My apologies for the following blog.
Some of the mental images I will conjure up may scar some of you for life.
This past weekend was a three day weekend in Japan as Monday was a National Holiday known as “Umi no hi” or Marine Day which celebrates the blessings of the oceans. So rather than stay in Tokyo I decided to explore further afield and headed West across the country. Although I was looking forward to seeing the Japanese countryside and especially the Nihon Arupusu (Japanese Alps), the main purpose of the trip was to stay in several ryokans which is the Japanese equivalent of a bed & breakfast. I was also determined to find one that had an onsen (hot springs) as part of the ryokan. The onsen can be either outdoor or indoor but the ones I stayed at included indoor pools or hot tubs and frankly they’re not difficult to find although the quality can vary greatly. These are really fantastic places to stay but one requirement is that you must throw away the concept of American embarrassment towards nudity. So read on if you dare because you know where this is going.
Friday night I found a Ryokan tucked up into the hills of a city called Suwa which is in the geographic center of Japan. The city overlooks a small rectangular shaped lake that is about 2 miles by 2.5 miles in size. As typical in Japanese homes and lodging, you take off your shoes in the entrance area but the procedure takes a little getting used to and requires a bit of a balancing act. The idea is as follows: walk into the hotel or ryokan and take off one shoe on the stone or marble floor but don’t place your shoeless foot on the stone or marble floor. That would get your sock or foot dirty and would track dirt into the main lobby which is the same as wearing the shoes into the lobby. Big no-no. You place your shoeless foot on a little step next to the floor. While balancing on the step, take off your other shoe and then stand on the step with both feet. On the main lobby floor are hotel or ryokan provided slippers. You slide into the slippers from the step and then walk into the lobby and the Registration Desk. Complicated? You bet. Try remembering all that when you come stumbling in drunk from the local sakeya. Of course, for me I can never actually achieve the slipper part because they’re typically about a Men’s size 8 and I wear a size 13. As I walked towards the Registration Desk in my socks the first night the clerk began pointing excitedly at the slippers as I was violating the protocol. I picked one of these elfin flip flops up and held it against my foot showing him there was no way on Buddha’s green earth that toy was gonna fit on my boat feet. The clerk let out an astonished string of Japanese words (who knows what he said) which made both of us laugh. The clerk spoke enough English and escorted me to the room which was really nice. It was actually three rooms which is pretty unusual; one room for eating and watching TV, a bedroom area, and an in-room bathroom with just a toilet and sink, no shower or bathtub. The TV room and bedroom contained Tatami (rice straw) mats throughout the rooms. These are actually quite comfortable to walk on and I like the scent that they add to the rooms. The clerk then told me to wait while he went to retrieve my “yukata” or cotton kimono that I was supposed to wear while visiting the baths. I knew there was going to be a problem when he came back and said, “biggest one we have”. Why would there be a problem? Well, you generally don’t wear anything underneath the yukata. It’s perfectly acceptable to walk through the lobby in just your yukata and slippers or tabi socks as you go to the onsen. Of course, that assumes the yukata will actually cover your body. I slipped mine on over my clothes as a test and the clerk said, “that’s fine” and left. “That’s fine?!” I knew right away that it was not fine. As long as I didn’t breathe, bend, or move I was fine but otherwise, I was truly going to be “hanging out” in Japan. But don’t think for a minute that was going to stop me from visiting the onsen. I stripped off my clothes, slid on the yukata (left side over right as proper, right over left is how they dress the deceased), and tied it close with the obi sash. To say I “gingerly” made my way down to the onsen on the first floor would be an understatement.
I stood outside the door to the men’s onsen (women have separate bathing facilities) and the only thing that went through my head was Peter Graves’ Captain Oveur voice “Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” No guts, no glory. I slid open the door and stepped inside. The first room you enter is a changing room where you store your yukata, tabi socks and/or sandals. Standing there naked as the day I was born, I just had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. What the hell was I doing on the other side of the world standing naked in a men’s bath house? Don’t answer that! This is Japan, don’t question, just go with it.
