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Contents

Guarding the Yokozuna. Page 2 - 4 by Hugo Dragonetti

Positivity and Teaching. Page 5 - 6 by Mollee Reitz

Onsen Etiquette. Page 7 - 14 by Chris Ott

In Pictures: International Friendship Festival. Page 15 - 17 by Kumamoto PAs

If you would like to contribute to the next edition of the

YOKA, please contact the PAs at kumamotopa@gmail.com

よろしくま!

Des

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by

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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 2

Guarding the Yokozuna

By Hugo Dragonetti

November 3rd, 2012

We waited at the entrance to the temple grounds in our yellow happi coats for about ten minutes. During that

time I’d spoken briefly with a couple of visitors who seemed convinced that I was training to become a Buddhist monk.

As the coach arrived, a number of suited representatives quickly disembarked. They were followed by three top

rikishi, one of which was Harumafuji, the recently promoted yokozuna. They had just arrived at the beautiful Rengein

temple, located in the mountains above Tamana.

I was at the temple as part of a group of local volunteers drafted in to help out at Oku No Ni Taisai, an annual

sumo festival held in Tamana. We were essentially working as bodyguards for the sumo wrestlers, shielding them from

their adoring fans. The arrival of the wrestlers marked the beginning of a practice that was to be repeated throughout

the day. As a means of keeping the fans at bay we, the volunteer

bodyguards, divided into two groups at the temple’s entrance.

Each group positioned themselves on a side of the path, and held a

massive rope as a barrier between the rikishi and the public. Prior

to the arrival of the wrestlers, the crowds had been feasting on

chankonabe and watching sumo bouts between elementary school

students. The arrival of the coach signalled a shift in focus away

from the dohyo, as crowds lined the pathway that runs through the centre of the temple’s grounds. From here on out,

our ability to hold massive ropes and fend off troublemakers, whilst moving in unison with the wrestlers, would be

tested.

We managed to complete our first task of escorting the rikishi

from the entrance to the temple’s housing quarters without any issues.

After some preparations for the prayer ritual that would follow, the

yokozuna met with a few lucky members of the public. Among them was

a young couple with a baby of about six-months old. The baby, all

dressed-up for the occasion, was thrust into the arms of a bemused-

looking Harumafuji. The next minute or so was spent taking pictures of

the yokozuna with the baby. The wrestlers all appeared courteous and

good-humoured, but not very talkative. Aminishiki Zeki was by far the

most sociable. While Harumafuji posed for photos with the baby, Zeki

joked around and poured shochu for the volunteers, including myself.

After this, we escorted the wrestlers to the prayer ritual.

As we moved towards the rear of the temple, the excitement of

the fans was palpable, but most people were fairly restrained. The older

members were definitely the exception. As I walked next to the yokozuna,

a woman who appeared to be in her sixties was running, and sometimes

jumping, alongside the barrier trying desperately to get his attention.

Like a teenager at a pop concert, her excitement at seeing him was so

From here on out, our ability to hold massive

ropes and fend off troublemakers, whilst moving

in unison with the wrestlers, would be tested.

Shaking hands

Photo courtesy of Joel Marrinan

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 3

Baby thrust into the arms of a bemused-looking Harumafuji

intense that I was worried she might hurl herself in front of him. Our destination was on the other side of a carp-filled

lake to the rear of the temple, and fortunately by the time we had reached the lake she had fallen back into the depths

of the crowd.

Once the rikishi had crossed the bridge, the ceremony

commenced. Highlights included arrows being fired and an enormous

bonfire, the dark smoke from which engulfed the crowd. The crowd

also witnessed Harumafuji perform the yokozuna ceremonial dance

and the leg stomping intended to drive away evil spirits. We had

walked about 30 metres

from the bridge after the prayer ritual had finished, when an elderly

gentleman lunged to grab Harumafuji. He was repeatedly told to let go of

the wrestler and, having ignored these requests, was quickly pushed away.

As I was walked alongside the yokozuna following this incident, he

suddenly stopped in the middle of the path and extended his arms. The

sun was shining down brightly, and this gesture, horribly cheesy as it

sounds, gave the impression of him embracing the energy of the sun.

