Naked Edamame

I’m usually a pretty shy guy when it comes to nudity. Somehow, I’ve managed to avoid the showers throughout my years in high school. Disgusting? Yes. If anybody minded, they sure did not show it. It just wasn’t a thing in our (probably stinky) school. Besides, I prefer to shower in the privacy of my own bathroom at home. That’s just the way I am. I feel awkward in the presence of naked people and I feel awkward being naked in the presence of other naked people. That all changed when I took up swimming, where my fear of germs overtook my fear of being naked. I was ok using the showers, as long as no one I knew saw me naked. That became the new dividing line that I dared not cross. That is, until I ended up in a public bathhouse with my friend on a trip to Japan. It was one of those things where you fear being in a situation until you are already in it. At that point, the fear of the unknown disappears as it is replaced by firsthand knowledge of the experience. There was really nothing sexual about it, if you’re heterosexual. The male and female sections of the bathhouse were separated so there was no chance of seeing any naked women. It was all dudes in the nudes. The trick is to keep your eyes trained on your friend’s face when you’re talking to them and to avoid looking down. Also, there was a small washcloth to cover yourself with, so that helped. But you were required to put this washcloth on your head when you enter the bath so it only helped partially.

After a while, I learned to relax and I started to take in my surroundings. The bath itself was beautifully decorated. There were several sections, with different themes. One was decorated like a bathhouse from Roman times. Another was decorated to look like the mythical world of Atlantis. There were even a couple of open-air baths if you enjoy being naked outdoors. The water temperatures ranged from boiling to ice cold. We tried to visit them all but there were just too many. We eventually settled on one that had the right balance of ambience and water temperature.

Afterwards, in the midst of exploring the rest of the place, we stumbled onto a bar. Yes, a bar. For naked people. As my friend ordered a couple of drinks and some edamame, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to work in bar like this where all you see are naked men ordering beer and edamame all day long. One look at the dead expression on the bartender’s face and I immediately knew - it was not a walk in the park. Perhaps, the experience was closer to a walk in a naked park.

Our order came and the beer was good and the edamame even better. As I sat there, naked, eating my edamame and drinking my beer, my foot soaking in a foot bath underneath the table, I tried reflecting on the appeal of these kinds of places. Do people secretly enjoy being naked in front of other naked strangers? How about being naked in front of friends? As for the relaxation aspect of being in a public bathhouse, I’m not sure how different it is from a relaxing hot bath in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Perhaps, there were even traditional and cultural aspects to this that I’m missing since I’m not a local.

I have to admit, there was something liberating about being naked in a public bath. It’s like freeing yourself from the burdens of society and societal norms and pressures. In here, there was no heavy coat, no shirt, pants, uncomfortable underwear. You were unburdened from the weight of the wallet and keys in your pants and what that meant. For a short time, you were unburdened from the credit card debt in your wallet, the mortgage attached to the keys to your home, the loan attached to the key of your car, the stresses of work attached to your workplace ID. More importantly, you were away from the distractions of cellphones and social media.

Everyone at the bathhouse were equal - we were equally naked and equally vulnerable, whether you are a highly paid CEO or just starting out as a retail worker. It was then that I understood that there doesn’t always have to be anything sexual about being naked. Hence, there is no need to feel apprehensive or uncomfortable about it. Perhaps, it’s just one way to unburden ourselves from the weight of living in a modern society with modern problems that we made up for ourselves. We lock ourselves away in our clothes, in our car, in our offices, homes and personal problems. We are glued to screens for most of our waking life - messaging, arguing, worrying. The rings, the pings, the obnoxious 10 second ads distract us and overwhelm our senses. For a brief moment, here in the serenity of the bathhouse, we were stripped away from all that, none of that exists except for the warm water, visually stunning interior decor, and your relaxed, calm mind.