how I act.
Positivity alone won’t turn our students into eloquent speakers
overnight but it does provide a friendly invitation in the right
direction.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 7
A Guide to Onsening
By Chris Ott
Well, we are in the throws of winter, and a lot of us have
probably discovered a new hobby: grumbling about the bone
chilling cold. It’s hard not to be in helpless awe of Kumamoto’s
permeating cold, where temperatures somehow manage to be
lower inside than out. And the cold school gymnasiums – I’m not
even going there. At this point some of us may be considering
putting “cold storage experience” on future post-JET resumes
for beef packing plants. Well, with all this grumbling, whining,
and pleading (when will it stop?!) it’s natural for our moods to
take a bit of a dive.
To help you all cheer up a bit, here is an extensive and
entirely too long guide to onsening so that you can go to an
onsen with confidence. Right now I think most of us could use a little heat, and there really is nothing like an onsen to
warm them bones up a bit.
This guide has just about everything you need to know about going to the onsen. However, if I have left
something out, I apologize.
And for those of you who would prefer a condensed version, here it is: Wash off before you get into the baths;
don’t put your onsen towel in the water; before going into the sauna dry yourself off a little; after you leave the sauna,
fill up a bowl with water and rinse the sweat of yourself; partially dry yourself off before going back into the changing
room so that you don’t get the changing room floor wet.
Now, the War and Peace length epically long version.
What to bring. Bring an onsen towel for use in the bath area and another towel to dry off with. (An onsen towel
is like a really long dish towel, much smaller than a bath towel). If you want you can pass on the extra towel for
drying off with and just use the onsen towel to dry off with, but if you get the towel wet you will have to wring it
out a couple times. I usually just bring an onsen towel, but in the winter it does feel a lot nicer to dry off with a dry towel.
If you don’t have an onsen towel, you can buy one at the onsen. Onsen towels cost 100 or 200 yen. If there is a ticket
machine at the onsen, look for the button that says タオル (taoru). If there is no ticket machine, you can pay the front
desk person for one.
Onsen towels are not mandatory, and I sometimes go without one when I run or bike to an onsen.
Almost all onsens have shampoo, conditioner, and body wash so no need to bring them. Onsens are great places to
shave at so bring a razor if you need to get rid of a little winter growth. If you have special soap or cleansers, feel free to
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 8 bring them. There is often a shelf in the onsen area for such things, and if there isn’t you can just place them near or in
the shower area and leave them there while you are in the baths.
Mindset: relax. The most important thing is to relax. Onsens are for
unwinding, de-stressing, warming up, and zoning out. People there
may think, “wow, foreigner”, but their biggest priority is relaxing. That should be your priority, too. If they don’t
feel uncomfortable then neither should you. When in naked Rome, get naked like the Romans.
Arriving at the onsen: shoes. There is almost always
an area just inside the entrance where you take off
your shoes, just like in your apt/house. Some onsens,
though very few, don’t have shoe boxes, and at such
places just leave your shoes near the step that designates
the boundary between shoes and no-shoes area. However,
most times it’s ok to put your shoes in a key shoe locker and
not take the key. However, if you are wearing pricy, stylin’
shoes, it might be worth locking them up. Take what
precautions you feel are necessary.
Occasionally onsens do require you to drop off the shoe box
key at the front desk before going into the onsen, so if they
ask you for a key, that’s the one they are asking for.
At more traditional style onsens the baths may be in a building apart from where you pay, and you have to walk outside
to get to the bath area. At such places take off your shoes at the entrance to the changing room, not where you pay.
At hotels that have onsens, you will usually wear your shoes inside the hotel and take them off at the changing room
entrance.
Paying. Onsens are usually between 300 and 700 yen, 500 yen being the most common fee. Occasionally onsens
will be as much as a 1000 or more, and those places are usually exceptionally nice or touristy. There is a pimp
a$$ hotel in Beppu and the onsen entrance fee is 2000 yen. Crazy bones! Onsens are also sometimes as low as
100 yen, but such onsens are usually rather small and probably have only 1 bath.
