Glasses and contact len in open-air baths

I am planning to visit the open-air baths at Musouen onsen, Yufuin, and Takaragawa onsen, Minakami, this year. I was wondering if I could wear eye glasses or contact lens in the baths, as I would not be able to see the surrounding beautiful landscape without wearing either.

It would be nice to hear people's experiences and advice on this issue.

Glasses are no problem, although they tend to fog up. Not sure about contacts though, but they should be fine as water isn't going to be splashing into your eyes.

Through a quick internet search, I found a contact lense retailer that does recommend you to use glasses instead of contact lenses when bathing in an onsen.

Apart from problems that can happen in an ordinary bath, the website says that due to the special substances that are contained in onsen, there is a risk of damaging the lense itself, and when that happens it may lead to the damage of your eyes.

Other risks are loosing them in the water, causing a sort of a "dry-eye" situation, and shampoo or soap getting in your eyes. But basically it is not prohibited to wear contact lenses in onsen.

http://コンタクトレンズ価格.net/1day-121.html

I had my glasses when I went to an Onsen in Kinosakai no problem. Not sure about contacts but probably not recommended as the waters have natural mineral's and stuff.

Have Fun!!

Many thanks to you all for the advice. I will take them all onboard.

I now feel reassured that I can enjoy the full experience of being at an open onsen.