Onsen, hot Japanese spa

A new experience for us in Japan. Our accommodation (hotel in Osaka) has it's own Onsen taking up much of the 16th floor. The advertising states that the water is pumped from a hot spring just under the building where the natural mineral laden water comes from 1050 meters below the surface of the earth.

Half of the bathing facility is for women and the other side for men. We felt a little trepidation not knowing the procedure or system. Signage in Engish helped a little with some mistakes along the way. First step included being yelled at for approaching the Onsen reception with shoes on!  The sign on the floor indicated taking shoes off  however  our attention was concentrated on the reception desk not on the floor!!

The arrangement includes a locker (for shoes) with a key.  Once we had individually locked our shoes away, that key was taken back by a staff member and replaced with another locker key. This key had an expandable band to wear on our wrists.

This is where we parted males to one side and females to another. Once inside what appeared to be a labyrinth of passages and doors stating "Private" or "Staff Only" I found the locker room and the locker with the correct number on my wrist.

Etiquette.

1.  No clothes at all.  That includes no bathers.
2. Wash very thoroughly.  Yes pre reading meant I knew that washing came first  but where, there was no bathroom in sight. So another tour of passages and doors! At last I found the open 3 sided "cubicles" inside the pool area. There were little chairs to sit on with hand held showers. Sitting down is a bit weird for a shower. So I copied what others were doing and had a lovely hot shower and hair wash using the generous amounts of soap, shampoo  and conditioner available in each cubicle.
3. No hair or towels in the water. I read that each person gets one big towel and one small towel.  I dried myself off with the big towel and then realised that the small towel wouldn't hold my hair up out of the water so I tied my hair up with the big towel. I noticed people looking at me... they had the small towel just resting on their heads for easy access later. I realised afterwards that the small towell is for modesty purposes when one is out of the water... to "cover" those parts one doesn't want to be open to viewing by others. As I  said before towels are not allowed in the water.
4.  No swimming. Relaxation only. The idea is to relax as completely as you can. Dave used an outdoor bath as well, enjoying the outdoors including listening to trains at the local station. 
5. No tattoos!  This is a bit of a puzzle. I don't understand why.

There were 3 pools to choose from. The water temperature was hot in one bath, very hot in another and the last bath very cold! The first bath was very enjoyable the 2nd too hot to take for more than 5 minutes. The 3rd cold bath was a shock to the system and not pleasant in any way. One could smell the minerals in the water.. hopefully doing good to one's body and soul.

Afterwards we felt very relaxed, we are going again before we leave for Tokyo tomorrow. One thing to note: one gets very dehydrated in the hot water. The picture is of the sign outside the Onsen the no pyjamas refers to the fact that robes are also not allowed and obviously no food or drinks.