Where can I find a Japanese onsen towel?

September 14, 2016 1:26 PM

I can't figure out how to find a towel like I brought home from Japan. Can you help?

When I visited Japan fifteen years ago, I came home from an onsen with a little white towel that you could squeeze the water out of. I think I bought it for around a dollar with my admission to the onsen. Since then I've picked up a luxurious (in my odd mind) habit after a shower of drying my body first with a couple of squeezes of the onsen towel, and then if I feel like it, picking up my still-cozy-dry regular-western bath towel and drying myself thoroughly. Now my one onsen towel is wearing out, and I can't figure out from the internet how to buy a few of these. Sure, I'd be happy if someone wants to pick a few up for me while you're over there, but is there a word for these I can use to find one to buy online?

posted by spbmp to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (11 answers total)

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but divers have been using artificial chamois for this for ages. There are a bunch of options out there.
posted by goggie at 1:31 PM on September 14, 2016

Well, they're not usually white, so I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind, but tenugui are a pretty common Japanese item. They're just a thin, woven, cotton towel, and usually sold as cheap and pretty souvenirs, but they're very versatile, and you can find them loads of places.
posted by Diagonalize at 1:34 PM on September 14, 2016

We have tons and tons and tons of them, but couldn't you just use a white hand towel or something?
posted by My Dad at 1:38 PM on September 14, 2016

If it's a thin cotton towel, maybe a small Turkish peshtemal will work?

(I don't think these are what you meant, right?)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:52 PM on September 14, 2016

Microfiber hair towels are pretty close.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:40 PM on September 14, 2016

My Dad, a white hand towel doesn't have the nice capacity to hold a lot of water and then lose almost all of it by wringing out.

Johnny W, I've got a peshtemal, a gift from Turkey, but it also doesn't do the hold-and-release. (It's a little slick/smooth, not super absorbent, quite nice to lie on.)

but wait -- (I don't think these are what you meant, right?)
that's oddly close -- the qualiries they're talking about like absorbency and quickness to dry are in the right direction... and it's pretty funny that I missed "onsentowel.com"! If you click on "get one" it takes you to a form to put down your email to hear when theyre in production. ok, probably much fancier than what I'm looking for (and real-towel-sized, which is kind of silly :-) but certainly an interesting curiousity. And maybe we've just helped them drum up some business!

microfiber/chamois are ideas worth trying.

amazing that it seems so hard to actually find them!
posted by spbmp at 6:35 PM on September 14, 2016

I found some on Amazon that approximate Japanese onsen towels by using the term "salon towels". It looks like it's the right dimensions, too - rectangular, not too big.
posted by suedehead at 7:06 PM on September 14, 2016

They are called tenugui.
They are used not only in onsens, but basically everywhere that towels are used.
A quick search on ebay showed several at affordable prices.
posted by xmts at 8:43 PM on September 14, 2016

Onsen towels are not tenugui. Tenugui are a rectangle of cotton with an unfinished edge. Onsen towels are a thin towel with a short sparse pile.
posted by Sar at 3:37 AM on September 15, 2016

Thanks, Sar! I retract my previous suggestion. It's been a long time since I was at an onsen.
posted by Diagonalize at 8:14 AM on September 15, 2016

Learning to work with amazon.jp will be a bit of a project for me, but I think Gotanda's suggestion is the most direct match!
posted by spbmp at 12:19 PM on September 15, 2016