Onsen etiquette card: the seven steps
The rules of a Japanese bath are simple and almost never explained in English. This card prints them in order — Japanese on the card as the posted sign words it, English so you know what you are reading — and fits in a wash bag.
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The seven steps, in the order they happen
Shoes off into the shoe locker at the entrance. Undress completely in the changing room, because swimwear is not worn. Rinse your body with hot water — the kakeyu — before going near the bath. Sit down at a washing station and wash your body and hair. Rinse off every trace of soap before getting in. Keep your towel out of the water, on your head or on the edge. Dry yourself off before you step back into the changing room.
The step travellers get wrong
Standing up to shower. Japanese washing stations have a stool and a bucket for a reason: standing sprays your neighbour a metre away, and it is the single most common complaint about foreign bathers. Sit on the stool, wash, rinse with the bucket, and leave the station as you found it — a quick rinse of the stool and the floor when you finish is what regulars do.
The five extra rules worth adding
The tool can add five more: tie long hair up so it does not touch the water, keep your voice down, do not swim or duck under, take no photographs anywhere in the changing room or the bath, and drink water before and after — about ten minutes in the bath is a sensible limit, and a 42-degree bath dehydrates faster than it feels like it does.
Tattoos and where the steps still apply
The same seven steps hold in a sento, a hotel daiyokujo, a ryokan bath and a private kashikiri-buro. If you have a tattoo, check at the desk first — the companion card in this tool asks that question in Japanese, and the answer decides whether you need a cover patch, a private bath or a different bathhouse.
Printing it
Seven steps fit a business-card size, and A6 is the better choice if you want to read them at arm's length in a steamy changing room. Ten cards per A4 sheet with cut lines, printed at 100 percent scaling. Nothing is uploaded: the card is assembled by JavaScript inside your own browser tab, with no server and no account involved.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be completely naked in an onsen?
Yes. Swimwear is not worn in a Japanese bath, and only the small towel comes with you into the bathing area — held in front of you if you like, but never dipped in the water. The baths are separated by gender, and mixed baths are rare and clearly signposted where they exist.
What is kakeyu?
The rinse you give yourself before going near the bath, usually with a wooden or plastic ladle from a basin by the entrance to the bathing area. Pour from your feet upwards. It rinses off sweat and lets your body adjust to the temperature, and skipping it is noticed.
Where does the small towel go?
Anywhere except the water. Most people fold it and rest it on their head, which is where the image of a towel-on-the-head bather comes from; the edge of the bath is equally fine. The large towel stays in the changing room, because you dry off before you go back in.
Is anything uploaded?
Nothing is uploaded: the card is assembled by JavaScript inside your own browser tab, with no server and no account involved.