Our hot spring tour

By Emi Tsuruta, First posted February 16, 2004

After my boyfriend, Ryosuke, and I came back from our little adventure up on that hill near my parents' house in Kamakura, I didn't see him for about a week or so.  For one, I was a little worried about going out so soon because maybe someone in those cars that saw me might be driving around looking for me.  Well, maybe not, but I was still a little worried about it.  Also, another thing was that Ryosuke and I had planned this big trip west to some hot springs, and we wanted to keep things quiet until then.  I told my parents I was going with my friends Debbie and Michiyo.  It was partly true.  The first night I stayed with two of them, and even ended up phoning my mom just to let her know that everything was alright.  It's not like I'm a little girl anymore, but my parents are always so worried about me.  I mean they like Ryosuke and everything, but they've got some pretty old-fashioned ideas.  When I asked if he could sleep over, my mom had a fit, so I knew that wasn't going to work.  Anyway, they did agree to let me go on a trip with Michiyo and Debbie, so that's what I did.

The first day, I met Michiyo and Debbie at the train station.  From there, we took the train to Yugawara, a hot spring resort town southwest of Tokyo.  I hadn't really been there before, but the ads we saw said that some famous Japanese actresses go there for vacations.  We didn't see anyone like that, but, it turned out to be a pretty nice place anyway.  We took the train along the coast chatting in a mix of Japanese and English.  Michiyo's English was better than I thought, and she and Debbie could communicate OK.  They wanted to hear all about my cousin Namie's wedding, and Michiyo especially wanted to know about her brother, Hideki (who I think she has a crush on).  I told them about the handsome American guy and Hideki slipping the ice cube down the back of my dress, and I was just about to tell them about running around the hotel with no panties on, but I decided that might sound a bit too weird.  Actually, they both kind of know how I am, but I just didn't want to say anything right at the start of our trip.  One problem was Ryosuke had kind of helped me pick out the hot spring, and it was co-ed, and I hadn't actually told them that yet.  I decided I'd better go one surprise at a time.

Anyway, we finally got to Yugawara, bought some snacks near the station, and then took a taxi to our inn, part way up this steep mountain.  Before we arrived, I had this picture of Yugawara being by the sea, but it turned out our inn was way inland.  Yugawara is a picturesque country town nestled in this sleepy little valley.

Once we'd checked in, the inn maid helped carry our luggage up to our room, and explained how the bath system worked.  There were two indoor baths, one for men and one for women, and one big outdoor bath which was co-ed except for 'ladies time' right after supper.  As I kind of expected, Michiyo kind of freaked out about the co-ed part.  Most inns these days have special outdoor baths just for women, but they are usually pretty small and surrounded by these high fences, so you don't really get the same view as the big co-ed ones.  I think I like the big outdoor baths better, even if it is kind of embarrassing if men show up while you're there.

Our room had the most beautiful view.  It was right on the corner with one big picture window looking out over the town in the valley below, and another big window overlooking the parking lot and the steep road we came up on.  I liked the view so much I took some pictures, and some of them turned out really nice - almost like postcards, I think.

Of course, I wanted to go down, and look at the baths right away.  Michiyo and Debbie weren't so keen, but I finally talked them into at least coming with me to see the women's indoor bath.  We all changed into our yukatas (=light cotton bath robes), and went down.  The bath was on the second floor at the back of the inn, and had these big floor to ceiling windows looking down over the river and at this big park on the slope across the way.

I took off my yukata, had a shower, and then stood there naked by the window looking out at the river and park.  I suddenly remembered my nude walk with Ryosuke out on the street, and I got all embarrassed thinking about it.  Without really thinking about it, I started gently touching my breasts.  There was like this tingling between my legs too.  I tried to get Michiyo and Debbie to come, and look, but they were too afraid to come near the windows in case someone outside was watching us.  I could see this path along the hill in the park on the other side, but it was hard to tell if anyone was there.  Still, this was a women's bath after all, so for once I had the perfect excuse to be walking around naked.

