After Nagasaki we took a weekend trip up to Beppu, a town known for it's natural hot springs or onsens. We got an airbnb and didn't do much that first night except go to an onsen. There were several within walking distance. Bob and I decided to try a private one. We have only done public ones before that are gender segregated. In the private ones a family goes all together. Our kids were not interested in all getting naked and bathing together, except Calista and Beatrix. So Bob and I left them at the airbnb and went alone. The place had three small private onsen rooms you could rent for 50 minutes for 1000 yen ($8). The window was definitely open to the street and we also saw a family leaving the room next door. The family included a mom dad and teenage daughter. It is totally normal for their culture but not for us. I think if you did that in America you might get social services called on you.
The entire town smelled like rotten eggs and you could see smoke coming out of the ground from pipes or even the street drains.
I don't have any pictures but the next night we went to a public onsen with the entire family. It was also very hot, which was hard for the kids. They already felt awkward because they were naked around strangers and the water was too hot for them to really get in. The did ok though and we had a great talk on the girls side about how all bodies are different and not really what you see on TV an advertisements.
When we were showering off afterwards I saw two elderly Japanese women cut in line to use the shower. We shower once to clean our bodies before getting into the onsen. Then again after to wash our hair and get really clean. One lady pretty much nudged me out of the way when I was using it. It was so weird, so I just moved and got back in line for the next available one. I wasn't taking a long time or doing anything weird either. Later after I got a shower again I saw the another older woman cut a younger Japanese lady who was next in line. She wasn't having it so she went over and said something to her I couldn't understand them but the lady who cut didn't move. I quickly finished at that point and gave up my shower. Just a fun fact, Japanese people often sit in the shower. I sometimes stand up for a minute or two when there but I've never seen a Japanese women shower standing. They have a small stool they sit on, and always have adjustable shower heads that they hold and move around.
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