You then enter the bathing area. Prior to actually soaking in the onsen, you must first thoroughly soap, shampoo and rinse yourself. It’s considered bad manners to enter the onsen without first cleaning oneself thoroughly. I’ve borrowed a picture from the Wikipedia Onsen article to give you an idea of what a bathing area looks like.
Some of the mental images I will conjure up may scar some of you for life.
This past weekend was a three day weekend in Japan as Monday was a National Holiday known as “Umi no hi” or Marine Day which celebrates the blessings of the oceans. So rather than stay in Tokyo I decided to explore further afield and headed West across the country. Although I was looking forward to seeing the Japanese countryside and especially the Nihon Arupusu (Japanese Alps), the main purpose of the trip was to stay in several ryokans which is the Japanese equivalent of a bed & breakfast. I was also determined to find one that had an onsen (hot springs) as part of the ryokan. The onsen can be either outdoor or indoor but the ones I stayed at included indoor pools or hot tubs and frankly they’re not difficult to find although the quality can vary greatly. These are really fantastic places to stay but one requirement is that you must throw away the concept of American embarrassment towards nudity. So read on if you dare because you know where this is going.
Friday night I found a Ryokan tucked up into the hills of a city called Suwa which is in the geographic center of Japan. The city overlooks a small rectangular shaped lake that is about 2 miles by 2.5 miles in size. As typical in Japanese homes and lodging, you take off your shoes in the entrance area but the procedure takes a little getting used to and requires a bit of a balancing act. The idea is as follows: walk into the hotel or ryokan and take off one shoe on the stone or marble floor but don’t place your shoeless foot on the stone or marble floor. That would get your sock or foot dirty and would track dirt into the main lobby which is the same as wearing the shoes into the lobby. Big no-no. You place your shoeless foot on a little step next to the floor. While balancing on the step, take off your other shoe and then stand on the step with both feet. On the main lobby floor are hotel or ryokan provided slippers. You slide into the slippers from the step and then walk into the lobby and the Registration Desk. Complicated? You bet. Try remembering all that when you come stumbling in drunk from the local sakeya. Of course, for me I can never actually achieve the slipper part because they’re typically about a Men’s size 8 and I wear a size 13. As I walked towards the Registration Desk in my socks the first night the clerk began pointing excitedly at the slippers as I was violating the protocol. I picked one of these elfin flip flops up and held it against my foot showing him there was no way on Buddha’s green earth that toy was gonna fit on my boat feet. The clerk let out an astonished string of Japanese words (who knows what he said) which made both of us laugh. The clerk spoke enough English and escorted me to the room which was really nice. It was actually three rooms which is pretty unusual; one room for eating and watching TV, a bedroom area, and an in-room bathroom with just a toilet and sink, no shower or bathtub. The TV room and bedroom contained Tatami (rice straw) mats throughout the rooms. These are actually quite comfortable to walk on and I like the scent that they add to the rooms. The clerk then told me to wait while he went to retrieve my “yukata” or cotton kimono that I was supposed to wear while visiting the baths. I knew there was going to be a problem when he came back and said, “biggest one we have”. Why would there be a problem? Well, you generally don’t wear anything underneath the yukata. It’s perfectly acceptable to walk through the lobby in just your yukata and slippers or tabi socks as you go to the onsen. Of course, that assumes the yukata will actually cover your body. I slipped mine on over my clothes as a test and the clerk said, “that’s fine” and left. “That’s fine?!” I knew right away that it was not fine. As long as I didn’t breathe, bend, or move I was fine but otherwise, I was truly going to be “hanging out” in Japan. But don’t think for a minute that was going to stop me from visiting the onsen. I stripped off my clothes, slid on the yukata (left side over right as proper, right over left is how they dress the deceased), and tied it close with the obi sash. To say I “gingerly” made my way down to the onsen on the first floor would be an understatement.
