A Day at the Onsen: Mitama-no-Yu[ Brandon Moore ]Introduction
After a hard day’s work, what do you do to relax? Many people from the West might go drinking
with friends, unwind with some video games, or curl up in their blankets at home while reading abook. The Japanese enjoy these activities as well, but one custom ubiquitous in Japan—but rarely seenin Western countries—is visiting the onsen.
Onsen, which means hotspring in Japanese, is a place for public bathing with heated baths, often
equipped with spa-like relaxation facilities as well. Just imagine relieving a day’s stress in a nice, hotbath—except naked and with a bunch of other naked strangers! Yes, the Japanese tradition of visiting
the onsen is a communal one and a very intimate experience at that.
I recently had the opportunity to visit Mitama-no-Yu, a natural onsen located in the municipality
formerly known as Mitama-cho in Yamanashi Prefecture. There, I met Kensaku Watanabe, themanager at Mitama-no-Yu. Watanabe first started managing Mitama-no-Yu when the city hall ofMitama-cho decided that the onsen would be better run by a private company. So while the facilities
are publicly owned, Mitama-no-Yu is managed privately. The same company also manages the Hotel
Naito onsen. I was able to discuss with Mr. Watanabe about onsen, what makes Mitama-no-Yu special,and how things will change for onsens and Mitama-no-Yu going forward.

The Rise of the Onsen Tradition
Japanese people first started going to onsen because there were no bathing facilities found inindividual houses. Much like bathhouses in the West, onsen are communal bathing areas used by manypeople within a certain area, a beacon of hygiene that arose when people were unable to bathe regularly.
Onsen also provided a communal space for socializing. The local gossip in the town happened whilepeople bathed and relaxed at the end of the day. Famous warlords like Takeda Shingen from Kai
Province (now Yamanashi Prefecture) used them to heal their wounds after fierce battles.

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Onsen also have the added benefit of producing naturally-heated baths, relying on geothermal
heating to provide a steamy bathing experience.. This is due to the onsen’s deep connection to Japan’s
volcanic activity, as Japan sits on the Ring of Fire and experiences much volcanic and seismic activity.
The hot water from onsens helps to relax your muscles and encourages muscle repair after a full dayof extensive use.
Mr. Watanabe observes that today, however, customers are much less talkative with one another.
Most people are rather quiet. These people come to relax their bodies and their minds in peace,bathing in a large tub where they can fully stretch out, something they cannot do in their tiny Japanese
homes. While the way in which the Japanese use onsens may change, and while the frequency of onsen
visits may decrease as better in-home bathing facilities become more common, Mr. Watanabe believes
that Japanese people will always have the urge to visit onsens.

Mitama-no-Yu
Mitama-no-Yu is a gorgeous
onsen. It provides a wonderfulnight view overlooking theKofu basin, so bathers can enjoy
the scenery as they relax theirbodies. It is also a natural onsen,
relying on geothermal heating
rather than artificial means,something

Watanabe

isespecially proud of.
In addition to the normal
onsen facilities, which include multiple hot water baths, a seated shower area, and a sauna,
Mitama-no-Yu also provides various other services, such as massages, an inkan (personal seal) corner,
food, and a farmers market. This is because offering an onsen alone will not attract customers
anymore; a beautiful view and the additional
facilties make Mitama-no-Yu stand out andmake it a great place to stop for a day trip fromthe surrounding prefectures. In fact, 40% of
Mitama-no-Yu’s customers herald from outside
the prefecture, coming from surrounding
prefectures like Kanagawa, Shizuoka, andTokyo.
The farmer’s market in particular offers aunique experience you cannot find anywhere
else. This is where incredibly large carrots are
sold early in the morning. In fact, it is famous for its large carrots, with the farmers market out front
selling out before the onsen opens at 10am! Mitama-no-yu also holds a carrot festival every year. It is