Our return to the housing quarters was brief. At around 2:30 pm,

the wrestlers, this time wearing more than just a mawashi, were escorted

out for the tolling of the temple’s 37.5-ton bell. As our group shadowed

them, I tried to crouch down and give the fans a better chance at an

amazing snapshot with their cameras and smart phones. I noticed around

this time that although the rikishi were relatively oblivious to the crowd,

they were quick to sign autographs for children and even quicker to touch

hands with attractive women in their twenties. Rather than shout

Harumafuji, the fans seemed content to just call out ‘yokozuna’. This

reaction is understandable though; the rank of yokozuna is the highest

that can be achieved in professional sumo. We made it back from the

tolling of the bell and prepared for the final event of the day: play fighting

between the rikishi and elementary school students.

To the amusement of the crowd, all three rikishi spent

the next 30 minutes wrestling with and deliberately losing to

groups of children. After returning to the housing quarters,

Harumafuji, surrounded by cameras and microphones, gave a

brief interview to waiting TV crews. After they said some

farewells, the rikishi, accompanied by their gang of helpers

and representatives, boarded the coach and left Tamana.

Before leaving, Harumafuji’s stable gave the temple a supply

of sauce to be used when cooking chankonabe. It was

presented in unmarked plastic bottles and the ingredients

were apparently a tightly guarded secret. In any case, the

chankonabe made with that sauce, which I ate with the other

volunteers that night was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

Like a teenager a pop concert, her excitement

at seeing him was so intense that I was

worried she might hurl herself in front of him.

Escorting the Rikishi

Photo courtesy of Joel Marrinan

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 4

Aminishiki Zeki pouring shochu for volunteers

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 5

Positivity in action with Mollee Reitz.

Positivity and Teaching

By Mollee Reitz

January 29th will mark the end of my sixth month in Japan. During my time here, I have been exposed to so many

traditions, customs, and foods. Some have been incredible, such as the Yatsushiro fireworks or the intricate kimonos

that were worn by my village’s young women on “Coming of Age Day.” Others, like nattou, have been much less

incredible. Within the walls of the six schools I teach at, I have worked with a variety of teachers and teaching styles.

After months of working and reflecting, I have reached one definite conclusion: that positivity in teaching is essential.

Today, I’d like to discuss why.

The scenario that I’m about to describe seems to be an almost

universally shared ALT experience. You have arrived on time for work –

which means that you are between five to 20 minutes early – and are

leisurely making your way to the teacher’s lounge. On your way you

encounter a student. You make eye contact. They say “hello.” You open

your mouth to reply but before you do another teacher suddenly appears beside you. The lights flicker, lightning strikes

and they cry out “not hello, GOOD MORNING!” Were they hiding in the broom closet? Were they suspended from the

ceiling in a Spiderman-like fashion? No one really knows - but that teacher is always there.

The first, second, and tenth times this happens, you may even try to explain that “hello” is okay. Usually, they

promptly reply “but good morning is better” to which you may have tried to reply “no, it’s just more specific, like dog

versus beagle. It’s always okay to say dog, but you should only use beagle when the dog is a beagle.” Sometimes this is a

success, but by the time this understanding has been reached, the student has made his or her way to class. If this

paradigm was an isolated incident, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, this same black and white attitude tends to leak

its way into the classroom.

Students have one of three reactions to this criticism. The first reaction is to shrug the critique off. The second is

to shrug it off until the teacher turns to face the chalkboard. Then, the student rolls their eyes, makes a face, or mouths

After months of working and reflecting, I

have reached one definition conclusion:

that positivity in teaching is essential.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 6 something to a friend. The third reaction, however, is for the kid’s smile to shrink. This final reaction, hits me particularly

hard.

I spent the first three years of elementary school in speech lessons. I couldn’t tell the difference between “f” and

“th” and “l” and “r.” Two times a week, I would be pulled out of my English class and forced to sit in a room with a

guidance counselor. She’d over-enunciate the sounds at me until I could see the letters dancing in my head. The thing is

that I really did try but my progress was slow. I could make the sounds individually and even apply them to words. The

problem came when I was trying to express bigger ideas and my focus wasn’t on the individual sounds coming out of my

mouth. My guidance counselor then decided the best way to fix this

would be to point out, loudly, “that wasn’t right.” She would do this in

hallways and at lunch. She urged my teachers to do the same. Rather

than becoming a better speaker, I began to speak a lot less. I stopped

volunteering to answer questions in class. When called upon, I slowly

began to answer “I don’t know,” regardless of the question being

asked. At lunch and at recess, I’d check to make sure that all teachers were out of earshot before talking with my friends.

