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Published: November 18th 2007
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On the train
Audrey and Jenn on the train Though living in Japan has been a love-hate experience for me, I’ve always found traveling here a true delight. And with my little teaching stint quickly coming to a close, I felt it was high time to get back out and explore at least a couple more nooks and crannies of the place that’s been my home for the last fifteen months.
My first outing was a kind of “girls’ weekend” to the coastal onsen (hot springs) town of Kinosaki. There’s nothing like stripping down naked and jumping into scalding hot pools of mineral water with six of your girlfriends to nurture the bonds of everlasting friendship! To that, add a little bit of sake, a little bit of fresh crab, and a whole lot of silliness, and you’ve got a weekend of great memories.
Onsens are a central part of Japanese culture and one of the most popular ways to spend holidays or a romantic weekend away. The latter I find a little odd, as you only end up seeing your partner for about half of that romantic weekend - there are only a few family-style onsens that allow men and women to bathe together.
There
Silliness
Yumi and Lucy are several towns, such as Kinosaki, Nozawa, Arima, and Totsukawa, which are famous for their hot springs and draw hordes of visitors year-round. Kinosaki, with its cobblestone streets, has the added bonus of being a great spot for crab, as it’s on the Japan Sea.
Leaving Osaka around 10AM, we arrived in Kinosaki just after lunch. A couple of us, including yours truly, spent most of the scenic train ride sleeping. If you know me, you know that I am not pleasant or even really functioning in the morning without at least one cup of coffee! It also didn’t help that I’d been out for dinner and dancing with Matthias until fairly late the night before.
We were unable to check into our hotel room for a few hours, so instead we wandered about the town and did a little bit of souvenir shopping. Around 3PM, we dropped our bags at the hotel, changed into our complimentary yukata (robes) and geita (wooden sandals), and went merrily clip-clopping through the streets to our first onsen.
First you undress in the changing room and stuff your things into either a basket or locker, depending on the facilities. Next you
make your way into the shower area. Usually small stools, basins, soap, and shampoo are provided for you. So you stake out your shower, sit down, and begin the serious business of cleaning yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just been to six other onsens and have scrubbed yourself so much that you’ve probably removed a couple layers of skin… you must always lather, rinse, and repeat before even dipping your toe into the hot springs. Usually you bring a small towel for extra scrubbing power and also so you don’t have to ask your neighbor to soap up your back. In the onsen they can be used to cool off your head or as a samurai-esque fashion statement.
Tattoos are usually not allowed in onsens, as they are seen as a symbol of the yakuza (kind of the Japanese mafia). I’ve known a couple people that have been kicked out, but they aren’t always so strict with foreigners.
Our first day consisted of going to three onsens, eating a fabulous dinner of a variety of seafood, and then hitting an additional two onsens. By that evening my skin was feeling a little abused and a little too
Our favorite onsen
This one had an outdoor bath that felt like you were in a cave. squeaky. We ended the night with some fantastic people-watching from the enclosed balcony off of our room. Large groups of drunken salarymen, laughing and stumbling through the streets in their robes, clopped by with steam rising off of them.
We began the next day by revisiting our favorite onsen, which had an outdoor bath in what looked like a cave. The water temperature was not as hot as some of the other places, and it was great to soak outside in the crisp autumn air. Feeling refreshed and definitely very clean, we grabbed our stuff, had some breakfast, and then caught the train back to Osaka. This time I managed to stay awake for most of the journey, so I got to watch the greenery slowly slip away, being replaced by the grayness of concrete as we neared home.
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brenna
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yay! more pictures!