Quote:
Originally Posted by EveV
I don't think I'd like being naked in a body of water where there are other naked people.
For one I'd be terribly uncomfortable.
I'd be thinking of all the germs swimming around with me <<
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While I won`t comment on your personal feelings of discomfort - onsens are actually fairly low on the germs. A lot of people seem to have some misconceptions regarding that part.
Onsens (and sento, really) have been shown to have considerably fewer germs than chlorinated pools (and infinitely fewer than lakes/rivers/ocean, but that`s dirty by nature). The big points are 1) People bathe BEFORE getting into the water with other people. 2) The water is constantly flowing, and is always in the process of being changed.
People in an onsen are clean. They`ve just washed themselves down, and removed all the unpleasant grime. They also are naked, so no germ and bacteria bearing swimsuits. In a pool or other bathing situation, a swimsuit actually offers negative protection. Instead of keeping germs away, it actually absorbs them and holds them against your skin. Not to mention that in a pool, as everyone else doesn`t need to bathe before they get in, you might have a kid with a feces encrusted bottom who hasn`t taken a bath in a month. A bathing suit is definitely not going to protect you.