Nudist Beaches in Japan

Out of Curiosity, Are there any nudist beaches in Japan, even if there's only 1 in the whole country?

Modesty is a big deal in Japan. You won't find one.

Well, there are mixed onsen though. At least one of them is right on the shore. (Somewhere in Yakushima) I haven�ft been to this one, but I went to some in the mountains.

To the best of my knowledge - there are no official nudist beaches in Japan due to public laws against nudity (others can confirm if I'm wrong).

However - a 15 second search found a group that seems to do this. They are called the Naturist Nudist Network Japan and they have an English blog (I believe most of the info is in Japanese though).

They seem to run nudist beach meetups - but I'd see this as more of a nudist meetup at isolated beaches which are only known to the people that are attending.

The only onsens I have been to with mixed bathing was mainly up in Tohoku and are not that common (but they can be found). Let's just say it's mainly old people relaxing their muscles and they are allowed modesty towels (females who have been to a mixed onsen can explain it better than I).

@Daring

You have to be in the "right" circles for such activities. Which can include meet ups beyond beach activities. Like being part of a swinger group or having such friends. Such is very underground and not something the normal public usually would know.

There isn't a nudist beach in Japan simply because it's illegal to be naked in public.
Bathing establishments are private properties. If it's properly hidden from the public, it wouldn't be against the law.

So there are no Nude beaches in Japan simply because it's illegal to be naked in public. Although, the Japanese people enjoy being naked in the onsen. Why?

Daring, you must understand this Forum is not created for nudist beach.

why people bath naked or sex all over the world or why First man in this earth and his wife then his generation sex million years ago ,you will get answer by thousands of website. According to my holy book,sex is permitted even in paradise in naked.And this is humanly matter not a strange thing.

Although, the Japanese people enjoy being naked in the onsen.
I don't recall wearing clothes in the shower or bath anytime recently. Just the same way I don't wear clothes when I onsen.

lol, so true, but the onsens can be very social, I think the OP is trying to understand why - if modesty is such a big thing in Japan - the locals are happy to sit around and chat nude in the onsens.

Onsen is for a small, select group of people and it's closed to the regular public. Nude on the beach is for everyone to see. Big difference.

@Lazy Pious - it is not just Japanese culture. Other countries mixed or family bathing together is considered normal, but in other societies seeing someone naked is considered weird or obscene.
Japan also has some rather weird laws and rules currently in place, yet also has a rich history where things were quite different.

I want to confirm you don't lack the basic idea of "Onsen". Onsen is "bath".

Onsen is not the only form of public bathing in Japan. Sento ("paid hot water") had been an essential public bathing establishment until people started to have their own family bathtub for private use, they needed to rinse off their daily sweat in Sento. And, needless to say, they needed to share the hot water, rooms for changing and washing their body. Because it's ordinary people that were not kings and queens.

I don't see anything "weird" either to prohibit striptease in public or to be used to be naked in a closed public bathing establishment, which is a place people wash their bodies.

lol, I was only pointing out what the OP was asking.

But there are a few baths where it isnt particularly private at all, I didnt brave the Sainokawara rotenburo at Kusatsu Onsen given that you are in full view of people on the path next to it. Also there has been many a time that I have been taking a leak in a Japanese urinal essentially in full view of anyone passing by the public toilet entry. Or having a bath when the female cleaner would come in and do her thing.

Or sitting in public transport while someone nearby is reading manga oin a book or on a tablet with graphic images.

But I'm not knocking it, just observing that it is hard to say there is any hard and fast rule about anything, no doubt there are subtleties that I dont understand but hope to eventually once we are able to visit again.

�uSo there are no Nude beaches in Japan simply because it's illegal to be naked in public. Although, the Japanese people enjoy being naked in the onsen. Why?�v

While everyone is naked in an onsen, the body isn't necessarily exposed. You're sitting in a pool of water, which generally has some degree of cloudiness because of the minerals in it, and there's often steam rising off the water too. Add in that it's bad manners to deliberately stare at someone's body in an onsen, and the nudity becomes not much of an issue. Yes, people are exposed while walking from the changing room to the baths, but during the activity people are there to do, relaxing in the baths, people generally aren't seeing each others' naked bodies.

At a nudist beach, on the other hand, people are relaxing on the sand, which offers no coverage or distortion of the visibility of their naked body, which makes it much ore awkward, for most people, than being naked at an onsen.

Also as mentioned, onsen are seen as an extension of bathing in Japan, and people don't wear clothes in the bath. Many people also feel that brining cloth fibers into the onsen can negatively affect the quality of the water, but no one thinks that wearing clothes on a beach negatively affects the quantity of the sand.

@Lazy Pious

I wish you are aware what you wrote has nothing to do with this topic and that those phenomena are not common (it may happen sometimes but it doesn't mean it's normal nor socially accepted).

some degree of cloudiness because of the minerals
While I have been in onsen that are cloudy due to minerals, and at a sento in Tokyo where the water was literally like a soy-sauce mixture where I couldn't even see my legs in the water, most of the onsen and sento I have been to the water is quite clear.
I am also reminded of the ryokan near the Jigokudani monkey park in Nagano that has outdoor baths. While the path to the park is on the other side of the river, the water there is certainly clear and quite easy to see the naked people on the other side. Those with a high-powered lens on their cameras have little difficulty taking pictures of people enjoying the bath.
Different cultures treat the human body differently and different social norms. When Japanese people go to other countries or a tourist spot like Rotorua in NZ (a geothermal area) they are can be surprised that when they do "onsen" there they are expected to wear a bathing suit (for a public/shared facility). The locals would just consider a bathing suit as normal.

So there are no Nude beaches in Japan simply because it's illegal to be naked in public. Yet, why are there Nudist Beaches in Japanese Anime, and most locations within Japanese anime always occur in Japan?

So where do I start with your last question.

Even though most Japanese ecchi animes have the obligatory beach and/or onsen episode - I've never come across an anime with a nudist beach scene. I'm sure it may be found in an OVA or other 'adult content' - but I can't talk through experience.

But to put it simple - anime tells a story written by the author. Some stories are more realistic representations of Japanese society while others are more based in the authors imagination.

Some examples of a authors imagination that are not representative of real world Japan include:

(1) Battle Royale - where Japanese students kill each other to survive
(2) Japanese anime where male protagonist lives by themselves after the death of their parents while still at school
(3) Japanese anime where a younger or older female sibling (mainly related through marriage - not same genetics) has the hots for the male teenage protagonist brother.

To put it simple - anime is not the real world! It's like comparing Mr Garrison from South Park to most Grade 3 male primary teachers.

Now just to wait to see how the next question is spun......

"So there are no Nude beaches in Japan simply because it's illegal to be naked in public. Yet, why are there Nudist Beaches in Japanese Anime, and most locations within Japanese anime always occur in Japan?"

Quite simply, anime is intended for the domestic market, so they would show locations Japanese are familiar with or can relate to.