I need advice on onsen etiquette

I've found many useful posts about onsen etiquette on the Internet, however I have a quite specific question. Here it is...
One of the things that scares me (maybe too strong a word) about onsen is the nudity. I've understood that it is okay to go into the baths with a ''modesty towel'' wrapped around your waist. However, I have waist-length hair and I was thinking of letting it down as a way to cover up even more skin. Is it bad form when you have very long hair not to tie it up at an onsen?
I hope you can give me advice, the thing is I really don't want to attract more attention to myself than necessary-being a tall young western woman, with pale skin, freckles and moles all over my body, is probably enough.

None of the other women will have towels around their waist, and the usual thing if you have long hair is to tie it up so it isn't floating around in the water- you are likely to attract more attention with the towel and having your hair down than you would otherwise.

I have heard that some men will hold s small towel in front of themselves, but it's certainly not a towel that is big enough to wrap around the waist, and I've only seen women with towels on in an onsen on TV programs, where they obviously have to have them. Usually no-one takes a towel in on the women's side.

Really, Japanese people are pretty sophisticated these days, as well as being polite people, and unless you are way out in a remote area, you are unlikely to be openly stared at- most Japanese people are used to seeing Caucasians now, even small children don't give me a second glance any more.

As for embarrassment over nudity, I used to have an issue about that as well, but after a few trips to onsen realised it was no big deal really.

Basically if you want to experience an onsen you have to take a deep breath and just go for it. If the idea of being naked with other people around you is too uncomfortable, it might be better to just skip the onsen.

If you are imagining a lot of people, at most onsen I have been to there were only 2 or 3 other people in there at the same time- it does depend on the place though.

Incidentally, I am a tall, pale Western woman with freckles as well.

In hot springs, people bring in just the washcloth into the washing/bathing area. So people (including myself, a Japanese woman) just tend to hang that on one arm to cover the front as they enter and walk to the washing area. But once you dip into the bath, you need to keep the towel outside the bathwater - I just put it on the rim of the tub, or on one of the rocks if it has some kind of landscaping. And it is best to keep your hair tied up on top, keeping it out of the bathwater as well; letting your hair swim around in bathwater that is shared by everyone is not considered proper.

As Sira said, people don't stare at others... everyone's naked and everyone more or less look the same when naked lol. Don't be too concerned about nudity, and enjoy the experience :)

As the other posters mentions, being nervous covering your body or dipping towel into hot water
would attract attentions by itself and would work adversely.

So I wish you don't get so nervous and enjoy onsen,
but I come up with another possibility.

Some onsen has "konyoku" area where both woman and man can enter,
and there it is not unnatural to wear swimsuit.
While the majority of Japanese prefer getting into separated onsen naked,
but if you find swimsuit can protect you enough and even from men's sight, it might be a option.

But be careful, not all people wear swimsuit there and you have high chance to
sight other's naked body.

Sorry, as alternatives I would rather recommend something else.

If you are staying overnight in a traditional Japanese inn with onsen, you can try finding an inn with "kashikiri buro" (rent-to-yourself bath) or "kazoku buro" (family bath), which you can use just by yourself or with your family for a reserved time slot (40 to 60 minutes or so), so that you don't have to share the bath with anyone - of course the tub will be smaller, but it will be hot spring water. Or you could find an inn that has individual rooms equipped with an open-air bathtub with hot spring water, though of course the room rates will be higher.

The thing that has been mentioned about the kashikiri or kazuko onsens is that they are small - yes, they are options, but in many nice places the public baths have such nice views or are spacious and much prettier than the private ones. Of course it varies from place to place but don't let modesty deter you from trying a really nice public bath.

Try right after breakfast when everyone is getting ready to go out, or sometime in the early afternoon hours when everyone is out sightseeing. There will be hardly anyone in the big tub.

But in Japan, bathing is so-called "hadaka no tsukiai (relationship in nude)." The whole idea of it is to be stripped down naked and forget about who is older or who is superior or what part of the world you are from. In the tub, we're all just plain human beings. Or sometimes, snow monkeys.
http://images.google.co.jp/images?q=snow+monkeys&rls=com.mic...

Please don't forget to wash your body,especially lower part before stepping into a bathtub at onsen.
And maybe you'd better bring a bottle of water to stay well hydrated.

I hope you enjoy and relax at onsen!