To pay for the entrance fee go to the ticket machine that is near where you took your shoes of. To pay, put your money
in the machine and hit the 大人(otona) button. This means adult. The button may also say 中学生以上 (chuugakkusei
ijou), which means anyone above junior high school level – that’s you. Attached to the aforementioned kanjis you may
also see 町内(chounai) and 町外(chougai)。Unless you live in that town you want 町外, which literally means town
outside (not a town resident). When you push the button a ticket will be dispensed. At this time buy an onsen towel if
you need or want one. Get your change from the machine by pulling the lever or pushing the button labeled おつり
(otsuri). Give your ticket(s) to the smiling person at the nearby counter.
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When in naked Rome, get naked like
the Romans.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 9 At more traditional style onsens there won’t be a ticket machine and you’ll give the front desk person the money. At
such places the only Japanese you need to know is “ofuro” (bath) and “hitori” (one person). If you roll in and say “ofuro,
hitori,” and drop some money in the little tray on the counter you’ll be good to go.
Finding the baths. The baths will be behind curtains or doors.
The curtains may have the onsen mark ( ) on them. Or,
instead of the onsen mark, they might have the kanji for
female (女) and male (男) on them. The curtains are colored, and the
female side is almost always red and the male side blue. If the
curtains don’t have kanji indicating the gender, make sure you are
confident about which curtain/door is the male side and which is the
female side before proceeding. Of the 102 (giggity!) onsens I’ve been
to, about 5 onsens didn’t make it clear which side was male and
female. Of course walking into the wrong side will make you
instantly popular as you’ll provide the locals with a good laugh:
nothing like the gaijin channel to provide a little entertainment.
Sometimes the doors to the changing room/bath areas aren’t near where you pay. If you don’t immediately see them,
they may be down a long hall or on another floor. If you don’t know where they are and you aren’t comfortable
following Japanese signs, say to the front desk person, “Furo wa doko desu ka?” and then shrug like a lost foreigner.
They’ll get you there. If there is no one to guide you look for signs with お風呂 (ofuro, bath) or 浴場 (よくじょう, bath
area) and follow the arrows. You may also see 大浴場, 大(dai) meaning big, so big bath area.
The changing room. Enter the changing room. In the
changing room there will be either baskets to put your
clothes in and small lockers for valuables, or lockers for
clothes and valuables. Lockers, whether they are for
valuables only, or clothes and valuables, will either be free;
require 100 yen that may or may not be returned to you; or will
be 10 yen and the money will not be returned.
Do you lock up your valuables or not? That is a good question.
Some people do, and some people don’t. It’s up to you. Just
know that things do get stolen sometimes, at least that’s what
the signs say. If the locker requires 100 yen that won’t be
returned, I usually just stuff my valuables in my socks, but that’s
me. However, if I have my motorcycle key with me, I don’t mess around.
Usually nice onsens that charge 500 yen and up for entrance will have free lockers and onsens that are around 300 yen
will have pay lockers. Be prepared to have coins if you want to lock up your stuff. The 10 yen lockers only take 10 yen
coins and the 100 yen lockers only take 100 yen coins.
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 10 After stripping down and putting your stuff in a basket or locker, use the restroom if you need to. Nothing’s worse than
having to dry off mid onsen soak to use the restroom. When using the restroom, make sure to wear the bathroom
sandals in the bathroom, and don’t forget to take them off when you exit the bathroom. And it’s ok to use the bathroom
buck naked, most people do.
For those of you who are germaphobes, before going into the changing
rooms you may want to use the restroom that is in the front desk
area/lobby area. The changing room restroom sandals are sometimes wet
and sticky with onsen water, and putting them on your bare feet isn’t the
best of sensations. So lobby bathroom is always a good choice.
In the changing room drink some water if there is a drinking fountain since you are bound to sweat a bit while in the
baths. Instead of drinking fountains, some onsens have a water dispenser with a cup. It’s a communal cup so give it a
rinse before you use it and don’t slobber all up on it. Nicer onsens that have a water dispenser will have lots of cups.