If a teacher happened to walk by, I would stop talking altogether.

In the fourth grade, I had a teacher who had the common sense to say “good job” when I answered questions

and pronounced words correctly and the kindness to say “try again” instead of “you are wrong” when I did not. Under

her supervision, I was able to overcome my speech problems and regain some of the confidence that I had lost over the

three previous years.

Not every kid reacts the way that I did to frequent criticism, but some do. I can’t control how my JTE reacts

when kids make mistakes, but I can control how I act. So every day, I make a point to tell the kids that I teach “good job”

and that they’re efforts make me happy. When they make mistakes I do my best to always use “try again,” or “you can

do it,” rather than a more critical “you’re wrong.” When a student finally gets a word or grammatical point right, I go out

of my way to seem just as excited as I am when kids get it right the first time. I can definitely say that I’ve seen a positive

improvement. Kids that never spoke a word in

class before will now say “hello” in the hallways

and ask me how I am. Every now and then a

previously quiet kid will put their hand up. My

kids initiate lunchtime conversations more

frequently. Some of my kids even go out of

their way to praise me when I use Japanese well.

Positivity alone won’t turn our students into eloquent speakers overnight but it does provide a friendly

invitation in the right direction. At the end of the day, we all want to feel smart. We want people to notice when we do

well. We want to feel believed in. These are things that we all know and understand but sometimes forget to apply. So in

lieu of a formal conclusion, I’d instead like to invite you to make a conscious effort to praise your students when they do

well, and to tell them “you can do it” when they struggle. The results just might brighten your day.

I can’t control how my JTE reacts when

kids make mistakes, but I can control

how I act.

Positivity alone won’t turn our students into eloquent speakers

overnight but it does provide a friendly invitation in the right

direction.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 7

A Guide to Onsening

By Chris Ott

Well, we are in the throws of winter, and a lot of us have

probably discovered a new hobby: grumbling about the bone

chilling cold. It’s hard not to be in helpless awe of Kumamoto’s

permeating cold, where temperatures somehow manage to be

lower inside than out. And the cold school gymnasiums – I’m not

even going there. At this point some of us may be considering

putting “cold storage experience” on future post-JET resumes

for beef packing plants. Well, with all this grumbling, whining,

and pleading (when will it stop?!) it’s natural for our moods to

take a bit of a dive.

To help you all cheer up a bit, here is an extensive and

entirely too long guide to onsening so that you can go to an

onsen with confidence. Right now I think most of us could use a little heat, and there really is nothing like an onsen to

warm them bones up a bit.

This guide has just about everything you need to know about going to the onsen. However, if I have left

something out, I apologize.

And for those of you who would prefer a condensed version, here it is: Wash off before you get into the baths;

don’t put your onsen towel in the water; before going into the sauna dry yourself off a little; after you leave the sauna,

fill up a bowl with water and rinse the sweat of yourself; partially dry yourself off before going back into the changing

room so that you don’t get the changing room floor wet.

Now, the War and Peace length epically long version.

What to bring. Bring an onsen towel for use in the bath area and another towel to dry off with. (An onsen towel

is like a really long dish towel, much smaller than a bath towel). If you want you can pass on the extra towel for

drying off with and just use the onsen towel to dry off with, but if you get the towel wet you will have to wring it

out a couple times. I usually just bring an onsen towel, but in the winter it does feel a lot nicer to dry off with a dry towel.

If you don’t have an onsen towel, you can buy one at the onsen. Onsen towels cost 100 or 200 yen. If there is a ticket

machine at the onsen, look for the button that says タオル (taoru). If there is no ticket machine, you can pay the front

desk person for one.

Onsen towels are not mandatory, and I sometimes go without one when I run or bike to an onsen.

Almost all onsens have shampoo, conditioner, and body wash so no need to bring them. Onsens are great places to

shave at so bring a razor if you need to get rid of a little winter growth. If you have special soap or cleansers, feel free to

1

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 8 bring them. There is often a shelf in the onsen area for such things, and if there isn’t you can just place them near or in

the shower area and leave them there while you are in the baths.

Mindset: relax. The most important thing is to relax. Onsens are for

unwinding, de-stressing, warming up, and zoning out. People there

may think, “wow, foreigner”, but their biggest priority is relaxing. That should be your priority, too. If they don’t

feel uncomfortable then neither should you. When in naked Rome, get naked like the Romans.

