thoughts from 3am

Thinking about Onsen and the issue of public nudity, the following thought came to mind.

Americans deeply trust each other when we are safely swaddled in the identity our clothing and belongings give us. Japanese people deeply trust each other when such things are absent.

What I mean by this is that American people (in my experience, could be just me) feel the most comfortable and at ease with another person when in their own space, surrounded by thier own things, wearing their favorite clothes, sitting on a couch they've owned for years, maybe a favorite song or movie playing in the background. We feel very safe in this atmosphere, because all the things surrounding us are extensions of ourself and our identity. We are wrapped in layers and layers of ourselves, of who we want to be in the eyes of others. This movie says I have a good sense of humor. This shirt says I have good taste. This space tells you I am laid back and forgiving. We feel strung out and vulnerable if you take those things away. There is little else more stressful than to be in an unfamiliar place with none of your own items on hand. Perhaps you've forgotten a suitcase and had to buy a new toothbrush or borrow clothes from a friend. It is not ours, it does not define us, and we become uncomfortable. Similarily the idea of being nude in front of another person is mollifying, because we cannot present to them "who we are" as we want to be seen- there is only the honesty of who we happen to be. We rush to cover up.

In Japan, people come together and can trust each other more in the nudity of the public bath because these things are absent. When you see the completely naked body of another human being, you cannot tell immediately that they are of higher or lower status than you. You do not know their salary, if they like the same things as you, how they feel about anything. It brings people back to being simply human beings, fundamentally the same creatures with roughly the same qualities and flaws. In Japan there is so much societal baggage and pressure to fufill one's role and be homogenous with those in your rank and behave differently those above, below, or diagonal from you, that stripping off the uniforms and symbols that shoehorn you into such and such group is a way of liberating oneself and finding common ground with others. By taking away that which defines you as a person, you become a human. This understanding is a form of trust. I know that you are a human, too. There is something deeply intimate about this acceptance in a state westerners would consider very vulnerable.


I've only been to the Onsen once myself, but I had this sort of feeling there. It was hard to shake off decades of fearing exposure of myself and that terror of being vulnerable, judged or mocked, but with time I think that feeling could be sloughed off and even a westerner could appreciate the community spirit of public bathing.