Exploring the peaceful hot spring town of Zao Onsen in northern Japan and talking about my first time going to a Japanese onsen (hot spring).
Support Gabriel’s videos on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gabrieltraveler
Planning a budget traveling trip? “Gabe’s Guide to Budget Travel” is a guidebook that’s packed with practical travel info. For more info click here: http://amzn.to/2hRlQFi
Or check out “Following My Thumb”, Gabriel’s book of adventure travel stories: http://amzn.to/2EaWk7Q
More books: https://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-Morris/e/B001JS0KOS/
Need gear for your adventures? Visit Gabriel’s Amazon e-store for ideas: https://www.amazon.com/shop/gabrieltraveler
Want to book a hotel? I recommend this site: https://www.booking.com/index.html?aid=1724899
Get a Gabriel Traveler t-shirt: https://www.bonfire.com/gabriel-traveler/
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabrieltraveler
Gabriel’s travel page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GabrielTravelerVideos
Join the “Love of Travel” Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/224985807515334/
Essays and travel stories: https://medium.com/@gabrieltraveler
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gabrieltravel
Music during the video (in order):
“Kotojitoro” by Joseph Beg
&
“Cherry Blossom Tree” by Mandala Dreams
&
“Concussion” by Nihoni
&
“You’ve Got Me Falling (Midnight Cycler Remix) (Instrumental Version)” by Blanches
&
“The Road Home” by Joseph Beg
Need some good music for your Youtube videos? I use and recommend Epidemic Sound. To get a free 30-day trial click here: http://share.epidemicsound.com/sSvpV
Video created by Gabriel Morris, who is the owner of all video or photo content. Filmed with a DJI Osmo Action: https://amzn.to/3gSi8rA
**Disclaimer: Gabriel Morris is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, Gabriel earns revenue from qualifying purchases.
Need travel insurance? Here’s the company I use, for adventurous travelers:
https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-insurance?affiliate=Gtravel&subId=weblink&affiliateTrackingId=c80d8993ff184026ab81b7a78a1fbc72&utm_source=Gtravel&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Affiliate&utm_content=weblink
Gabriel is a world traveler and travel writer who has been adventuring around the world off and on since his first trip to Europe in the summer of 1990 when he was 18 years old. He is author of “Gabe’s Guide to Budget Travel”, “Following My Thumb” and several other books available on Amazon.com and elsewhere.
Thanks a lot for watching and safe journeys!
42 Comments
I was surprised that Zao Kogen was covered with snow at this time. Soak in the hot springs and warm yourself up.
If you need more info on many other onsen check Bapa Shota chanel they travel in RV acros Japan
Gabriel watch this Japan Railway Pass, Japan on budget…Maybe you need JR Pass???
Or watch this Suica card Japan.What is the best card for Tourist
Cool vid.!
Interesting thing about the eyeglasses on the sign-post. If you come across a lost/dropped item like a glove, hat or in this case eyeglasses, it's common for Japanese people to place the item somewhere nearby where it will be noticed so the person who lost it will see it if they return to the area.
Food in rural ryokan is usually included for both dinner and breakfast. The meals are usually a little higher end than you would expect. Meaning you might get some higher end meat or fish for dinner (also multiple courses).
Onsen as a term is hot spring. If you stay in some hot spring locations, there are a number of private hotels that have their own hot springs. Some of them have decided to give rooms their own private onsen in your room. Onsen that are shared are separated by sex. However, if you have a private one in your room you can have a bath with your significant other. Whereas in a shared on you cannot.
Also with onsen you have to watch if you have tattoos. Even small ones are frowned upon in onsen as in Japan as tattoos are often thought of with the Japanese mafia or yakuza. Hence having your own private bath May be best for those with tattoos
Many houses and hotels including ryokans tap into the volcanic steam to heat up their bathtubs, that’s what you get in your ryokan, some onsen’s are mixed, and some public baths in Japan even electrify the water to give mild shocks
Hi Gabriel, Welcome back. Someone mentioned about the admission fee ' didn't he ? I'll show you Japanese Kanji number. 一 is one. 二 is two. 三 is three. 四 is four. If the admission fee is eleven hundreds yen, nobody comes. There are a thousand Onsen in Japan. I hope you will recover from the fatigue of your long journey. I always enjoy your movie. Thank you.
