The Yurari Onsen Experience
Alongside a series of small waterfalls fed by statues of dragons, you ascend a staircase to the second floor. Through a set of automatic sliding glass doors you enter the simple, elegantly designed building and remove your shoes. Place them in a small locker in exchange for a small wooden key, buy your admission ticket from a vending machine (¥1000 after 19:00) and proceed inwards. At a desk surrounded by a gift shop you hand over the wooden key and ticket in exchange for a set of towels and a locker key.
Through a series of hallways you are further drawn in to a calming state as the sounds of a very relaxing ambient soundtrack begins to fill the air. Once you reach the access to the public baths there is the opportunity to purchase any toiletries left at home. Guys to the left, girls to the right. In the locker room, you completely disrobe and leave your towel in the locker.
Past a set of sliding glass doors you go, accompanied only by a small modesty towel. Inside you find a massive public bath lined with full-wall windows overlooking the landscape of Mt. Fuji. Surrounding this tub is a series of washing stations; basically a small stone block to sit on while you clean yourself with the shower hose and provided soaps. You are expected to cleanse yourself fully before venturing into the public waters. Once complete, you have your free roam of the facility. Wherever you go expect the water to be kept at a steaming 42°C.
You can immediately immerse yourself in the large indoor tub upstairs, or step out to the balcony and soak in the mineral water barrels. A soak in the mineral water is totally relaxing and a must for any visit. However, I save it for last. Apparently, that water has very beneficial healing effects on your body. I can confirm that after leaving a soak in one you will feel clean for days without needing another bath (something I frequently endured during my time working at the farm with no bathing facilities).
From the main bath you can also descend a winding flight of stairs. At the bottom you will find a set of half-sized cedar doors. Behind one sits a large warm-water bubbling tub with an elaborately painted ceiling for you to admire while soaking. Through the other is an amazingly pacifying steam room. A few cedar benches line the circular wooden floor which is surrounded by a steaming rock bed. The music playing throughout the onsen is most apparent in this room, where you can close your eyes to listen as the sweat rolls off your body. After finding peace or heat exhaustion you can exit through another miniature door. On the outside the only choice is to walk through a waist-high pool of cold water (pretty masochistic if you ask me) before emerging into the outdoor courtyard.
Outside is where the real beauty of the onsen lies: a large rock pool, complete with waterfalls and bubble jets, sits in the shadow of majestic Mt. Fuji. If the water out here is too hot, you can step out and rest on one of the benches. The night that Mihye and I went, I actually spent about ten minutes on one, reveling in the fact that I was laying down naked outdoors in Japan as the summer rain poured down on me. If you can’t let go of your stress then, there is probably no hope for you… enjoy your impending ulcer sucker!
When you are clean and relaxed it is time to return to the real world where people where clothes in public. Luckily, they make this transition easier for you by providing a series of tatami mat rooms to rest, eat, or drink with friends after your bath.
Once you get past the initial discomfort of bathing with strangers you will find that it is actually a completely relaxing, worthwhile experience. I would say it is an essential part of any visit to Japan. Just keep in mind that there is a huge difference in quality. Don’t skimp on money and spend at least an hour or more enjoying the pleasure of a nice onsen. Yurari is definitely the best I’ve seen, and everybody I’ve met concurs. If you are in the Fuji Go-Ko area it is worth a visit.
This return to the café has been a completely different experience than my time working here. Sleeping for twelve hours, soaking in the onsen for un-timed hours, delighting in conversation and drinks with Mihye has been a refreshing break from the busy schedule I’ve been keeping these last few months. Even after she returned to Tokyo, I stuck around for another day to hit the gym, pool, and a local bar with Jake.
OK… rested, refreshed, and caught up on the blog with one month still left on my visa. Monday I head towards Kansai in search of adventures in Osaka and Kyoto!
Tags: - Reflection, Asia, Fuji, Japan, Japan: Yamanashi, Onsen, Yamanashi
Adam Shane
Dude, that sounds like exactly what I need to kill some of this stress! I’m thinking a long layover in Japan this go around. 🙂
– Greg
AWSOME.
“Mihye and I spent the next few days relaxing in the mountains. With the exception of a few clear hours that we had to climb Koyodai for sunset, it poured rain the whole time we were there. It was actually very pleasant to have no agenda and simply spend our time talking, eating Naoko’s delicious food and imbibing cheap wine we brought from Tokyo.”
Sounds like an anime script or something. You must be really soaking it in. OHHH!! ba-zing.
no pun intended.