Japanese onsen
A symbol of the true rest to come
The Lord replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex. 33:14 ESV).
Japan is full of onsen hot spring resorts: Hakone, Atami, Kusatsu, Beppu, and so many others. These steaming mineral-rich waters and beautiful surrounding landscapes are soothing and healing for both body and soul.
Onsen facilities are often built with natural elements. Walls rise with wood and bamboo rather than concrete. Pathways stretch out with rocks and stones rather than tile. Pools fill from falling waterfalls and streams rather than faucets, flooding the air with the sound of running water.
In Japan, nothing to me represents rest more than onsen. They are places of physical and mental relaxation, offering recovery from both fatigue and stress. The hot water helps the body recover from injury. Dissolved minerals heal the skin. Whether you are overworked, sleep-deprived, sick, or in constant pain, onsen can help you enjoy time with friends and family without a care for the passing of time.
Nothing in Japan is perhaps closer to the Garden of Eden, where you can literally walk around naked and unashamed and enjoy the world as it was meant to be. Rest in this world points to the deep eternal rest that is to come. Our true onsen is found in heaven.
“Then angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1 NIV).
I look forward to the day when we will sit in pools along the river of the water of life with all our closest friends, free from fatigue and illness, delighting in God, each other, and the world. On that day, we can at last enjoy the “hot spring” of perfect rest that flows from the throne of Jesus.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 NIV).
The blood of Jesus is the pre-onsen cleansing shower that allows us to enter the rest that God offers.
Jesus brings us back into the Garden of Eden, a place of intimate community close to nature and free from sickness and injury. Jesus brings us into the New Jerusalem, a place full of things that point to the beauty and glory of God. Onsen are not an escape from this world, but a place where human activity is interconnected under the shalom and lordship of Christ. Oh, that we could now enter this eternal rest that God offers!
True rest may only be found in heaven, but in the meantime, we can go visit a Japanese onsen.