A Really Good Soak

Today I got together with two of my friends from DigitalEve Japan, Kristen and MJ. They are both flickr buddies now. Kristen had suggested an excursion to Atami, a resort city on a peninsula south of Tokyo. We would visit Atami Baien, an orchard planted with hundreds of plum trees, now in bloom. Later we could have lunch and visit an onsen (hot spring spa). I met Kristen at Tokyo Station where we hopped on the Kodama shinkansen (bullet train) for Atami. The ride took about an hour. Kristen had brought a thermos of tea and some Chinese almond cookies for us to snack on while on the train. MJ lives not too far from Atami so we met her at Atami station. We caught a bus up to Atami Baien. The bus climbed and climbed up impossibly narrow streets to the Baien entrance. For a resort town, Atami was not very picturesque. The landscape was not really that spectacular either. Piped in chinese music greets you as you enter the garden which was nicely landscaped though, with a red lacquer bridge, waterfalls, a reconstructed Korean temple and plum trees of all varieties. The recent rain had stripped the trees of most of their blossoms so that there were more tourists than plum blossoms. Kristen, MJ and spent the morning snapping photos in the garden. A highlight for me was visiting the traditional Japanese house of Japanese musician Shinpei Nakayama. The house was situated in the Baien but I'm not sure if that was the original location or it had been relocated there.

We decided to walk back into town for lunch. The gray cloud cover of the morning had given way to sunshine and blue skies so it was a pleasant downhill walk. Though Atami is not a pretty town we came across many interesting little shops and restaurants. We popped into a little restaurant for tendon: shrimp tempura served atop seasoned rice. yumm. After lunch we stopped in at the tourist office for a recommendation on a hotel with a day onsen. They gave us some discount coupons and directions to an onsen with an ocean view. If we had not missed a turn it would have taken us 7 minutes to get there but as it was it took about a half hour, the last ten minutes of which was uphill. What a relief to reach the onsen. I'd never been to one, so Kristen introduced me to onsen etiquette. At the front desk we paid our fee and were given our onsen towel -- about the size of a hand towel. After removing our shoes we entered into the women's section. There was a locker where we secure our valuables. Another area had cubby holes with baskets in them. We stripped our clothes off and placed them in a basket. Then we entered the shower area. In Japan you shower on short stool. There were two rows of stools, each with a tap and shower head and an assortment of soaps and shampoos. Kristen said we were to clean ourselves thoroughly and then rinse every speck of soap off. Only then could we enter the hot spring. I had been so leary of this part. you know, getting naked in front of a bunch of people, most of them strangers. But once I was there it didn't really bother me. We were all getting naked. And no one was staring. And boy was the hot spring soothing and relaxing. There was one long pool to soak in as well as a whirlpool, both indoors. Plus there was another pool outdoors. And all with views of the ocean. I couldn't see much though, because I'd removed my glasses. We soaked and talked for a good long while. Then we headed back to the shower room to rinse the salty spring water off. We dressed and headed into an outer room where we were provided with drinnks of water or tea. In this room there were several massage chairs and foot massagers. MJ and I spent about 15 minutes in a massage chair while Kristen opted for a foot massage. By then it was time to head home. Kristen and I hopped on the shinkansen for Tokyo while MJ caught the local train home. It was a great day out of which the onsen was the highlight. I wish now I'd tried out the onsen experience while we were living in Tokyo. There is a very good onsen right in Azabu Juban and it is not that expensive either! There are so many good things about living in Tokyo.