Reminiscences on Beautiful Naked Asian Boys, Saunas and Hot Springs

[PeterRS]

With new threads about boys and sex a bit thin on the ground, perhaps one focusing on at least one of these topics might be of interest. Less about sex, though. 

From the time I was at school, I have been sort of obsessed with the male body. At first it was faces and I had my first 'crush' at the age of 12. Naturally nothing came of it as I was too backward in coming forward and the object of my desire seemed to have no interest. I was even seated next to him at the end of term Prize-giving. Oh, what might have been! It was not long before my eyes were gazing downwards, particularly on the sports fields - well, in the changing rooms - and at the school's pool. The length of some of those cocks was a constant joy, the more so when quite a few of the guys seemed to enjoy being gazed at while they played with them.

Having made my first tentative rather furtive steps in gay sex, my twenties were hardly a riot as I was still in the closet. Then the riot started in my early 30s. I could not get enough of it and there were always plenty of young men around who felt the same way.  My first ventures into a gay sauna were a revelation for all the sex that was available. I have written somewhere about visiting Night Thermos (correct name?) in Amsterdam, a very large one in New York and, best of all, the equally large Le Continental in Paris. I suppose it was really in Le Continental that my desire for Asian boys was sparked for there were many Vietnamese living in Paris, quite a number of whom were at the sauna.  I think it was less the sex and more the sight of such beautifully smooth-skinned young Asian boys who were perfectly happy to walk around almost totally naked.

That Paris experience came home to me when I visited central Vietnam early last year before borders were closed. With my partner unable to get time off, I was on my own. Almost as soon as I had reached Hoi An, a quite lovely mid 20s guy clicked me on one of the apps. He was in Danang, about 30 minutes away, but I had not intended sex to be any part of that trip. After Hoi An I was going up to the old Imperial capital of Hue or a few days before spending my last three days in Danang. So we arranged to meet up for a dinner when I got there. He was perfectly delightful. He became a sort of tour guide. On my last night I invited him to the hotel for a drink. Cocktails in the rooftop bar then morphed into a shower in my room. The ensuing 40 minutes or so all in the shower were amazing! Belatedly I have realised there is something about Vietnamese boys which is very special. 

But it was my first experience of an Asian sauna that really opened my eyes. On a business trip to Tokyo, a Japanese friend took me to Oban sauna in the Kabuki-cho district in Shinjuku. This still is a rather sleazy nightlife area, not gay, but right there was Oban, which I think was one of Tokyo's first gay saunas. It was relatively small inside but spotlessly clean. Walking up one floor after disrobing, I was amazed to find that most of the boys were walking around totally naked. A few had small towels that they held in front but they were in a small minority. It felt like I had arrived in heaven! After the ritual washing and a spell in a hot pool, I wandered around. Coming out of the steam room I bumped into a very handsome boy who featured in several gay magazines. I was even surprised that sex took place not in private cabins but in quite large open rooms with long mattresses on two sides. These were understandably dark but still light enough to see what was going on and who was doing what to whom! Sitting and just watching some action seemed to be very popular! Those entwined in sex had no problem with that.

Over several decades I have attended other Japanese saunas, apart from the years when foreigners were forbidden, a belated attempt by the owners to keep HIV from spreading.  My memory tells me that the sex was rarely great, with just two instantly stunning exceptions. It was the sight of so many absolutely wondrous beautiful bodies in glorious nudity that has stayed with me. There is always something more fascinating about a cute glistening slim body that has just emerged from a hot pool or from the steam room than the boys I used to see naked all those years ago in Bangkok's go-go bars.

Stripping away the sex, it was always possible to see naked boys in the onsen dotted all around Japan. But you could rarely be sure they would only be young guys for attending an onsen is a Japanese ritual and all ages attend. I was not interested in looking at a bunch of older men! If there were onsen exclusively for young people, I never found them. In Taipei, on the other hand, there is at least one hot spring on the outskirts of the city which attracts mostly young guys, most of them gay. Here again sex is not part of the experience, although there may be a little  hanky panky in the steam room despite the notice outside saying no playing around. Even though I am now in that much older group which I disliked in Japanese onsen, in Taipei there seems no discrimination about age. Indeed, the one I always attend is rather like a social club. Everyone is there for an enjoyable time drifting between the five pools of differing temperatures. There are parts of each where it is easy to see who has just entered and goes to the shower area. It's also easy to see which pool they enter. More than once I have zeroed in on a young guy I have found particularly attractive and gone to sit next to him. After a reasonable pause, I will even start to chat. Most Taiwanese can speak at least a little English and I have rarely found any not prepared to chat if only for a little while. One guy I met and the partner he was later to find have become very good friends.

If particularly attracted to a guy and that attraction is mutual, it is easy to swap phone numbers to arrange to return to your hotel or hook up on another day. Or even just to discover a new restaurant and enjoy a meal sitting next to the nearest thing to a demi-god! Not that sex is always out of my mind nowadays. Far from it. t's just that there is no need to go to a hot spring for sex because there is so much available elsewhere. As in every city, you only have to know where to look! Now if only borders would open again soon, I will very quickly be on a plane first to Taipei and then to Vietnam. No need to guess why!

[TotallyOz]

Wonderful reminiscences! Thank you. You make me want to visit Taiwan again. I do love the people there. I don't dislike Japan but I was never overly fond of it either.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

Wonderful reminiscences! Thank you. You make me want to visit Taiwan again. I do love the people there. I don't dislike Japan but I was never overly fond of it either.

Once cute young Japanese guide is all it will take. I remember my first ever visit. I had arrived on a Friday afternoon, jet-lagged after a few days in New York and then two in Los Angeles, knew no-one, spoke only a few words of the language and had a week-end to kill before meetings the following Monday. On Saturday morning, after doing a little sightseeing, I got off the subway to look at another area. As I was walking up the long steps into the summer sunlight along with seemingly half of the city, I noticed a tall guy in a bright white shirt going down along with the other half of the city. For a second our eyes locked. A couple of seconds later I turned to look down. He was doing the same looking at me. The crowds were such that we could not change direction. Once at the top I assumed he would have disappeared into the station. But from the top I could just make out that white shirt in the darkness. He was looking up. So what was I to do? I went down again. We chatted even though his English was not very good. We then met a few hours later, had dinner, he showed me where the ni-chome bars were, came back to my hotel and then spent the rest of the week end with me. Thereafter I loved the city, even though I never saw my first guide again. Simple! 

[TotallyOz]