溫存於温泉

金矢温泉in花巻市

Actually i should spend some time to write about my volunteering experience in Iwate but i decided to come back to that later and instead, write about my addiction to onsen because embarrassingly and admittedly, the self revelation brings forth from loosing myself in hot spring is much more pronounced than cleaning the debris under the rain.

Seeing the naked bodies around me was one of the reasons that i feel so relaxed being in onsen and i bet it does not make a difference whether these bodies are female or male. these naked bodies make me forget the innate difference among people - in the onsen, as we are stripped to the bare skin, we are no longer some predefined roles we play along but just some animals trying to reward our bodies. there is nothing we are hiding from and nothing we can hide in the onsen and suddenly, we become what we really are in the rawest and most natural form. concurrently, the bodies reveal themselves in the cleanest possible ways: free from dirt and petted with a sweet fragrance. these are sincere physical beauty and it is precisely this unfeignedness i appreciate. in the outdoor onsen, the pleasure steps up as the bodies blend the cool autumn air with the steam from the springs. rain sprinkled on you  but you would not mind it because you find peace with yourself, and nature.

P.S. the reason i got to go to onsen during the trip was that we stayed overnight in a nearby campsite with no showering facilities but this onsen was within walking distance so i and the other girls stopped by twice in both days.