Coronavirus: Japan’s onsen provide virtual reality antidote to lockdown blues

As visitor numbers plummet amid a nationwide state of emergency over the pandemic, owners of hot springs and public baths had to get creative

One solution has been to recreate the experience of taking a relaxing dip in virtual reality, while others have opted for a more low-tech approach

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An employee of Arima Onsen tries out the new virtual reality experience while posing in a bathtub filled with water from a hot spring. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00am, 27 Apr 2020Updated: 8:51am, 27 Apr 2020

With the government advising against anything but the most urgent of excursions outside the home and fears growing daily about the unchecked spread of the novel coronavirus, the owners of Japan’s much-loved onsen and sento public baths are having to get inventive to meet the needs of their loyal clientele.

The answer for a number of establishments that suddenly find themselves without customers has been to provide them with a free virtual dip in a hot spring or public bath.

“There have been studies showing that 98 per cent of Japanese people go to an onsen at least once every year, so relaxing in a hot spring is a really important part of Japanese culture,” said Kazushige Kanai, the owner of Arima Sanso Gosho Bessho onsen in the resort town of Arima, close to Kobe.

“Since the quarantine rules were brought in, very few people have been able to come to Arima, and we understand that and do not want them to come because of worries about the virus – but we did want to do something to help people.”

An empty shopping district is seen in Tokyo on Tuesday. Japanese have been urged to stay home to curb the spread of coronavirus. Photo: AP

Kanai’s solution has been to create a virtual reality experience that recreates what it is like to relax in one of the country’s many hot springs.

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