Arriving at the onsen: shoes. There is almost always

an area just inside the entrance where you take off

your shoes, just like in your apt/house. Some onsens,

though very few, don’t have shoe boxes, and at such

places just leave your shoes near the step that designates

the boundary between shoes and no-shoes area. However,

most times it’s ok to put your shoes in a key shoe locker and

not take the key. However, if you are wearing pricy, stylin’

shoes, it might be worth locking them up. Take what

precautions you feel are necessary.

Occasionally onsens do require you to drop off the shoe box

key at the front desk before going into the onsen, so if they

ask you for a key, that’s the one they are asking for.

At more traditional style onsens the baths may be in a building apart from where you pay, and you have to walk outside

to get to the bath area. At such places take off your shoes at the entrance to the changing room, not where you pay.

At hotels that have onsens, you will usually wear your shoes inside the hotel and take them off at the changing room

entrance.

Paying. Onsens are usually between 300 and 700 yen, 500 yen being the most common fee. Occasionally onsens

will be as much as a 1000 or more, and those places are usually exceptionally nice or touristy. There is a pimp

a$$ hotel in Beppu and the onsen entrance fee is 2000 yen. Crazy bones! Onsens are also sometimes as low as

100 yen, but such onsens are usually rather small and probably have only 1 bath.

To pay for the entrance fee go to the ticket machine that is near where you took your shoes of. To pay, put your money

in the machine and hit the 大人(otona) button. This means adult. The button may also say 中学生以上 (chuugakkusei

ijou), which means anyone above junior high school level – that’s you. Attached to the aforementioned kanjis you may

also see 町内(chounai) and 町外(chougai)。Unless you live in that town you want 町外, which literally means town

outside (not a town resident). When you push the button a ticket will be dispensed. At this time buy an onsen towel if

you need or want one. Get your change from the machine by pulling the lever or pushing the button labeled おつり

(otsuri). Give your ticket(s) to the smiling person at the nearby counter.

2

3

4

When in naked Rome, get naked like

the Romans.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 9 At more traditional style onsens there won’t be a ticket machine and you’ll give the front desk person the money. At

such places the only Japanese you need to know is “ofuro” (bath) and “hitori” (one person). If you roll in and say “ofuro,

hitori,” and drop some money in the little tray on the counter you’ll be good to go.

Finding the baths. The baths will be behind curtains or doors.

The curtains may have the onsen mark ( ) on them. Or,

instead of the onsen mark, they might have the kanji for

female (女) and male (男) on them. The curtains are colored, and the

female side is almost always red and the male side blue. If the

curtains don’t have kanji indicating the gender, make sure you are

confident about which curtain/door is the male side and which is the

female side before proceeding. Of the 102 (giggity!) onsens I’ve been

to, about 5 onsens didn’t make it clear which side was male and

female. Of course walking into the wrong side will make you

instantly popular as you’ll provide the locals with a good laugh:

nothing like the gaijin channel to provide a little entertainment.

Sometimes the doors to the changing room/bath areas aren’t near where you pay. If you don’t immediately see them,

they may be down a long hall or on another floor. If you don’t know where they are and you aren’t comfortable

following Japanese signs, say to the front desk person, “Furo wa doko desu ka?” and then shrug like a lost foreigner.

They’ll get you there. If there is no one to guide you look for signs with お風呂 (ofuro, bath) or 浴場 (よくじょう, bath

area) and follow the arrows. You may also see 大浴場, 大(dai) meaning big, so big bath area.

The changing room. Enter the changing room. In the

changing room there will be either baskets to put your

clothes in and small lockers for valuables, or lockers for

clothes and valuables. Lockers, whether they are for

valuables only, or clothes and valuables, will either be free;

require 100 yen that may or may not be returned to you; or will

be 10 yen and the money will not be returned.

Do you lock up your valuables or not? That is a good question.

Some people do, and some people don’t. It’s up to you. Just

know that things do get stolen sometimes, at least that’s what

the signs say. If the locker requires 100 yen that won’t be

returned, I usually just stuff my valuables in my socks, but that’s

me. However, if I have my motorcycle key with me, I don’t mess around.

Usually nice onsens that charge 500 yen and up for entrance will have free lockers and onsens that are around 300 yen

will have pay lockers. Be prepared to have coins if you want to lock up your stuff. The 10 yen lockers only take 10 yen

coins and the 100 yen lockers only take 100 yen coins.

