Onsen Love

Since it was a pretty busy week at work, a low key weekend was just what the doctor ordered. Satoko and I escaped the dorm and headed to a diner in town for a filling lunch of shrimp and fries. Then we headed to an onsen.

An onsen is a hot spring where people go to communally bathe and generally relax. Onsens are kept at a hot temperature and contain minerals. The onsen we went to had a bubbly pool, a still pool, and an outdoor pool. All of the pools had a great view of the mountains and river. There was also a cold water pool and a a sauna. After we were finished bathing, we drank chocolate milk and sat in massage chairs. There were also rooms to watch TV and to nap.

I didn't take any pictures of the onsen since I thought I might cause a bit of a stir bringing a camera into a room full of naked people, but it looked something like the picture below (courtesy of Wikipedia).



I have to admire the Japanese people's attitude of working hard and playing hard. It seems that in general people put in a lot of long, hard hours at work but then there are places like this that exist purely for relaxation. I think I will definitely be a returning customer.