日本に住むためには日本語覚えないとかなりきついやろね。
まぁ大半の人が観光目的やけど
Beautiful japan🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵
6:57 the public bath costs you (adult) $1.37 (200yen) and kids $0.68(100yen) per person, not 8 dollars. anyway a nice video for even a Japanese thank you .
Any bed bug experiences of your world travels of staying in different beds to tell?
when Gabriel make some preview intro, i know its gonna be awesome trip!
雪綺麗
You need to pay a visit to a "Rotenburo", dude.
In Japan, a "rotenburo: is an OUTDOOR hot spring. Sometimes the setting is artificial. Other times more natural. Either case far superior, in my estimation, to a typical onsen.
By the way, I happened to have resided in Japan for 5 years straight. The last 2 years of which were up in Hokkaido.
you have to be careful roaming around in the woods….wild feral pigs and huge brown bears
night time is more dangerous
Japan is a very beautiful country
I am Japanese, but I would like to visit such a traditional hot spring in the countryside. I also heard that many hot spring towns used to be prosperous, but many of them have closed due to lack of successors.
I noticed there is no graffiti or trash laying around, is that correct???
Lovely video!
I’m loving this Japanese travel series, keep the videos coming!
When you travel to Sendai, make sure to visit Matsushima, Japan's three most scenic spots, you can enjoy seafood in that area & must try Gyutan, a grilled beef tongue set, you can find there are lots of Gyutan restaurant near the train station. In Hokkaido, spend a night at Noboribetsu onsen with board included, to experience the Japanese onsen experience. There are etiquettes before entering the onsen, you must clean up in that little bath area before going into the onsen and no towel/belongings as well because it will pollute the onsen water for hygiene reason. Japanese ppl are very self discipline and they do respect other to perform the same.
I realy enjoyed the walk through that forest but i was a bit worry about you if the (witch) would appear🤣🤣,🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
I just saw the musical "Into the Woods" and I was expecting Gabe to break out in song as he made his way through the forest.
hilarious start to your video. when you were up north it seemed so peaceful
Loving these Japan videos, little mention of the local beers yet though .
East or west our Gabe is best. Love from India 🇮🇳
Love your videos but I also love the knowledgeable comments under every video!
Thanks Gabe for another great video from Japan. The more you show of this amazing country and its contrasts the more I need to go.
But wait, there is more … And, you just knew there would be, eh?
THIS IS A VERRRRRY LONG COMMENT, GABRIEL.
1) PLEASE go here for everything you need to know about how to be a good guest, a good tourist, and a good Foreigner in The Land of The Rising Sun: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJapanChannelDcom/search?query=onsen
The owner of this channel / the guy is an Aussie, who moved to Japan, got married to a Japanese women, and then settled down in that land, because he wanted to live somewhere much more civilised.
👍 2) You said "Ryokan" correctly this time — WELL DONE! 👍
3) The price you paid for a night's full-on guest experience is not all that much for what you get and how much you are cared for. The Ryokans, or mountain inns are known for their pampering ways.
👉 4) PLEASE NEVER film inside an onsen, because you are in the company of NUDE strangers, who will frown upon that, although they will not do so to your face.
More about this a bit later …
✌ 5) Scrub off, please before you enter an onsen, in the stations where everyone else does so. Get all of the soap off of you by rinsing your bod thoroughly. Use your little tiny towel to get every more stuff and dirt off of you.
Then, go NUDE to the bathing area. NO worries. Everyone else is wearing the suits they came into the world wearing, too. ✌
NO WEARING SHORTS OR ANY CLOTHING IN THE ONSEN AREAS, EVER. This is not allowed!