5

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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 10 After stripping down and putting your stuff in a basket or locker, use the restroom if you need to. Nothing’s worse than

having to dry off mid onsen soak to use the restroom. When using the restroom, make sure to wear the bathroom

sandals in the bathroom, and don’t forget to take them off when you exit the bathroom. And it’s ok to use the bathroom

buck naked, most people do.

For those of you who are germaphobes, before going into the changing

rooms you may want to use the restroom that is in the front desk

area/lobby area. The changing room restroom sandals are sometimes wet

and sticky with onsen water, and putting them on your bare feet isn’t the

best of sensations. So lobby bathroom is always a good choice.

In the changing room drink some water if there is a drinking fountain since you are bound to sweat a bit while in the

baths. Instead of drinking fountains, some onsens have a water dispenser with a cup. It’s a communal cup so give it a

rinse before you use it and don’t slobber all up on it. Nicer onsens that have a water dispenser will have lots of cups.

Grab a cup from the rack with the upside down cups. The rack with right-side-up cups is for used cups.

The last thing to do before you go into the onsen are is to decide if you want to bring your onsen towel with you to cover

your goodies, wash yourself with (Japanese people use the onsen towel as a wash cloth in the shower area), and dry

yourself off with. I recommend bringing an onsen towel as it makes drying off before you go back into the changing

room much easier. However, as I mentioned, you don’t have to have an onsen towel with you in the onsen. And not

having one isn’t strange; in fact there are usually a few people in the onsen without a towel.

If you do bring your onsen towel, but you want to keep it dry, you can set it anywhere in the onsen that looks dry and

leave it.

Entering the bath area. Enter the bath area. If you

have personal items like a razor and shampoo and you

aren’t going to use them right away, look around and

find a place to put them. Pretty much anywhere is ok, but if

there is a designated area (shelves), put them there.

Now, the first thing you need to do is wash. It is very

important to wash yourself before getting into the sauna or

baths. To do this there are two options. One, you can splash

water on yourself using water from the basin that is usually

located near the bath area entrance. There will be bowls

nearby, usually on the edge of the basin, and you can use one

to splash water on yourself. Make sure to give your privates

and bum a little scrub while doing this. If there is no basin, just grab a bowl and use water from one of the baths. If you

use water from a bath, you can squat next to the bath while you splash water on yourself, no need to stand up. While

rinsing yourself make sure to stand or squat a little ways away from the basin or bath so that water splashing off your

body doesn’t end up back in the water. The second choice for washing off, and most considerate, is finding the shower

area and doing a proper washing before getting into the sauna or baths. If you have had a long day, and feel a little

grimy or are reeking of booze from the previous night’s revelry, I would recommend showering so that you don’t dirty

7

Nothing’s worse than having to dry off

mid onsen soak to use the restroom.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 11 the pool. I almost never shower and just thoroughly splash myself with water, but on days where I’ve been doing some

manual labor or serious exercise I take a shower first. The shower area is where to shave, too.

There is a “traditional,” multi-step way of onsening. In onsen changing rooms you may notice signs explaining these

steps. The steps are usually as follows: 1) splash yourself with water before entering the baths, 2) get into the baths and

soak for a while, 3) get out and wash yourself in the shower area, 4) and then soak in the baths again. While this is the

traditional Japanese way of taking in an onsen, feel free to deviate from it. Personally, I often skip on the shower, which

is ok. But you must not skip on the pre-bath rinse/wash.

The sauna. After washing I recommend going straight to the sauna if

there is one. Just look for any door that is made of wood - it’s almost

always wooden. It usually has a small window in it, too. There may

also be a sign that reads サウナ(sauna)。Before you go in, dry off a little.

You aren’t supposed to go into the sauna dripping wet as it soaks the towels

inside. You can dry off a bit using your onsen towel, or if you don’t have one

use your hands. Just get the big droplets off; you don’t have to be that dry.

Also, before going into the sauna look around near the door and see if there

are stacks of mats, usually small yellow cloth mats. If there are mats take

one to sit on in the sauna. Make sure to grab one from the pile that looks

like clean ones and not the used pile. The mats are sometimes in the sauna

itself, though this isn’t as common. If there is no mat to grab, just sit on the

ones that are already in the sauna. About 25 percent of onsens offer clean

mats to sit on.

When you go into the sauna choose an upper level if you want to really cook

and a lower level if you don’t.

