Furano is a beautiful city in Hokkaido which is famous for its lavender fields during summer. We went in winter, as Hokkaido generally is also famous for its powder snow during snowboarding season. Furano did not disappoint; for a person who grew up in the tropics, I was overwhelmed with happiness like a small kid. What a magical place.
Japan is widely famous for their hot spring culture. For conservative people, the idea of getting fully naked while bathing with others (same gender, or mixed), probably would horrify them. But when you get used to it, you would realize other people do not actually care at all. The health benefits of onsen (hot spring) are far more advantageous than getting too cautious about bathing naked.
Let me share about one of our best onsen experiences, like ever.
Kevin was so adamant about going to this "secret" hot spring. He had been there years ago but could not remember exactly where it was. I did not expect anything and just followed his lead. We took a bus to get to Fukiage Onsen. There was an onsen facility near the bus stop, and a sign to another one ahead. We could not read kanji and too lazy to translate. Still unsure, we just hoped his hunch was accurate when we followed the small sign.
We took a narrow road into a beautiful snowy forest; then about 3 minutes later it was right in front of us. A small onsen pool, which was too hot to get into, that we had to shovel some snow into it to lower the temperature.
It was too cold to strip, but we stripped anyway, lol. We had the liberty to do so, being alone. Until a Japanese guy came to enjoy the hot spring too, probably disappointed by our presence. We started chatting and talked about how it's dangerous to drink river/spring water due to fox disease, while shoving snow into the pool at the same time.
The best experience is to jump into the snow and then dip into the hot water. Fck the best experience haha. Well, only Kevin did that. We had so much fun though; mostly shivering in the cold, or squeaking because the water was hot. We had a good laugh minutes after he hung his shorts. You'll see why. 😆
Fukiage public open-air onsen is not really a secret anymore. It is perfect bathing there in the snow, but it's not for everyone. It can be uncomfortable for some people. But for us, we definitely had a very unforgettable great time! The last photograph still makes me laugh, it was extremely cold the pants froze in just minutes! xoxo