Introduction

1Beaches are « sexualized » places not only because of the revealing clothing since the 1920s (in the Western world), but because, like lakes and swimming pools, they show the body to advantage in the water, both for spectators and other swimmers. Places of water and wetness are suggestive and are often mentally associated with « nude bathing ». Think, for instance, of the many movie scenes of a couple out walking or hiking finding, a small lake and throwing off their clothes to plunge in or, even better, a man or group of men out in the woods, suddenly coming across a group of naked girls swimming!

2Hot spring resorts are similar but socially organized institutions providing such opportunities for voyeurism and plunging in, more so in East Asia than in the many other hot spring venues found in Europe and the Americas. Natural hot springs abound in Japan and certain regions of Korea and China, and they have long been « culturalized » for the leisure of locals and travelers.

Japanese Onsen

3Indeed, hot spring destinations (onsen) are, outside of the famous cities, Japan’s number one tourist attractions (Graburn 1995, 1998). In Japan the tradition requires thorough washing before entering the baths and no clothes are permitted, but everyone carries a small towel. Men and women may bath separately either in separate baths - and the men’s facilities (Figure 1.) are usually much superior to the women’s. The huge hot spring resort of Ibusiki, south of Kagoshima, every year hosts 3 million bathers and nearly a million stay overnight. In the largest establishment with 29 baths, 22 are for men (including suni-mushi, hot sand-buryings) and only seven for women. I noticed many of the men gazing through the greenery at the women on the other side in pools slightly below!

4Or men and women alternate at posted times in the main bath facilities. In some onsen, all the baths are mixed sex and in others, that is only permitted after, say 9 p.m., mainly for the younger people. In the mountains of Wakayama, there is a famous spot in the river called Kawayu [river-hot water] where volcanic hot water mixes with rainwater and at certain times of year, when the temperature is bearable, the whole river becomes a senninburo [a thousand-person bath] and families and couples flock there to bath in the darkness, leaving their clothes and towels scattered along the banks (Figure 2). Conversely some onsen and onsen ryokan (see below), offer private single person or family sized baths where couples or families can bathe at any time if it is attached to their room or, if separate, when they book it.

7After the meal, the occupants go again to the baths, and when they return to the room, the dinner table and cushions have gone, and the straw mat floor is laid out with the mattress and futon bed ready for them to doff their yukata and lie down for the night. It is also common to take a bath again after waking up in the morning, especially in the light of dawn.

8Many Japanese ryokan have private ofuro, small baths of the type that nearly one everyone has at home (Figure 5).

10Korea has sexualized sites and hot springs similar to Japan, with habits brought by Japan’s forty year colonization (1905-1945). Though nudity is usally required, there are fewer opportunities of mixed sex baths. Similarly, the ex-colony Taiwan, follows mainly Japanese trends but, like China, some resorts offer scented baths.

Chinese Hot Spring Resorts

11In spite of its varied geology, there are natural hot springs to be found in nearly every part of China. These were traditionally used by peasants in villages and emperors in palaces alike, for relaxation, washing and cures both for the skin and internally. But it is only in the recent era of prosperity that organized resorts and accompanying hotels have been developed and expanded almost everywhere, especially the near major cities.

13Hot spring resorts are becoming more specialized. There are still free or cheap baths for peasants, workers and adventurous backpackers. But most resorts are private and are rapidly modernizing, combining bathing, with regular massage treatments, luxurious accomodations and tempting restaurants. Some specialize in attracting young people, in big crowds, others have spectacular events such as shows, water splashing and even fighting duos in soy milk and tofu filled baths.

14More common in China than, perhaps, either Japan or Europe, are the provision of sizable private baths (or pools) for each room in a resort or hotel (Figure 6).

15In some Chinese hotels, such as the Mermaid Hotspring Inn, in the Tangjiajia Hot Spring B&B Village, near Nanjing, each room has a large “family sized” bathroom attached; and each room is themed to a certain nationality, for instance, Persian, French, German, with appropriate décor (Figures7a, 7b).

16Other larger resorts, such as the Geothermal Paradise Resort (Figure 8), near Eryuan Lake, in Dali County, Yunnan, is a huge ambitious venture with a series of outdoor and indoor large public baths (for clothed bathers) but each room of the “hotel sector” has a large (more than nuclear family seized) outside pool attached (Figure 9). I am suggesting that it is the arrangement of the private baths and pools that are encouraging the romantic and sexual activities of the tourists. As pointed out in the Introduction, this is not usually thought of as “sex tourism” but it does promote erotic opportunities and, of course, the tourists sharing a room may not be (long term) partners in their home communities. The large pools with mixed genders and clothed bathers are hardly different from any swimming pool or beach. However, they provide opportunities for social and bodily contacts, and many of the resorts crowded with young people, such as Lijiang or Dali are known as hook up hotspots for “romantic” one night stands.