I went, and got my camera, and took some pictures of the river and the park.  I did end up feeling a little bit self-conscious, especially when these other women came in, and saw me, so eventually I put my camera away, and got into the pool with Michiyo and Debbie.  The women who came in though were staring more at Debbie than me.  I guess they didn't expect to see a blonde American girl in Yugawara, bathing in the same bath as them.

After we'd been there a bit, I finally convinced Debbie and Michiyo to come down with me, and take a peek at the outdoor bath.  We got dried off, put on our yukatas, and went off to find it.  On the way, we could kind of see some parts of the outdoor bath out the window, but you had to walk down this long winding corridor to get to the changing area.  There were two white-haired old men in the bath, so both Michiyo and Debbie ended up chickening out, but I decided to at least give it a try.

One problem was that the changing area was co-ed, and even worse, it was more or less open on three sides.  I stood there for a while trying to figure out how to wrap my towel around me without taking my yukata off.  I didn't want to just strip naked in front of these two strangers.  I couldn't figure what else to do though.  Eventually, I ended up taking my yukata right off, standing there naked for a minute till I could get my towel wrapped around me.  As soon as I stripped off though, the two men went silent, and I knew they must be watching me.  I hid around the corner behind this little wall, and tried to calm down.

'This is a co-ed bath,' I thought.  'I'm not doing anything wrong.'  Of course, not too many women my age go in to the bath in broad daylight especially not with men there.  Anyway, I took a deep breath, straightened out my towel, and waded into the pool, staying as far away from them as I could.  I could feel them watching me, and I got so flustered that I lost my grip on my towel, and I think they probably caught a glimpse of my pubic hair when the towel slipped.

"Kya!" I squealed, pulling the towel back around me.  My heart was beating like crazy, having just flashed these two old men, but I did my best to pretend like nothing had happened.  I walked to the far end of the bath, and sunk deep into the water trying to hide.  The water was warm, but not as hot as at some hot springs.  The two men stopped staring, and eventually went back to whatever it was they were talking about, but every once in a while, they would peek over this way.

Eventually, I managed to calm down a bit, and I took a look around.  Behind the men, there was a bamboo fence which I guess was meant to block the view, but actually you could still see the path in the park above it.  I felt a bit nervous wondering how many other people might be watching, but I couldn't see anyone for sure.  Behind me, there were some lit up windows with blinds on them.  I later found out this was the inn's ping pong room.  At the far end, there was a cave with a little waterfall of hot spring water that you could stand under.

I looked over at the men trying to decide if it would be safe to go take a look at the waterfall.  It was kind of a tense situation, but they were trying to act like there was nothing strange about my being there, and eventually I stood up.  My towel had come loose under the water, but eventually I got it wrapped back around me, and I carefully picked my way up the stone steps to the cave.  The bottom of the pool was all pebbly, but I stepped in, and hid from the men behind the wall of the cave.  I felt safer once I was out of sight.  I looked out over at the park across from us.

The bamboo fence blocked the view, but I could hear the river gurgling away even if I couldn't see it.  I wanted to take a look, so I got out, and walked over to the fence trying to act real calm and everything.  This wasn't easy 'cause I kept losing my grip on my towel.  To make things worse, another man came into the changing area, so I decided to give up, and head back.  The man who'd just come in gave me a curious look as we passed each other, but I quickly pulled my yukata back on over the towel, and ran back to the main building.

Supper was nice - kamaboko (a spongy dish made from fish), shabu shabu (thinly sliced boiled beef), boiled vegetables and two different kinds of sashimi (raw fish)- and we even got our own private dining room across from our room.  After supper, the three of us went back to our room to relax for a while, and then we remembered it was 'ladies time,' so we went back down to the outdoor bath.  It was kind of crowded because almost all the women in the whole inn were there.  I talked with a couple other Japanese girls who must have been around our age.  They were staying at the inn with two boys they knew.  I asked them if they were going to come back to the bath with their boyfriends once 'ladies time' was over, but they just giggled.  More women came, and it got so crowded Debbie, Michiyo and I decided to go back up to our room.