If it’s packed when leaving the sauna, make sure not to drip sweat on anyone as you are navigating a route out of the

room.

If you grabbed a mat to sit on make sure to take it out with you and throw it in the dirty pile.

Cold water bath. Next to the sauna there is almost

always a cold water bath. I highly recommend it. (I am

pretty sure the cold water is good for the skin and makes

you look damn sexy for about an hour after you leave the

onsen.) After getting out of the sauna and before getting into

the cold water bath, or any bath, make sure to wash the sweat

off yourself. The best way to do this is to grab a bowl, fill it with

water from the nearest hot water bath and splash the sweat off.

I don’t recommend splashing yourself with water from the cold

bath as it makes one loose motivation to get into the cold water.

8

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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 12 Now that the sweat has been washed off you can enjoy the cold water bath. Gentleman, shrinkage is going to happen,

but it’s all good. No ladies around.

Drinking water. If you went into the sauna you will be needing some water. If there is a drinking fountain

in the bath area, use that. If there isn’t, but there was one in the changing room, use that. You don’t really

need to dry off to use the one in the changing room as it should be near the door and you can use it

without getting the changing room floor wet. If there are no drinking fountains anywhere, look for a cup on a chain next

to a faucet in the bath area, or even just a faucet poking out of a wall somewhere. The faucet water will be drinkable 98

percent of the time. Near the faucet there may be a small plastic sign that says 飲料水 (inryousui, driking water) or 飲め

る (nomeru, drinkable). If a sign says 飲めない or 飲めません don’t drink the water.

If there isn’t a faucet, look and see if there are any drinking cups sitting near the spots where water flows into the baths.

If there is, it means that the onsen water is good enough to drink. It will be warm/hot, which isn’t so satisfying, but you’ll

get your daily recommended amount of a couple of different minerals. If you don’t see any cups near the bath water

sources, it’s probably best not to drink the onsen water. However, if you see people using their hands to drink the water,

go for it! Just make sure to drink from the source and not directly from the bath!

Some onsens won’t have any drinking water anywhere. At those places just drink some tap water from the changing

room faucets if you really need it or use the vending machine that may be in the changing room. Excluding smaller

traditional style onsens, don’t go back to onsens that don’t have any drinking water - they suck. Being dehydrated is not

cool. Traditional style onsens often don’t have drinking water, and that’s just how it is. But newer onsens and onsen

centers should.

Hot water baths. Now it’s time to soak. As I said before,

before you get into any bath for the first time, make sure to

wash off a little. If you went into the sauna, after the sauna

make sure you wash the sweat off. After washing, hop on in!

An important piece of bath etiquette: do not put your onsen towel in the

water. You can put it anywhere around the bath, just not in the water.

Ladies, if you happen to go to a mixed bath (混浴、konyoku) it’s ok wrap a

towel around yourself and enter the pool with the towel.

Washing off before getting in the baths and not putting towels in the baths

are the main pieces of etiquette you need to know for the baths. Now enjoy! Try out all of the baths as there are usually

more than one, though it depends on the size of the onsen. There may be indoor and outdoor (露天風呂, rotenburo)

baths; tiny personal baths called 五右衛門風呂(goemonburo); luke warm, warm, and hot baths; bubble baths and jet

baths; electric baths (電気風呂, denkiburo); herbal baths; shallow sleeping baths and standing baths; and more. Enjoy!

Talking in the onsen. Onsens are places for relaxing, not places for chatting, though there is no written

rule. If you go there with a bunch of friends it’s probably best not to talk about the previous night’s crazy,

epic, people were naked, I’ve-never-seen-puke-fly-like-that, “ah brah, that shiz was crazy!” party as you

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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 13 may annoy the other people in the onsen. However, if other people are talking, or little kids are running around and

being kids, then talking is ok. I’ve had animated conversations with Japanese people at busy onsens, and I’ve felt that

talking would be extremely rude at others. Just read the atmosphere of the place and act accordingly.

Leaving. When you have thoroughly warmed yourself and

are ready to leave, decide on whether you want to shower

or not. Big onsen centers and onsens that don’t have a

good hot spring source usually use recirculated water and have a bit of

chlorine in them. It’s nothing like hot tub or pool chlorine levels, but still

enough to make your skin smell faintly of chlorine. In such cases it can

be nice to shower off before you leave. However, if the onsen is a really

good onsen with hot spring water that is not recirculated, then I

recommend not showering. If you shower you wash all those good

minerals off your skin.