Grab a cup from the rack with the upside down cups. The rack with right-side-up cups is for used cups.
The last thing to do before you go into the onsen are is to decide if you want to bring your onsen towel with you to cover
your goodies, wash yourself with (Japanese people use the onsen towel as a wash cloth in the shower area), and dry
yourself off with. I recommend bringing an onsen towel as it makes drying off before you go back into the changing
room much easier. However, as I mentioned, you don’t have to have an onsen towel with you in the onsen. And not
having one isn’t strange; in fact there are usually a few people in the onsen without a towel.
If you do bring your onsen towel, but you want to keep it dry, you can set it anywhere in the onsen that looks dry and
leave it.
Entering the bath area. Enter the bath area. If you
have personal items like a razor and shampoo and you
aren’t going to use them right away, look around and
find a place to put them. Pretty much anywhere is ok, but if
there is a designated area (shelves), put them there.
Now, the first thing you need to do is wash. It is very
important to wash yourself before getting into the sauna or
baths. To do this there are two options. One, you can splash
water on yourself using water from the basin that is usually
located near the bath area entrance. There will be bowls
nearby, usually on the edge of the basin, and you can use one
to splash water on yourself. Make sure to give your privates
and bum a little scrub while doing this. If there is no basin, just grab a bowl and use water from one of the baths. If you
use water from a bath, you can squat next to the bath while you splash water on yourself, no need to stand up. While
rinsing yourself make sure to stand or squat a little ways away from the basin or bath so that water splashing off your
body doesn’t end up back in the water. The second choice for washing off, and most considerate, is finding the shower
area and doing a proper washing before getting into the sauna or baths. If you have had a long day, and feel a little
grimy or are reeking of booze from the previous night’s revelry, I would recommend showering so that you don’t dirty
7
Nothing’s worse than having to dry off
mid onsen soak to use the restroom.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 11 the pool. I almost never shower and just thoroughly splash myself with water, but on days where I’ve been doing some
manual labor or serious exercise I take a shower first. The shower area is where to shave, too.
There is a “traditional,” multi-step way of onsening. In onsen changing rooms you may notice signs explaining these
steps. The steps are usually as follows: 1) splash yourself with water before entering the baths, 2) get into the baths and
soak for a while, 3) get out and wash yourself in the shower area, 4) and then soak in the baths again. While this is the
traditional Japanese way of taking in an onsen, feel free to deviate from it. Personally, I often skip on the shower, which
is ok. But you must not skip on the pre-bath rinse/wash.
The sauna. After washing I recommend going straight to the sauna if
there is one. Just look for any door that is made of wood - it’s almost
always wooden. It usually has a small window in it, too. There may
also be a sign that reads サウナ(sauna)。Before you go in, dry off a little.
You aren’t supposed to go into the sauna dripping wet as it soaks the towels
inside. You can dry off a bit using your onsen towel, or if you don’t have one
use your hands. Just get the big droplets off; you don’t have to be that dry.
Also, before going into the sauna look around near the door and see if there
are stacks of mats, usually small yellow cloth mats. If there are mats take
one to sit on in the sauna. Make sure to grab one from the pile that looks
like clean ones and not the used pile. The mats are sometimes in the sauna
itself, though this isn’t as common. If there is no mat to grab, just sit on the
ones that are already in the sauna. About 25 percent of onsens offer clean
mats to sit on.
When you go into the sauna choose an upper level if you want to really cook
and a lower level if you don’t.
If it’s packed when leaving the sauna, make sure not to drip sweat on anyone as you are navigating a route out of the
room.
If you grabbed a mat to sit on make sure to take it out with you and throw it in the dirty pile.
Cold water bath. Next to the sauna there is almost
always a cold water bath. I highly recommend it. (I am
pretty sure the cold water is good for the skin and makes
you look damn sexy for about an hour after you leave the
onsen.) After getting out of the sauna and before getting into
the cold water bath, or any bath, make sure to wash the sweat
off yourself. The best way to do this is to grab a bowl, fill it with
water from the nearest hot water bath and splash the sweat off.
