yufuin
the weather is so nice in spring here. it's been cooler and rainier than last year, but the sun is as bright as ever.
we had a lovely day last weekend in yufuin with gareth and aiko. we got to meet aiko's parents and her younger sister. we took a bus to the small mountain town of yufuin and met her family there as they only live an hour away and drove there themselves.
yufuin is famous for its hot springs, or onsen. it's quite small and dominated by the peak of yufudake which looms over the town. there are loads of cute little shops, bakeries, restaurants and japanese style inns, ryokan. we walked around the town and shops and ate the locally famous 'puffy' flavoured cake in a small park. there we watched senior citizens play a heated game of j-syle croquet. nice. afterwards, we had lunch at a tempura restaurant which was absolutely delicious. throwing caution to the wind (bird flu that is) we had toriten, or tempura chicken for lunch. 
afterwards, we were tired from walking and full from lunch so we headed to a ryokan that sits above the town up the side of yufudake. instead of the 16,000yen we could have paid to stay there, we each paid 600yen for a bath in the onsens. the group onsens are divided for men and women. so john went off with gareth and aiko's dad and us ladies headed to the girls' bath.
i haven't really described an onsen yet (i think) so i will try to do it justice. . .
the first room of an onsen is like a luxurious locker room. it is usually furnished with long counters of sinks, mirrors, and vanity seats. the opposing wall has a series of shelves with wicker baskets for storage. most onsens provide the guests with hairdryers, lotions, oils and creams for after the bath. the next room is a series of showers with detachable heads located at about shoulder height. there is a small wooden stool to sit on at each shower head and a shallow wooden bucket to pour water over yourself. there are shampoos, conditioners and body washes provided at each seat. it is important to clean yourself and your hair thoroughly before entering the bath as it is a shared bath.
the next room is the bath itself. i say 'room' but that is not accurate. although there is a partial ceiling over one side of the bath the greater part is open and surrounded only by a fence. the bath is usually about the size of a small pond and most often designed in an irregular shape to emulate nature. it is surrounded by typical japanese gardenening with neatly groomed shrubs, plants, flowers and rocks.
the bath is shallow, the water is only about thigh deep. the bath is lined with large rocks at different heights so you can sit in varying depths or out of the water all together. the onsen water is tapped from the depths of japan's old volcanic mountains and constantly flows into the bath. it spills over the sides to drain to maintain fresh water and an even depth.
the water is hot, really hot. it is infused naturally with various minerals. each town boasts its unique mix of minerals as especially healing for stress, beautiful skin, respiratory wellness, etc. the best way to take a bath is to spend about 30 minutes climbing in and out of the water. after the first five minutes you're body temperature rises and you can climb out onto the rocks and enjoy the fresh air. this is especially nice in the winter with snow falling.
the onsen we enjoyed in yufuin held a commanding view of yufudake. there were trees of all kinds ascending the mountain in various stages of bloom and new spring growth. it was a perfect spring day with clear skies and a constant cool breeze. perfect.
taking a bath with complete strangers may seem strange and in fact the first time one feels quite self concious strolling around nude. aiko said it well when she said, "you must think this custom is strange: 'nice to meet you. let's take a bath together.'" when you look at it that way it is a bit strange, i suppose. it's especially strange when you can't soften the awkwardness with small talk because you are trying to speak in a second language. hah.
we had a lovely day last weekend in yufuin with gareth and aiko. we got to meet aiko's parents and her younger sister. we took a bus to the small mountain town of yufuin and met her family there as they only live an hour away and drove there themselves.
yufuin is famous for its hot springs, or onsen. it's quite small and dominated by the peak of yufudake which looms over the town. there are loads of cute little shops, bakeries, restaurants and japanese style inns, ryokan. we walked around the town and shops and ate the locally famous 'puffy' flavoured cake in a small park. there we watched senior citizens play a heated game of j-syle croquet. nice. afterwards, we had lunch at a tempura restaurant which was absolutely delicious. throwing caution to the wind (bird flu that is) we had toriten, or tempura chicken for lunch. afterwards, we were tired from walking and full from lunch so we headed to a ryokan that sits above the town up the side of yufudake. instead of the 16,000yen we could have paid to stay there, we each paid 600yen for a bath in the onsens. the group onsens are divided for men and women. so john went off with gareth and aiko's dad and us ladies headed to the girls' bath.
i haven't really described an onsen yet (i think) so i will try to do it justice. . .
the first room of an onsen is like a luxurious locker room. it is usually furnished with long counters of sinks, mirrors, and vanity seats. the opposing wall has a series of shelves with wicker baskets for storage. most onsens provide the guests with hairdryers, lotions, oils and creams for after the bath. the next room is a series of showers with detachable heads located at about shoulder height. there is a small wooden stool to sit on at each shower head and a shallow wooden bucket to pour water over yourself. there are shampoos, conditioners and body washes provided at each seat. it is important to clean yourself and your hair thoroughly before entering the bath as it is a shared bath.
the next room is the bath itself. i say 'room' but that is not accurate. although there is a partial ceiling over one side of the bath the greater part is open and surrounded only by a fence. the bath is usually about the size of a small pond and most often designed in an irregular shape to emulate nature. it is surrounded by typical japanese gardenening with neatly groomed shrubs, plants, flowers and rocks.
the bath is shallow, the water is only about thigh deep. the bath is lined with large rocks at different heights so you can sit in varying depths or out of the water all together. the onsen water is tapped from the depths of japan's old volcanic mountains and constantly flows into the bath. it spills over the sides to drain to maintain fresh water and an even depth.
the water is hot, really hot. it is infused naturally with various minerals. each town boasts its unique mix of minerals as especially healing for stress, beautiful skin, respiratory wellness, etc. the best way to take a bath is to spend about 30 minutes climbing in and out of the water. after the first five minutes you're body temperature rises and you can climb out onto the rocks and enjoy the fresh air. this is especially nice in the winter with snow falling.
the onsen we enjoyed in yufuin held a commanding view of yufudake. there were trees of all kinds ascending the mountain in various stages of bloom and new spring growth. it was a perfect spring day with clear skies and a constant cool breeze. perfect.taking a bath with complete strangers may seem strange and in fact the first time one feels quite self concious strolling around nude. aiko said it well when she said, "you must think this custom is strange: 'nice to meet you. let's take a bath together.'" when you look at it that way it is a bit strange, i suppose. it's especially strange when you can't soften the awkwardness with small talk because you are trying to speak in a second language. hah.
posted by nel at 7:50 PM
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