Just assume public bath = onsen = naked?

Currently staying at a hotel with a public bath.

I am assuming this means no swimsuit. But there is no mention of it being a seperated bath.

Should I just assume that any 'public bath' in Japan is a traditional one following the general onsen rules?

�uShould I just assume that any 'public bath' in Japan is a traditional one following the general onsen rules?�v
- Pretty much. While a very small number of onsen allow bathing suits, public baths/sento/daiyokujo are pretty much all no-swimsuit.

�uBut there is no mention of it being a seperated bath. �v
- Again, while some onsen are mixed-gender (called konyoku), you can generally assume that public baths/sento/daiyokujo are single-gender. I've never seen one that isn't.

just keep a small towel before your private part if you feel a shame.
Nobody is interested in seeing you or other people but using clothes is not allowed unless specific written.

Since you stay at hotel, would it not better to ask reception for faster answer.

Yes, a public bath in a hotel is naked and normally gender separate unless you are staying in a very remote location Ryokan.

In some smaller hotels they would have only one bath so use is either private or by time. Reception will explain. In the slightly bigger ones there is a female and a male section. For the female section more often than not you get a password to enter. (If you are a woman, of course)

You can use a small towel but don�ft put it into the water! If the towel is small it�fs kind of okay to walk around with it. However never in the water. If the towel is big, it�fs not prohibited or anything but you�fll actually get more stares than without a towel as it is such an unusual sight.

Also in the typical hotel sento it�fs not huge. So there isn�ft really a lot of space to �gwalk around�h. You essentially only do 3 things there: dressing/undressing, taking a shower, bathing. So not a lot of opportunity for your towel to shine.

Enjoy the soak!