We’ve just arrived at the Ryokan (sort of like a spa) in Yugawa which is west of Tokyo, about 2.5 hours north of Kyoto. It is a fascinating place designed for relaxation, kind of like “taking the waters” in a 19th century literary way. We have two beds and a tatami room which has a straw floor, paper sliding walls, and chairs without legs; in fact, as I’m typing this I’m sitting pretty much on the floor with my laptop on a table about a foot tall. Very cool.
The difficult part, particularly for two teenage boys, is that we have no bath or shower, just a sink and toilet. Instead, we will have a family hour at the “baths” from 7:00-7:30. Yes, as I told both my children, “we will all bathe simultaneously.” This did not sit particularly well. After conversing among themselves for a bit, they returned with a proposal that we each take a 7-minute, private bath—tough, but doable, and allowing a two minutes wrap-up and exit. We countered with a 14-minute parent bath–which they could join (no we won’t; are you nuts?) followed by a 14-minute period that the boys could divide whichever way they like. The option of not bathing was briefly discussed and discarded.
Post Dinner and Bath: Just when I think I’ve had all the amazing dinners, another comes along that is its own unique masterpiece. Visually, the meal was stunning—everything beautifully presented, filled with color both in the cutlery and the food itself. (Yesterday I heard that the Chinese were bringing Japanese Chefs over to help them develop food presentation.) Among the highlight was what I think was conch-shell sashimi; it was placed, in perfect white shell and the taste was mild and lacked the tough texture that some shellfish have. Each of us also had an iron plate and cover filled with the thinnest slices of beef I have ever seen, along with mushrooms, and greens. Underneath was a small fire which was set when we sat down. Over the first ten minutes of the meal the fire gently cooked the food and went out—by itself—at the exact time the food was done. We ate this with a sweet sauce that I’ve never had before. Along with several pieces of sashimi (sashimi seems to appear everywhere; I’m really going to miss it) we had an amazing eggplant dish with a fish sauce. We also had several pickled vegetables (so much better than anything you get in the States), squid, fruit, and miso soup. For dessert we had slices of the freshest grapefruit imaginable and several grapes which seemed like concords, but less tart.
As to bathing. There is a dressing room, a cleaning area, and then the hottest tub imaginable. You sit as you use a showerhead to clean making sure the water goes and area under where you’re sitting which is really, really hard to do if you’re an American. As to the bath-part, I’ve never liked hot-tubs or saunas, I just don’t get it. Still, I’m learning the feel of the place which is far from the generic comforts of a hotel and that’s the kind of travel I like best.
Your writing is at its best when you describe food. Delightful. Hilarious about the bathing bit too! In Russia they have bagna, which is a sauna where you take the heated water and wash yourself. Families would traditionally bathe together, or sometimes the men and women would go in collective groups. I recall lying down on a bench in a very hot sauna having my father in law whip me with a eucalyptus branch, which was supposed to help clean. In a lot of Russian towns without plumbing, that’s still the only way to bathe.