23 The Yamanashi Grapevinerumored that over 1000 farmers would bringwheelbarrows of carrots to Kofu and other areas to sell,but now that number has dwindled to just 50 producers.
The Ichikawa-Misato-cho area also has a carrot club.
Carrots are really popular here!
Japan also has a custom of eating and drinking certain
foods and beverages during an onsen trip. The mostcommon drink is milk, probably to help the body keep
hydrated after an intensely dehydrated onsen session. In
addition to milk, Mitama-no-Yu’s popular choices
include tonkatsu, hoto, carrots, and kankan musume
sweetcorn—a special type of corn found at Mitama-no-Yu.
Many visitors from outside the prefecture buy omiyage(souvenir snacks) that can only be found here.
With all of this additional merchandise and services
available besides the onsen itself, it becomes clear that the onsen has changed greatly over time.
Starting as a place to take an infrequent bath, and evolving into a place for community socialization, it
has now expanded and transformed into an all-out entertainment facility with a distinct Japanese air.
I asked Mr. Watanabe about these recent trends and changes in onsen, like adding certain minerals oreven fruits to baths in order to give them special properties. He likes natural baths like Mitama-no-Yu
the best, untampered by artificially adding trendy
ingredients. He has no particular plans to make an onsenwith special ingredients like many other onsen, adding
yuzu or other special fruits, spicies into the baths. Simply
put, natural is best: “I want everyone to enjoy a naturalbath while gazing out at the wonderful panoramic view infront of them.”

Who Goes to the Onsen?
Every year, approximately 260,000 visitors come to Mitama-no-yu. Who visits the onsen and whenlargely reflects Japan’s highly regimented society: in March, many students come during their spring
break. Many businessmen drop in to the onsen on their way home from work. In the mornings, usuallyelderly women come as they do not work. The main customers, however, are the elderly; with mostyounger Japanese busy during the day between school and work, Japan’s large retired population in
their 60s and older make up a large portion of onsen frequenters.
Yet young people’s relative absence from onsen compared to their elders cannot be entirelyexplained away because of their busier schedules. Watanabe has noticed the number of young people
coming to the onsen to simply take a quick bath, not soaking for too long, has increased. He attributes
this to the slow Westernization of the younger generation. Though its true that young Japanese are
more subject to these influences, onsen are a key part of Japanese culture, so even if onsen visits
become less frequent, they will still make time for a visit every now and then. Even if the Japanese
lifestyle changes, people still have these same inclinations and habits that have developed over thecenturies. For example, tatami, a material used to make traditional Japanese floors, has seen decreased
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popularity in recent decades, yet it will not disappear forever as it constitutes a key part of theJapanese identity.
Non-Japanese remain a rare sight at the onsen. Some Chinese tourists on bus tours stop by onoccasion. Mitama-no-Yu lacks any rooms for overnight stays, so people come to this higaeri-onsen(day onsen) for just a few hours.
Sometimes it is an issue getting tourists to learn and obey written and unspoken rules of the onsen.
Right now, the facility is geared toward Japanese people, so it maintains no signage in English to reacha wider audience other than its core audience of Japanese visitors. Also, if more foreigners start tofrequent onsen, the Japanese clientele may feel alienated or disturbed by these onsen novices. Most
Japanese visitors to the onsen come for a quiet atmosphere, silently obeying the norms of the onsen as
they relax from a tiring day of work. These norms include washing your body before entering the bath,entering the bath completely naked (without any swim trunks either!), keeping your personal towel
out of the water, and keeping your noise level to a minimum. If tourists start coming in large numbers,
most of whom may not know such rules, it might disturb the tranquil equilibrium so carefully
maintained. However, Watanabe admits that Japanese onsen facilities cannot simply ignore
foreigners, especially as Japan’s population decreases and the number of tourists increase.

What Message Does Watanabe Want to Send?
“Come to the farmers market, and enjoy the freshfruits and veggies and a great location. Mitama-no-Yu
has a great panoramic view of nature. I hope you to comevisit the onsen and do things you can’t do anywhere else!
I also want more people to come to Yamanashi and learn
about the Ichikawa Misato area Even if it is a stop on theway to Tokyo, I want them to think, ‘I’m glad I came toYamanashi.’”

How to get There
Mitama-no-Yu is just a 5 minute taxi ride away from Kai Ueno Station on the JR Minobu Line. You canalso drive there from Kofu Station (35 minutes) or Shinjuku Station (1 hour and 45 minutes). It is also openyear-round (from 10am-11pm), only closing for inspection days.

Brandon is in his second year as CIR in Yamanashi. He
really misses the warmth of summer despite complaining
about the Yamanashi heat and humidity just a few months
ago. You can usually find him in his apartment playing
some Pokemon game or studying some kanji while
huddled in a blanket.

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