My husband and I have been working very hard, moving and adjusting to our new life. We decided that a day at an onsen would recharge our batteries. There are also facilities called sento or super sento. These are all public bath houses, but an onsen's water is from a natural hot spring, while a sento uses water from the city. A super sento is a deluxe version of a sento, but still uses the city water.
After a little research, my husband found a neat onsen in Tokyo called Ooedo Onsen Monogatari. It is a deluxe onsen with hot springs, food court, games, and various types of relaxation wrapped up in an Edo-period theme. We took the train and arrived right when it opened. We removed our shoes as we entered the facilities and put them into a locker. Then we checked in, getting wrist bands and yukata (a casual summer kimono). We went into our respective changing rooms and changed into our yukata. I have a small tattoo on my foot and while I was changing, I carefully covered my tattoo with a band aid. Tattoos are a big no-no for any public bath in Japan (tattoos are associated with Japanese mafia, known as yakuza). Although I've never been talked to about it, I'd rather not have the situation arise.
I decided to start my day with a spa treatment of sorts that I've always wanted to try - having fish nibble the dead skin off my feet! It's one of those things that I've seen on TV and just wanted to try it. It was so ticklish! I was the first person in there and I assume the fish were exceptionally hungry because I think I had every fish in that pool nibbling away. At first I couldn't stop giggling, but then I just started to relax. While I sat in the special fish feeding room, my husband and son sat outside in a "regular" foot bath garden.
Once we were done with our respective foot baths, we headed to the baths. The guys went to the men's bath, while I went to the ladies solo. I received 2 towels upon entering and put my yukata, undergarments, main locker key, and large towel into the bathhouse locker. I took the small towel and held it up in front of my body as I wandered around. I walked into the bath house and splashed some water from a fountain on myself. I then found a shower area - little stools in front of a shower head and faucet, as well as a variety of soaps and shampoo/conditioner. I scrubbed myself clean. A person never enters the baths dirty. Baths are for soaking, not cleaning in Japanese culture. Once I rinsed off, I headed to the baths. There were a variety to choose from - inside, outside, with minerals, with bubbles (air bubbles, not soap bubbles), even little wooden tubs to sit in. With my little towel balanced on my head, I tried quite a few. Towels aren't allowed in the baths, only clean naked bodies. The time we agreed to meet up for lunch came way too quickly.
I then dried off, put my yukata back on, and headed out to meet my husband and son for lunch. We each picked something different to eat. I had chirashizushi. My son had ramen. And my husband ate bi bim bap (Korean rice bowl). Next we went to the "sofa room." It was a room filled with recliners, each with their own TV (I swear Japanese people are addicted to television), that was for resting. We found 3 recliners together and my son quickly fell asleep. We, the parents, then did a high five. My husband headed off to take another bath while I stayed with our sleeping child.
When my husband returned about a half hour later, my son woke up and he and I headed for a second bath while my husband took a nap of his own. Bathing with my son wasn't quite as relaxing, but still fun. It was his first experience at an onsen. He's always loved the water and bathing is right up there as a favorite activity. When he was two all we had to do was say "o furo" (bath in Japanese) and he would run full speed toward the bathroom. He liked going from bath to bath and thought it was neat that the women's bath had small wooden tubs for individuals (or 2 very friendly people) that the men's did not have.
All too soon, we met up with my husband again for some dessert and wandering around the game area. My son got to throw his very first shuriken (steel ninja throwing stars). He hit the bulls eye during his test throw, but then missed it when it was official. So, he walked away with a glow stick bracelet. My husband wanted to take one more bath before we left, so the guys headed off to bathe again while I found a massage chair to sit in and then went back to the foot bath (no fish this time).
By the time we left, we had spent over 5 hours there. We felt rejuvenated and relaxed. I asked my son what he thought and he declared he was a "little sad." I was surprised with this response and asked more questions. He clarified by saying that he wanted to put his hair in the water and splash, but both of those things were against the rules. He also wanted to keep his yukata, but that was also against the rules. But, he liked the rest of the experience.
On our way home, we were in a bit of a relaxed daze. However, when we went to change trains, we all snapped out of our trances when we saw something strange on the side of a building. We walked closer to check it out and saw a fantastic sculpture. It turns out that the building is the Nippon TV Tower. There was a sign that explained that the television station has a good relationship with Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli creator) and he designed this sculpture just for them. It took them 6 years to build! The sculpture, named the Nittele Giant Clock, looks like it walked right out of the movie Howl's Moving Castle. We plan to go back when it springs to life at certain times of the day! So, stay tuned!
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