Week 9
Japan is now in the middle of its wet season which means when it isn't raining, its humid and this Albertan gets very sweaty and gross. It also has not been helping me readjust from my jetlag.
Thus I have taken to have my screen door open at all times and to get out and chill in more public and windy spaces using the free wifi.
On Friday, after a busy week at work for many of my coworkers, we all decided to go to an Onsen. We left the office after work and joined the Friday rush hour on a train. We went 4 stops and then had to literally run in order to watch our then missed bus leaving. At least a Ferris wheel was nearby to distract us from our disappointment. After hiring a taxi, we arrived at the Onsen.
As depicted in the professional map to the left, the Onsen had several areas for specific activities. When we first walked in the Entrance, we were directed to take our shoes off an place them in a shoe locker and keep the shoe locker key. We then went to the main counter to pick up our main key then over to the Yukata pickup counter to choose which one we wanted. A Yukata is a traditional Japanese outfit made of cotton which acts as casual summer clothing when one wants to relax. The best equivalent I can think of is a house coat that you would wear to a bar with friends.
After selecting our Yukata's, we were directed to the change rooms where we put all but our underwear into lockers then put on our Yukata's.
Main Entrance
My Main Key
Yukata Pickup Counter
I almost shaved for this. Almost.
Exiting the change room and entering the main area we were met with sweet smells of pastries and savory smells of ramen. We heard the excitement of children playing carnival games and the Kanpai (cheers) of their parents drinking Sake.
After a brief exploration of the area, we decided to go to the foot bath.
The foot bath is an out door area where seats line a winding pool with warm water.
One can just sit on the side or walk the entire length through as the path has stones which can massage the foot.
According to my coworkers, the path's stones help relieve stress but they mostly just stubbed my toes every step so maybe I was doing it wrong.
Back in the main area, we decided to play one of the games.
The game was a shuriken (aka ninja star) at a target. My supervisor, Akira, who was with us, went first and broke the years record with 8/8 bulls eyes. Everyone was surprised including him as he had never thrown them before. He had the choice of any single prize they had but was so overwhelmed with choice he decided to come back later. I went after him and barely hit the target on my last try earning me a pink glow stick bracelet which I enthusiastically put on my wrist noting that the comparison of our performances at shuriken throwing was hilarious.
With the excitement of the game, we decided to go to the main baths. As we were a party of 5 with 2 women, we split up at this point to go to our respective change rooms and baths as the baths were not coed.
In the main bath change room, we picked up a large and small towel and went to yet another locker with yet another key. Here we took off everything (yep) and placed them in the locker along with the large towel. With small towel in hand we headed to the baths. Before actually entering the baths we took a shower at small booths which lined the back wall. The booths had a stool to sit on and all of the things one would need to clean themselves including a removable shower head, shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. As per tradition, there was also a wooden bucket that one could use to pour the water over themselves but I guess with modern times shower heads were preferred for their pressure and effectiveness in water fights.
There was both an indoor and an outdoor room with several baths in each. We found the warmest one outside and chilled talking about machine learning.
At some point I noticed that I was still wearing the pink glow stick bracelet leading to one the best pie charts I have ever had the privileged to make.
It was about 9 pm and I was starving, so I found the biggest bowel of ramen and devoured it while we talked and drank Sake.
After relaxing for a while, we got out, went back to our lockers and put our Yukatas back on. Outside the change rooms were vending machines with bottles of milk as it is tradition to have milk after a bath. We then met up with our other coworkers to find some food.
When we were done eating and finished all of the Sake we headed home only to realize we had missed yet another bus. This turned out to be a good thing though as it gave us an excuse to use a monorail.
Most trains in Tokyo do not have great views of the surrounding city as they are either underground or are the same level as buildings. The monorail we used was 100 meters high providing a great view of the city.
We also passed over the Rainbow Bridge which is usually lit up with rainbow colors but glowed white against that night's sky.
I parted ways with my coworkers and finally arrived at Osaki Station close to my house. On the way out of the station I saw several Tanabata trees lining the pedway. Tanabata is a Japanese festival where, among many other things, people write their hopes and wishes on a piece of paper and hang it on a tree. Already there were hundred of wishes put on the trees and probably many more to come as the days of the actual festival draws closer.
At the end of a busy end to a busy week, I went home and slept better that I had slept in a long time.