The three of us sat around for a while gabbing about life in California and Japan.  After nine o'clock, ladies time finished, but I wanted to go back down to the outdoor bath.  Michiyo and Debbie were still trying to get out of it, but by eleven, we figured that there'd be no one there, so they finally agreed to come with me.  The bath was empty, so we got a chance to look around a bit.  At first, we kept our towels on.  We went under the waterfall, and peeked out over the bamboo fence at the river.  The path in the park across the way was lit up by lanterns, and looked really romantic.

After a while, it looked like everyone had gone to bed  There didn't seem to be anyone around, and it was pretty dark out, so eventually we all took off our towels, and just enjoyed the feeling of the warm hot spring water on our naked skin.  I really do love that feeling.

Suddenly though, this guy came bounding down the corridor, and caught the three of us there naked.  We were all so embarrassed and flustered.  Debbie and Michiyo sank deep into the water to hide, but I didn't even bother to cover up my breasts as I told him we'd be done in few more minutes.  He seemed to be as surprised as we were to find us there in the nude, but he was really nice about it.  He apologized, and went all the way back to the main building to wait for us to get changed.  It was almost a shame in a way.  I got out of the bath, and without bothering to cover up, walked over to the entrance to peek down the hall.  Michiyo must have thought I was planning to go after him, 'cause she jumped out, and grabbed my arm.  I was kind of surprised 'cause I hadn't really meant to do anything anyway.  Michiyo wouldn't let go of my arm though, so I finally gave her a smack on her bare bottom.  Debbie got out of the bath too.  I apologized, and finally went, and picked up my towel to dry off.

Once we'd all got our yukatas on, we walked back up, and told the man he could go in now.  He was kind of cute in a rough kind of way, and I batted my eyelashes at him a bit, and Debbie and Michiyo giggled, and were making googoo eyes at him.  He smiled back, but went on by down towards the bath.

When we got back to our room, I asked Debbie and Michiyo what they thought about what we'd just done, but they both seemed kind of embarrassed by the whole thing, and started getting ready for bed.  I was way too charged up to even think about sleep.  I kept thinking about the look on that guy's face when he'd caught us naked like that.  After Michiyo and Debbie went to sleep, I went back down to the bath, but it was already closed for the night.  I decided to go out for a walk, so I went back to the room to get my haori (=a short Japanese style coat you wear over a yukata).

I left my key at the front desk, and walked back down the hill to the bridge that goes over the river.  I wasn't wearing any underwear under my yukata though, so I was getting a little excited again.  The whole town was so quiet.  I saw a couple around my age in yukatas probably staying at another inn, but there were no cars at all, and all the lights in the shops were out.  I couldn't believe how early everyone goes to sleep.  I guess there aren't that many places that stay open late in Yugawara.

I walked across the bridge, and then back along the other side of the river, and found the entrance to the park we'd seen from the baths.  I walked up the steps along this steep path through the trees.  With all the trees, it was pretty dark, but it looked safe enough.  It was very peaceful.

I climbed up the path, and eventually, I could see our inn back on the other side of the river.  Almost all the lights were out there too.  When I climbed up farther, I saw the outdoor bath, and sure enough the path was high enough you could see the whole bath.  I wondered if anyone had seen us early when we were frolicking around in the nude.  Eventually, further up the hill, I came to a large clearing with some kind of hot spring amusement in the middle.  I turned around, and went back the way I came down the path through the forest.

I guess I should tell you that I was kind of looking around for a place I could take my yukata off.  I don't do things like that too often, especially with Ryosuke not around, but there was just something about that whole night, bathing with those old men, and being seen by that handsome guy.  I was in one of those moods, and it was hard to settle down.  The whole town seemed pretty quiet, and I thought... I don't know.  I thought maybe it would be fun to just see if I could... well you know have some fun I guess.  I just wanted to try, and see what would happen.

