Date at the Japanese Bath House (温泉, pronounced “onsen”)

So I blew my entire Thursday at the onsen with Yoko. What sounded like a great idea at first, wasn’t because they separate the sexes. I spent the better part of the day stark naked with other Japanese men.

Nevertheless, if you ever have the change to go to a Japanese bath house, do it. An onsen is sort of like a Disneyland of leisure: there is a middle area in which food, drinks, and odd souvenirs are sold while patrons relax from bathing (trust me, it’s necessary) surrounded by several “themes,” including an outside foot-bathing park with foot massaging rocks that hurt like hell, a full-body massage area, and an indoor/outdoor main bathing area. I never realized that you can do so much crap with water: regular shower, dry sauna, wet sauna, hot water tub, scalding hot water tub, muddy water cascading from rocks that I suppose is good for the skin tub, Jacuzzi, and some outdoor waterworks that I did not attempt.

When it was all done, I spent approximately 4 hours bathing, including 4 traditional showers.

I will post pics later (completely G-rated).