Osenkaku questions

Hey there.

I will be staying at Osenkaku when I go to Japan. I have heard a lot of different stories about it and frankly, it's making me all nervous.

My boyfriend and I would love to use the mixed baths, and I hear that women must wear towels into the baths. Does the ryokan provide them, or do I? I mean the "big" ones. I'm also curious about finding my way around because I hear no English is spoken.

And one last question...being a girl, I like to keep up my bathing routine when I'm travelling. That means, shampooing, shaving and washing my face. Would it be considered rude to bring my own shampoo and razor to the baths when I soap up before getting in? If so, when does a girl find the time to do that then?

Thanks a lot. I know it's a lot of questions, but I don't want to be that Western that screws everything up.

the mixed baths, and I hear that women must wear towels into the baths.
Do you mean mixed-gender baths or communal bath for same gender? First off, most baths are only for same gender and you cannot take bath with your boyfriend. And you must NOT wear towels into the tub.

shampooing, shaving and washing my face. Would it be considered rude to bring my own shampoo and razor to the baths
It is quite OK to bring your shampoo/facial soap to the bath. But honestly, I've never seen women shaving in communal baths. I don't think that you must not do it but it is not a common scene.

The safest way would to find Ryokan which has both communal bath and private bath.

I've stayed at Osenkaku, and there are multiple baths. In the mixed baths, women wear large bath towels, provided by the ryokan (this towel is in addition to the large bath towel you use for drying yourself). Men don't wear the towels. While I was there, two foreign women in the mixed bath did not wear towels, and nobody said or did anything about it so it seems to be more a recommendation than a requirement. Could be that nobody really cared.

There is also a women-only bath, in which you don't need a towel.

Every ryokan I have ever stayed in has provided shampoo, conditioner and soap. Osenkaku has an inside bath where you can do the usual shower & wash - the baths outside do not have the washing set-ups.

As for shaving, I always take my razor into the wash area & do whatever shaving I desire. I have never seen a Japanese woman shave in the bath but nobody has ever commented and though at first I was shy about it, now I really don't care. I take care to rinse my bath stool, bucket & area carefully and that's that.

The whole bath mystique is was over-rated imho. I've seen Japanese women do a perfunctory wash before getting in the bath, and I've seen some that have spent more time scrubbing one foot than I've spent washing and soaking combined. Get clean, use your own shampoo if it makes you happy, and go sit in the nice hot water.

Oh, Osenkaku had by far the friendliest people serving us at dinner that I've ever encountered at a ryokan. It's a beautiful setting, too. The one downside is, they have three or four caged bears on the property and if you want to stay happy and satisfied at Osenkaku, don't go look at them, the conditions are pathetic.

I forgot one thing - many ryokans have 24-hour baths, or baths that are only closed for some hours in the middle of the night. Rarely do you find one in which you can't use the bath in the morning, but it happens.
In any case, morning in the bath usually is less crowded and more 'businesslike' - I usually shave & shampoo in the morning hours before breakfast. You might find it more comfortable too.

Thanks very much. I already knew about the caged bears, and will be sure to avoid them. I wanted to make sure of all of these details, because people and japaneseguesthouses.com give different info.

My boyfriend and I really wanted to get the most out of the mixed baths. Is it hard to find your way around to the mixed, indoor and female baths? I barely speak Japanese, let alone read all of that Kanji.

Now, it's been a couple of years since I was there so things can change but when we got there an english-speaking young guy gave us a brief about towels and the baths & stuff, and I think we got a little map in English.
In any case, the main building is on the bank of the river. Walk downstream from the main building on the same side and voila, there are mixed baths. You can't - honestly can't - miss them. Cross the bridge either at the main building or downstream, and there is the big mixed bath and the women's bath. Right there beside the river. You honestly can't not find them.
Not only that, other people are walking around from bath to bath, so you can see where they are going. It's actually very pretty looking at people crossing the bridge, as Osenkaku (at least when I went) gives you a choice of what color yukata you want to wear, so there are women in pink, and green, and blue, and it's just so...pretty.
Trust me, Osenkaku has seen plenty of foreigners, and it is honestly as user-friendly a ryokan as you are going to find. You'll take a wrong turn here & there; you'll forget to change back out of the toilet slippers; you'll not understand something until the next day and then it'll be obvious. Everybody does it.
Oh, and the baths on the side of the river where the main building is, (across from the side where the women's bath is), seemed to get less use. Be sure to try them all out.

Sorry, there's only one bath on the side of the main building, and three on the other side.

Can anybody send me the e-mail of the Osenkaku Ryokan to make the reservation and some questions?
Many thanks!

1899 Fujiwara Minakami-machi Tone-gun Gumma pref. Japan
Phone 0278-75-2121
Fax 0278-75-2038

The official website with all the contact information:
http://www12.wind.ne.jp/takaragawa/e1.html

We are planning two day trip to Osenkaku. Are children (aged 10 and 12) allowed/welcome in the mixed baths?
Tk you

So I was just there last year (I posted these questions), and I did see children in the mixed baths. But only in the largest bath because it was unspoken "family" bath. But it was mainly older families and couples at Osenkaku.

You can also get information and make reservations through japaneseguesthouses.com it's all in English and really simple to use. That's how I booked my time there.