About half way down, I noticed a break in the trees that led down a narrow path to the river.  I followed it down till I came right to the water's edge.  The river was rocky and shallow, foaming white in places where the water splashed up.  I could hear the murmuring of the river flow, and the cicadas chirping away, but other than that, it was so quiet.  On the other side of the river, I could see the bamboo fence of the bath, but the main building of our inn was further back.  I looked back up into the woods along the path, but it looked like no one was around at all.  I decided to take a chance, and I carefully stripped off my haori and yukata, folding them over my arm, and stood there in the nude for a moment.

I dipped my toe into the river, but it was so cold.  Even though I'd been brave enough to strip down, I felt afraid standing there naked in the forest so close to the center of town, so I ended up pulling my yukata and haori back on.  My heart was pounding, and I didn't want to take any more chances, so I quickly walked back to the inn.

I still felt too excited to go to bed though.  I wanted to do something else, do something a bit more daring.  I didn't want to wake Debbie and Michiyo, so I just took off my haori, and then went across the hall to the tatami(=straw mat) dining room where we'd eaten supper.  The blinds on the windows were all closed, and it was all dark.  I took off my yukata again, getting all excited from being naked out in the public area of the inn.  Leaving the yukata on the floor, I tiptoed over to the door, and peeked out into the hallway.  It was really quiet, but I knew that the people at the front desk directly below were probably still awake.  I worked up my nerve, and finally, stepped right out into the hallway.  My whole body was tingling from the feeling of standing there naked in the hallway.  I guess part of it was the fact that someone could come along at any second, and catch me there.  I felt so embarrassed and nervous and excited it felt like I was going to burst.  The tension was too much though, and I ran back into the dining hall, and put my yukata back on.

I couldn't settle down though.  I was still as wound up as ever.  I ended up taking my yukata off again, and walked out naked straight down the hall past all these rooms where people were sleeping.  The electricity in the air was incredible.  I made it all the way to the stairs and elevators right in the center of the inn.  I knew what I was doing was crazy.  There were dozens of people staying in the inn that night.  Someone could come out at any minute.  I just couldn't stop myself.  I was loving the feeling, the pure naughtiness of it all too much.

I felt for my necklace.  It was the only thing I was wearing.  I played with it nervously as I listened to hear if anyone was coming.  I looked down at my creamy white body, my tan from the summer all gone by now.  I could hardly believe I was doing such a thing, standing there stark naked right in the middle of the inn.  What made me do such a thing?  Ryosuke wasn't even there, and here I was doing the exact same thing.  I dug my toes into the plush carpeting, savoring the feeling, anything that reminded me of how vulnerable and exposed I was.  I peeked over at the elevator, and the lights seemed to be moving.  I suddenly realized that maybe this wasn't the safest place to be running around naked.

Before the elevator doors opened, I quickly ran back to the dining hall.  Even when I made it back to the safety of the tatami room, my whole body was still shaking uncontrollably with excitement from what I'd just done.  It was like such an incredible thrill to be walking around here and there in the inn with nothing on.  I've always wanted to try that, and I'm glad I did.  I started thinking that I might like to try it again some day if I got the chance, maybe with Ryosuke there to guard me.  Finally, I put my yukata back on, went back to our room, and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up in an even friskier mood, if you can imagine.  Ryosuke was coming that day, so I was excited about that, but I was also all keyed up about my adventures the night before.  I wanted to do it again, but now it was daylight out, and there were a whole bunch of people in the halls.  I decided I'd better not walk the halls in the nude with so many people around, but I did manage to convince Michiyo to come down with me to the outdoor bath before breakfast.  She went to the indoor bath first, and then came down to meet me.  When I got there, there wasn't anyone there, so I stripped off my yukata, and started walking all around in my bare scuddy taking pictures of the bath, the park and everything.  I knew there might be people watching me from the park, but I didn't let that faze me.  I wanted to enjoy every last minute of this.

