Anyway, back to the bathhouse saga.
As I mentioned, before you go into the baths at Japanese bathhouses, you are supposed to wash yourself off first at a row of shower heads. This picture will hopefully illustrate. And NO, I did not take this picture.
Afterwards, you go into the actual baths where you can soak. This usually lasts for about an hour, but there are many people who make an entire day out of the outing. Well, Joe and I tried out the different baths, each of which came supplied with its own temperature and chemicals. When I say chemicals, I don't mean things like fluoride or chlorine. No, I am referring to various salts and whatnots which are added to the water for various effects. There are baths which are supposed to help treat rheumatism, arthritis, and other bodily aches and pains. But my favorite was an indoor bath that had a somewhat unsettling color. Imagine if somebody took a pool in Joe Sixpack's backyard and dumped in a couple of metric tons of sugar. The result would resemble the bath that Joe and I tried last on our little trip.
The water was probably the coolest that we tried. The hottest was a comfortable 40 degrees Celsius (that's 104 degrees Fahrenheit for all my American readers...which is probably all of them...), but this one was around thirty-five (95 degrees Fahrenheit). As we sat in the murky water, we both looked around for a sign to explain what the bath was supposed to do. Finally, we spotted a bronze plaque (ironically) located right above our heads that offered an explanation that left us with more questions that answers. I will try to quote what the sign said, but seeing how it was a couple of days ago, I might smudge a couple of details. But I will try to capture the spirit of the original text. It offered four positive effects:
1) Makes the skin beautiful
2) Helps with diets
3) Reverses aging
4) Refreshes spirit
As I sat trying to figure out how a bath would help me lose weight AND ten years from my figure, Joe continued to read the plaque. After a bit of a pause, Joe mentioned that the pool wasn't murky because of chemicals. What gave the water its strange appearance were bubbles.
Trillions and trillions of microscopic bubbles. The bubbles were only a couple of micro-millimeters (or some metric jargon like that) long. They're so small that they are supposed to be able to enter your pores and clean them out. "Ah," I thought, "But still, will they help me lose weight?"
As we left the bathhouse (frustratingly the same size as before we went in) we both mentioned that it was a nice place. Joe pointed out that it wasn't a "real" Japanese bathhouse. After regarding my puzzled stare, he clarified by saying that, yes, it is a Japanese bathhouse, but that it wasn't an authentic one because it used city water. It was then that Joe gave me the rundown on the different types of Japanese bathhouses.
There are two kinds:
1) Sentō (銭湯)
2) Onsen (温泉)
Sentō are regular bathhouses.
Onsen are the supreme bathhouses.
The big difference is that Sentō look like this:
Onsen look like this:
Yeah, hopefully now you get what I mean about onsen being better. The big difference between the two comes down to the water. You see, while sentō are legitimate bathhouses that are very nice, they use city water that has been heated up. Onsen, on the other hand, are the real deal. They use geothermally heated water. No added chemicals, no special salts. The water is all natural, coming from springs where it was heated by Japan's volcanic makeup.
The difference between the two is so important to the Japanese that even the law had to get involved. As my good ol' friends wikipedia points out:
The legal definition of an onsen includes that its water must contain at least one of 19 designated chemical elements, including radon and metabolic acid and be 25°C or warmer before being reheated.
So, there you have it. I went to a sentō, and while it was very nice, I left wishing that I could have experienced the real McCoy. Hopefully, I can talk Joe into taking me to an onsen . While there are several onsen in Tokyo, there is a certain one in Hakuba that I want to go to. You see, Japan has native monkeys, or "snow monkeys," if you will. And, there is an onsen in Joshin-Etsu Kogen National Park that is frequented by the monkeys in the winter.
Yeah, I'm not kidding.
The best part is that it is right next to another onsen where people can bathe!!!
Oh yes, there will be monkeys.........
I promise you........
This is Nate in Mitaka, signing off as just another gaijin.
Pictured above: Me after my first trip to a Japanese bath house.
I am so proud....your first bathhouse...I had a hard time figuring out which of the men was you.
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