I stood outside the door to the men’s onsen (women have separate bathing facilities) and the only thing that went through my head was Peter Graves’ Captain Oveur voice “Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” No guts, no glory. I slid open the door and stepped inside. The first room you enter is a changing room where you store your yukata, tabi socks and/or sandals. Standing there naked as the day I was born, I just had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. What the hell was I doing on the other side of the world standing naked in a men’s bath house? Don’t answer that! This is Japan, don’t question, just go with it.
You then enter the bathing area. Prior to actually soaking in the onsen, you must first thoroughly soap, shampoo and rinse yourself. It’s considered bad manners to enter the onsen without first cleaning oneself thoroughly. I’ve borrowed a picture from the Wikipedia Onsen article to give you an idea of what a bathing area looks like.
The photo is pretty typical. You’re provided
a little stool to sit on while you clean yourself.
How my fat ass didn’t break the damn thing
I’ll never know but I looked completely silly washing myself while sitting on that little bench.
After making sure all the soap was rinsed away, you can now step into the onsen area itself. The first night’s ryokan’s onsen was really nice. Their facilities were top notch. They had a large rectangular hot tub that was probably 6 x 10 feet and they had a large circular tub that was about 7 feet in diameter. Both tubs sat in an enclosed area outside decorated with various pines and plants which added to the overall atmosphere. I opted for the circular tub and joined two Japanese men. They asked me a question to which I replied in Japanese “Sorry, can’t understand, I don’t speak Japanese, only English” response. That seemed to satisfy them and we just sat there for a few minutes soaking. You really can’t sit long in the onsen area itself. The water is incredibly hot. They left and I sat for a few more minutes floating in the onsen alone with my own thoughts. A light rain was hitting the onsen’s roof top. I could hear the traffic in the distance on the road that circled the lake. What a great f’ing night.
What’s the lesson to be learned?
I really can’t answer that for anyone. You need to answer your own questions.
I’m just trying to give everyone a perspective on life in Japan and hopefully do it in a humorous and thoughtful way.
One thing I do know is that this assignment has been many things to me.
Frustrating and lonely…..absolutely.
But also incredibly rewarding and I’m glad I was given the chance to experience it.
I do know that each of us are given various opportunities in life. Some small and some big.
After making sure all the soap was rinsed away, you can now step into the onsen area itself. The first night’s ryokan’s onsen was really nice. Their facilities were top notch. They had a large rectangular hot tub that was probably 6 x 10 feet and they had a large circular tub that was about 7 feet in diameter. Both tubs sat in an enclosed area outside decorated with various pines and plants which added to the overall atmosphere. I opted for the circular tub and joined two Japanese men. They asked me a question to which I replied in Japanese “Sorry, can’t understand, I don’t speak Japanese, only English” response. That seemed to satisfy them and we just sat there for a few minutes soaking. You really can’t sit long in the onsen area itself. The water is incredibly hot. They left and I sat for a few more minutes floating in the onsen alone with my own thoughts. A light rain was hitting the onsen’s roof top. I could hear the traffic in the distance on the road that circled the lake. What a great f’ing night.
What’s the lesson to be learned?
I really can’t answer that for anyone. You need to answer your own questions.
I’m just trying to give everyone a perspective on life in Japan and hopefully do it in a humorous and thoughtful way.
One thing I do know is that this assignment has been many things to me.
Frustrating and lonely…..absolutely.
But also incredibly rewarding and I’m glad I was given the chance to experience it.
I do know that each of us are given various opportunities in life. Some small and some big.
Just don’t be afraid to take advantage of those opportunities.
I’m not saying you’ll become a better person for doing so, only that your life will be more enriched as a result.
I’m not saying you’ll become a better person for doing so, only that your life will be more enriched as a result.
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