I don’t recommend splashing yourself with water from the cold
bath as it makes one loose motivation to get into the cold water.
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 12 Now that the sweat has been washed off you can enjoy the cold water bath. Gentleman, shrinkage is going to happen,
but it’s all good. No ladies around.
Drinking water. If you went into the sauna you will be needing some water. If there is a drinking fountain
in the bath area, use that. If there isn’t, but there was one in the changing room, use that. You don’t really
need to dry off to use the one in the changing room as it should be near the door and you can use it
without getting the changing room floor wet. If there are no drinking fountains anywhere, look for a cup on a chain next
to a faucet in the bath area, or even just a faucet poking out of a wall somewhere. The faucet water will be drinkable 98
percent of the time. Near the faucet there may be a small plastic sign that says 飲料水 (inryousui, driking water) or 飲め
る (nomeru, drinkable). If a sign says 飲めない or 飲めません don’t drink the water.
If there isn’t a faucet, look and see if there are any drinking cups sitting near the spots where water flows into the baths.
If there is, it means that the onsen water is good enough to drink. It will be warm/hot, which isn’t so satisfying, but you’ll
get your daily recommended amount of a couple of different minerals. If you don’t see any cups near the bath water
sources, it’s probably best not to drink the onsen water. However, if you see people using their hands to drink the water,
go for it! Just make sure to drink from the source and not directly from the bath!
Some onsens won’t have any drinking water anywhere. At those places just drink some tap water from the changing
room faucets if you really need it or use the vending machine that may be in the changing room. Excluding smaller
traditional style onsens, don’t go back to onsens that don’t have any drinking water - they suck. Being dehydrated is not
cool. Traditional style onsens often don’t have drinking water, and that’s just how it is. But newer onsens and onsen
centers should.
Hot water baths. Now it’s time to soak. As I said before,
before you get into any bath for the first time, make sure to
wash off a little. If you went into the sauna, after the sauna
make sure you wash the sweat off. After washing, hop on in!
An important piece of bath etiquette: do not put your onsen towel in the
water. You can put it anywhere around the bath, just not in the water.
Ladies, if you happen to go to a mixed bath (混浴、konyoku) it’s ok wrap a
towel around yourself and enter the pool with the towel.
Washing off before getting in the baths and not putting towels in the baths
are the main pieces of etiquette you need to know for the baths. Now enjoy! Try out all of the baths as there are usually
more than one, though it depends on the size of the onsen. There may be indoor and outdoor (露天風呂, rotenburo)
baths; tiny personal baths called 五右衛門風呂(goemonburo); luke warm, warm, and hot baths; bubble baths and jet
baths; electric baths (電気風呂, denkiburo); herbal baths; shallow sleeping baths and standing baths; and more. Enjoy!
Talking in the onsen. Onsens are places for relaxing, not places for chatting, though there is no written
rule. If you go there with a bunch of friends it’s probably best not to talk about the previous night’s crazy,
epic, people were naked, I’ve-never-seen-puke-fly-like-that, “ah brah, that shiz was crazy!” party as you
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 13 may annoy the other people in the onsen. However, if other people are talking, or little kids are running around and
being kids, then talking is ok. I’ve had animated conversations with Japanese people at busy onsens, and I’ve felt that
talking would be extremely rude at others. Just read the atmosphere of the place and act accordingly.
Leaving. When you have thoroughly warmed yourself and
are ready to leave, decide on whether you want to shower
or not. Big onsen centers and onsens that don’t have a
good hot spring source usually use recirculated water and have a bit of
chlorine in them. It’s nothing like hot tub or pool chlorine levels, but still
enough to make your skin smell faintly of chlorine. In such cases it can
be nice to shower off before you leave. However, if the onsen is a really
good onsen with hot spring water that is not recirculated, then I
recommend not showering. If you shower you wash all those good
minerals off your skin.