🚨 💯 6) VERY IMPORTANT!! The Japanese will never, EVER behave towards you in the manner that we Americans do, if you are behaving oddly, or "off" or weird or … They will smile at you, and act as though ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is wrong! But, they will talk about you in Japanese and call you "too strong" or whatever else is bad if you err by even a tiny bit, veering away from the norm.
Foreigners are remarked upon. Anyone who looks unlike they do, is remarked upon. IT DOES NOT MATTER if they think you meant to do whatever or they know that you did not mean to do whatever. WHAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU SCREWED UP AT ALL. I am not yelling at you, Gabriel. I am only stressing the importance of NOT erring at all, over there.
Foreigners are perceived (rightly or wrongly) to represent everyone else from where they came from. What you do will tell the Japanese that everyone, from America behaves in the same way.
7) FAUX PAS: Never put your head or hair under water at the onsen or the Ryokan. The onsen are there for you to wash off beforehand and do everything outside the onsen (the soaking tubs themselves) and the tubs are there for you to soak and RELAX in AFTER you do all of your washing and rinsing off OUTSIDE the tub areas.
8) Men and Women are sequestered at Onsens and Inns. There is no co-mingling. There is no such thing as Unisex, or … (get this!) Transgender areas either. You use the area of the gender you look like. Now, if you look like a woman, and you happen to still have a penis (are not fully transgendered / transitioned) then … well, I would not recommend that you partake of using an onsen. You will NOT feel comfy, sorry.
💯 🚨 It pays to do your / one's research and look up the etiquette for foreigners about how to behave whenever you go to any foreign land or want to do anything "The American Way" in any foreign land. 💯 🚨
9) And … I would never recommend going off piste (as we say), off trails, or … just wandering in strange woods where the paths are not all that well delineated or marked off, especially when there are NO OTHER PEOPLE around to help you along your way, or guide you out (if you are lost) or … some such. I just would not recommend doing this, but .. you are much more intrepid than I am and a much more experienced traveler than almost anyone else on this planet, so … you will always do what you wish, and so be that, eh? 🙃 😉
Safe Journeys On!
Oh, and there is this, too: Public baths are very important to Japanese people who do not have bath tubs at home in which to soak. They go to public baths to get what they cannot get at home and also to commune and meet up with their friends, as well.
Hi from Japan. If you stay in Ryokan, You'd better to try Ryokan meals, dinner and breakfast. It usualy include local specialities, served with good condition. Tablefull of meals are served in your room or at ballroom. Try at least once!
Beautiful. I'd love to visit that lodge for hot saki someday
What a beautiful video! Makes me miss Japan and winter so much!
Gabe, do note that there are 2 types of public baths: 1) Onsen and 2) Sento. It is like the difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile. The reason you need to know this, which I'm surprised no one mentioned this to you, is because an onsen (public bath) uses hot water from a natural hot spring while a sento is also a public bath but the water is simply heated (like a sauna). So, at least you'll know the difference in case you are looking for a specific type of public bath. Basically, onsen is natural. Look it up "onsen vs. sento," the private bath at the hotel sounds more like a sento.
I really like your contents….. They really show the true hidden beauty of the countries you visit…….
On another note…. Did you know that harald balder calls you Gabriel high roller travler?
And do you know why? 🙄🤔❤️
Beautiful. This snow forest is cool ❄️
"I love the dark hard wood"🤣
Wow Gabe those hiking trails in that weather almost seemed like a dream world. The misty snow covered trails with the grey ominous clouds above along with the backdrop of that beautiful wooded area just seems so tranquil and in a weird way kind of creepy but in a good way if that makes any sense lol Absolutely amazing thanks for sharing!
7:28
The woman walking from the front says "ohayogozaimasu" which means good morning. She seems to have misheard your "stairs" as "ohayogozaimasu".
In some rural areas of Japan, the custom of greeting passers-by still exists. She must have thought, "Oh, a polite foreign tourist greeted me. I have to reply."