Michiyo came down, and I got her to take some pictures of me naked in the bath and around the edges.  I even managed to talk her into letting me take some pictures of her, but she was really shy and half covered herself with her towel.  When she came out to change, I snuck a couple of pictures of her bottom though.  She noticed and pretended to be upset, but I kind of think that secretly she was enjoying it too, being photographed like that.  She's a bit thinner than I am, and her skin is so white, but I think she has a good body too.  If only she didn't cover it up all the time, she'd have a boyfriend now for sure.

Just as Michiyo and I were putting our yukatas on, a young man, probably the boyfriend of one of the girls we'd met the night before, showed up.  Michiyo grabbed her stuff, and headed back up the corridor, but he gave me this really disappointed look at having missed seeing us nude.  He was kind of cute, so I thought of staying, and giving him a peek at what he'd missed, but it was time for breakfast, so I just ended up following Michiyo back up to our room.

We had breakfast, and then Michiyo and Debbie got packed and ready, while I went to the women's indoor bath to shampoo and dry my hair.  When I got back, they'd already taken their luggage downstairs.  I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, went down, and saw them off, but I still had to wait around for Ryosuke to show up.  They thanked me for organizing the trip, and said they'd had a good time.  I was sorry to see them go, but I knew Debbie was anxious to get back to Tokyo to see her boyfriend.

After they'd left, I came back up to the room, and sat there alone for a while looking out at the view.  I pushed back the sheers to take a few more pictures, and this got me wondering if the people down below could see me.  The sheers were thin and silky white.  From this side, they looked almost see-through, but I thought maybe, no one would be able to see in because our room was so much darker.  I went to the bathroom, and took off my clothes again.  I just couldn't resist the urge to go back out into the room naked, and take a peek out the window.  At first, I stood hiding behind the wall, but out the side window, I could see the whole town in the valley with cars and buses going by on the main street.

I peeked around the corner, and I could see one of the girls from the day before coming out into the parking lot with her boyfriend.  I felt so naughty to be standing there naked just a few yards from them.  I touched my breasts, and that sent a shiver running through me.  I touched myself a little, you know, down there.  It was like I couldn't stop myself anymore.  I walked right out to the middle of the window looking down at them.  I almost had a heart attack when the guy turned this way, but luckily he didn't look up.  I couldn't believe it.  Here I was standing stark naked, horny as anything, right in the middle of this huge picture window, and he didn't even notice.  I felt like I was invisible.  Almost as if to check, I pulled aside the sheers to give him a really good look at my body.  I spread my legs, and struck my sexiest pose.  I was so nervous though I couldn't stop shaking.  I must have gone crazy, because if the guy had just glanced up, he would have noticed me for sure.

Then I suddenly realized what I was doing.  I ran back to the bathroom.  I couldn't calm down though, and soon I came back out, and danced around in the nude by the windows.  I don't think anyone saw me, but I have to say that this ranks right up there with some of the craziest things I've done.  Afterwards I always have trouble explaining why I go wild like that, but at the time, it seemed so appealing for some reason.

Eventually, I realized it was almost eleven, so I tried to calm back down.  I quickly got dressed, took my bags down to the front desk, and checked out.

Ryosuke showed up a bit past eleven.  I didn't want to tell him about all the stuff I'd been doing, at least not right away.  He gave me a kiss, and I looked down and blushed embarrassed at having been such a bad girl without him even knowing.  We got in the car, his dad's, and drove along quietly down the coast.  He seemed in a good mood though.  This was our big chance to finally spend some time alone together.  It's not every day we get to take a trip like this.  I just kept looking over at him and smiling shyly.  This was going to be fun.

Anyway, I guess I'd better stop here for now, and tell you the rest next time.  Talk to you soon.

Emi Tsuruta
My web site:
http://www.asstr.org/~emitsuruta