Before you go into the changing room make sure to dry off. If you took
an onsen towel in with you, you’ll be able to dry off easily. If you don’t have an onsen towel just use your hands to get
most of the water off and then air-dry a bit, but air-drying isn’t such a good idea in the winter since you loose all that
nice heat you stored up in your body. When you go into the changing room you don’t have to be totally dry, just not
dripping wet so that you don’t get the changing room floor wet. Once you aren’t dripping you can go into the changing
room and finish drying off with your dry towel, or with your wrung out onsen towel if you don’t have an extra towel, or
with your t-shirt or the changing room fan if you didn’t bring any towels..
Whoop there is it. As far as onsening goes, that is about all there is to know. There is a lot of onsen
terminology to learn, but that can wait till another article. However, there are a couple key words that I
would like to leave you with. The first is 掛け流し(kakenagashi). If an onsen is described as 掛け流し is
means that hot spring water flows directly in and out of the baths, with no recirculation. 掛け流し onsens have the best
water quality and are not chlorinated. When choosing an onsen look for this.
天然 (tennen) is also an important word, and it means natural. A tennen onsen use natural spring water. However!, that
doesn’t mean it isn’t recirculated or chlorinated. So, if you want good water, go kakenagashi.
Now, if you want the best, if you are an onsen connoisseur, or if you are looking to impress a Japanese date, look for a
源泉 (gensen, source spring) onsen. 源泉 means the water flowing into the baths is pure fresh onsen water AND it
hasn’t been heated up or cooled down. It is straight from the source, 100% unaltered. 源泉 onsens are not recirculated,
so they are also kakenagashi. But 源泉 onsens water is never heated or cooled, while kakenagashi onsen water
sometimes is heated or cooled, so kakenagashi doesn’t always mean gensen. So gensen onsens are as good as they get,
top class. However, since the temp isn’t changed, you may find yourself soaking in a crazy hot onsen, or a rather tepid
onsen.
Ok, one last thing. Hang in there. For those that want the onsen experience, but would prefer to enjoy it in privacy, look
for 家族風呂 (kazokuburo, family bath) or 貸し切り風呂 (kashikiriburo, rented bath). Kazokuburo and kashikiriburo are
essentially the same, just different words. These are private rooms onsens that you rent out. They’re good to go to alone,
with the family, or a significant other. Some onsen centers have rentals baths along with the main public baths. Other
onsens have only kazokuburo rooms.
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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 14 Kazokuburo rooms come in all shapes and size. Some rooms have only one bath. Some have a decent size tatami room
with a table, chairs, TV, and a room with a bath. Some have two baths, one inside and one outside. I’ve even seen cave
ones! Near the onsen’s front desk area there are often brochures or signs that describe what each room has, so just
choose the one you want. Prices may vary though, it all depends on how nice the room and bath is. Family onsens aren’t
terribly expensive and are usually between 1,000 to 4,000 yen an hour.
Personally, I don’t fancy family onsens as they are small and boring – no pool selection. But depending on your needs, a
family onsen may be what you are looking for.
I hope this guide has THOROUGHLY informed you on onsening and that you can now go to an onsen without looking like
peacock lost among a colony of penguins. Though, don’t be shy to peacock it a little.
Happy onsening!
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 15
In Pictures: The Kumamoto International Friendship Festival
The 19th Kumamoto International Friendship Festival was held on November 11, 2012 at the Kengun Shopping District in
Kumamoto City. Here are some pictures of this year’s event:
With flags, vuvzelas,
maps, music, food, and
even a short video, it was
one of the more popular
and lively panels.
This year, our South
African JETs made a
panel display
introducing their
home country.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 16
JETs and Japanese
friends stopped by to
show their support.
They also performed a
“gumboot dance”. The
gumboot dance (or
Isicathulo) is an African
dance performed by
dancers wearing
Wellington boots, which
in South Africa are known
as gumboots. Dancers
attach bells to the boots
so they ring when the
dancers stamp the
ground. These sounds
were used as a means of
communication in mines
as talking was forbidden.
For their own gumboot
dance, the JETs attached
coins to their rubber
boots.
The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 17
Thank you to all who participated this year and all who came out to support international
exchange and friendship!
Kumamon joined the dance
and stood in for a group photo
afterwards.