Before you go into the changing room make sure to dry off. If you took

an onsen towel in with you, you’ll be able to dry off easily. If you don’t have an onsen towel just use your hands to get

most of the water off and then air-dry a bit, but air-drying isn’t such a good idea in the winter since you loose all that

nice heat you stored up in your body. When you go into the changing room you don’t have to be totally dry, just not

dripping wet so that you don’t get the changing room floor wet. Once you aren’t dripping you can go into the changing

room and finish drying off with your dry towel, or with your wrung out onsen towel if you don’t have an extra towel, or

with your t-shirt or the changing room fan if you didn’t bring any towels..

Whoop there is it. As far as onsening goes, that is about all there is to know. There is a lot of onsen

terminology to learn, but that can wait till another article. However, there are a couple key words that I

would like to leave you with. The first is 掛け流し(kakenagashi). If an onsen is described as 掛け流し is

means that hot spring water flows directly in and out of the baths, with no recirculation. 掛け流し onsens have the best

water quality and are not chlorinated. When choosing an onsen look for this.

天然 (tennen) is also an important word, and it means natural. A tennen onsen use natural spring water. However!, that

doesn’t mean it isn’t recirculated or chlorinated. So, if you want good water, go kakenagashi.

Now, if you want the best, if you are an onsen connoisseur, or if you are looking to impress a Japanese date, look for a

源泉 (gensen, source spring) onsen. 源泉 means the water flowing into the baths is pure fresh onsen water AND it

hasn’t been heated up or cooled down. It is straight from the source, 100% unaltered. 源泉 onsens are not recirculated,

so they are also kakenagashi. But 源泉 onsens water is never heated or cooled, while kakenagashi onsen water

sometimes is heated or cooled, so kakenagashi doesn’t always mean gensen. So gensen onsens are as good as they get,

top class. However, since the temp isn’t changed, you may find yourself soaking in a crazy hot onsen, or a rather tepid

onsen.

Ok, one last thing. Hang in there. For those that want the onsen experience, but would prefer to enjoy it in privacy, look

for 家族風呂 (kazokuburo, family bath) or 貸し切り風呂 (kashikiriburo, rented bath). Kazokuburo and kashikiriburo are

essentially the same, just different words. These are private rooms onsens that you rent out. They’re good to go to alone,

with the family, or a significant other. Some onsen centers have rentals baths along with the main public baths. Other

onsens have only kazokuburo rooms.

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The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 14 Kazokuburo rooms come in all shapes and size. Some rooms have only one bath. Some have a decent size tatami room

with a table, chairs, TV, and a room with a bath. Some have two baths, one inside and one outside. I’ve even seen cave

ones! Near the onsen’s front desk area there are often brochures or signs that describe what each room has, so just

choose the one you want. Prices may vary though, it all depends on how nice the room and bath is. Family onsens aren’t

terribly expensive and are usually between 1,000 to 4,000 yen an hour.

Personally, I don’t fancy family onsens as they are small and boring – no pool selection. But depending on your needs, a

family onsen may be what you are looking for.

I hope this guide has THOROUGHLY informed you on onsening and that you can now go to an onsen without looking like

peacock lost among a colony of penguins. Though, don’t be shy to peacock it a little.

Happy onsening!

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 15

In Pictures: The Kumamoto International Friendship Festival

The 19th Kumamoto International Friendship Festival was held on November 11, 2012 at the Kengun Shopping District in

Kumamoto City. Here are some pictures of this year’s event:

With flags, vuvzelas,

maps, music, food, and

even a short video, it was

one of the more popular

and lively panels.

This year, our South

African JETs made a

panel display

introducing their

home country.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 16

JETs and Japanese

friends stopped by to

show their support.

They also performed a

“gumboot dance”. The

gumboot dance (or

Isicathulo) is an African

dance performed by

dancers wearing

Wellington boots, which

in South Africa are known

as gumboots. Dancers

attach bells to the boots

so they ring when the

dancers stamp the

ground. These sounds

were used as a means of

communication in mines

as talking was forbidden.

For their own gumboot

dance, the JETs attached

coins to their rubber

boots.

The Yoka Winter 2013 pg 17

Thank you to all who participated this year and all who came out to support international

exchange and friendship!

Kumamon joined the dance

and stood in for a group photo

afterwards.