Japanese spa culture
Sauna congress opened new doors
Our valiant team in this escapade included Liisa Uurtamo, Ritva Müller, Jarmo Lehtola and the group was completed by Sieghart Müller, who has made his home in Finland.
Spa LaQua
On the second day of the conference an opportunity for a sauna adventure soon presented itself, a nearby spa, Spa LaQua, at Tokyo Dome leisure complex invited the conference guests to come and explore their services.
Luckily neither of us sports any tattoos, which are so popular nowadays as that would have brought our spa visit to an abrupt end. Tattoos are still apparently banned since the old Yakuza, Japanese mafia, days.
First we stored our shoes in a locker; only then one was able to proceed to the service desk. We were given bracelets in which information of our additionally chosen treatments and activities was saved, such as dining options, and then we were ready to proceed into the dressing rooms. There were three options of outfits to choose from, but only the pyjama type option came in XL size. This was the first shock: the largest local clothing size is equivalent to the Finnish M size - thus not really fitting to our fuller frames. On top of it all, the material was some sort of nylon fibre, which was, especially when wet, rather difficult to pull on. Now we know how the sausage feels in its skin! We were also handed a towel, which was to be kept in the locker and also a strip of yellow terry cloth, which we were to carry around during the whole visit.
Then we were to wash ourselves. That was some real fancy work. All kinds of fine looking bottles stood there in a row. Luckily there was some English text provided to give us a little indication of what is used and where. There was body foam, shampoo, conditioner, and many more, which we, the novices, did not get to open.
Everyone had a private cubicle, equipped with a mirror (unfortunately), and contained a low stool. Later we became to appreciate these 35cm high stools. By peeping at the locals, we learned that EXCESSIVE lathering is the way to go. This is the way you show that you are washing yourself really clean. This was done with the aid of the yellow terry cloth strip.
After this, off we marched to the steam room. The benches were completely covered with white matting, which reminded us of bathroom/WC mats, but this was typical seat cover material and we found the same type used in all saunas. What really drew our attention was the giant flat screen television, which broadcasted news in an overexcited manner. This impression was given by the fast manner of speaking and rapidly changing images.
At the exact time as displayed on the sauna wall, in walked the sauna attendant, who, after having thrown water on the sauna stove, made his way around the benches and offered to fan everyone at their turn with a towel, thus creating hot air currents. Most seem to have enjoyed this for the entire duration of the session.
There were various different types of pools. The cold water pool was around +10°C, and cooled us down nicely. Then off into the hot pools. Here the sight was rather amusing. People had invented various ingenious ways to wrap the yellow terry cloths around their heads. We came to the conclusion that there really was no other place to store this cloth but on one’s head.
The first communal bath house, Sento
After a couple of recommendations from our Japanese hosts, we headed for a local public bath called Kikusui-Yu (chrysanthemum-water-bath). The building was in a narrow side street and looked like a small house. Shoes were again left outside (here the docket was a generous wooden baton) and off to the welcome desk. The clerk sat in a small booth and was placed in such a position that he was able to collect the entrance fee from both sides of the partition to men’s and women’s areas. The lower half of the wall was a rigid board and the upper half a curtain. It is not a place to discuss any state secrets but came in handy as this enabled us to communicate with our male companions and plan our time of joint exit. We crammed our clothes into the small lockers provided. Later we learnt that the large baskets were available for this purpose. The locals folded and placed their clothes in them and neatly covered the top with the provided cloths.
Having previously had a taste of a luxurious selection of hair, body care and hygiene products we now have to contend ourselves with a shared bar of hotel soap. Here everyone had brought their own washing materials and we, by massaging our one little bar of soap, attracted rather uncomfortable attention, when trying to achieve some visible lather. We, naturally, wished to be as clean as the locals. Another bother were the small plastic wash stools, they were only about 15cm high. It was brave to lower oneself onto one of these hoping that one makes an accurate landing, and that the legs of the stool do not collapse under the weight. One would still have to get up off the stool, too.
There were numerous hot pools and the water was identically hot in all of them. The water in one of the pools was darker than the others and in it floated a large muslin covered ‘teabag’. It contained many different kinds of herbs meant to create a feeling of well-being. We also found the so called cold pool, this time the water temperature was +18°C. We were thrown admiring glances for being so brave to quickly lower ourselves into the cold pool. On the other hand we were not so brave with the hot pools, where the water was over +40°C and demanded more getting used to.
Ryokan –guest house, Okuyumoto Hotel in Hakone
After a day of
exploring the Mount Fuji region, in the evening we arrived in a Japanese style
guesthouse, where we lounged in our comfortable yukata clothing for the entire
evening. As always, the washing took place in the hotel spa. From there we
could see some spectacular views of the hills and a waterfall. In the steam
room there was a small, Finnish style, electric sauna stove, but it was not
enough to tempt us. It was much nicer to sit outside in the warm spring water
listening to the sounds of the waterfall.
The outdoor pools were predominantly made of wood and contained water at
differing temperatures.
It was really
luxurious to not have to dress formally for dinner but we were all sitting
there, wearing our yukatas.
Another
sento-experience in Tokyo
On entrance, we were met by the familiar smell of mildew; it seems to be standard in these hot and humid spaces.
Now we already knew a number of things: the clothes into the basket, a lot of foaming agents, and a small towel on the head. But new challenges presented themselves. We met a bather with good English, from whom we received such guidance as how to enter the ‘electric eel-pool'. Our earlier attempt was not a pleasurable one, the technique was not quite right. Under the water there was a kind of electrical field, which caused some ‘pinching’ in the muscles. After some practise we could stay in for a while but it was a rather peculiar experience and not one of our favourites.
Oedo-Onsen Monogatari was a highlight of our trip
Even the journey to the spa was awesome. We crossed the mighty Rainbow Bridge by monorail, and were offered great views of Tokyo Bay. The area seemed to be a high-tech centre and had office buildings to match - tall buildings, lots of glass and unusual shapes. In the middle of all this was the spa, which had already been recommended to us by various other congress guests.
After depositing our shoes into their lockers, we chose our yukatas. The task was made difficult because the selection was extensive, a dozen different types of beautiful designs. Men and women were offered a variety of colours and patterns ranging from dragons to flowers. There were instructions on how to tie the bow, so finally we looked more or less Japanese.
First, we wandered through a large food market-type space, and there were ten or so different food and beverage counters. Souvenirs were also for sale here, and it was all a bit unbelievable that we were actually in a spa.
There was just one sauna, but in my opinion it was best we experienced during the entire trip. There were many pools, both indoors and outdoors. One was bubbling with small oxygen bubbles; it felt like a champagne bath. ‘The teabag pool' was so big that it had a pavilion built in the middle of it. Outside, there were natural looking pools with seats with views of attractive stone walls and various different lights and plants. We found it hard to tear ourselves away from this area to continue our exploration of the common areas with the men.
The indoor yard contained a large green area, which had a variety of paddling pools. In them, there were some surprises, because the pool floors were covered with natural stones, some of which were rather sharp edged. Coarseness of the stones increased with distance, we were forced to give up before the end point. For an extra fee for feet, there were hot sand baths on offer. Even more exotic would have been to soak one’s feet in the pool, where cleaning fish had been ‘hired’ to work. They reportedly pick dead cells off the bather’s feet. Fortunately, we did not have time for this adventure, but went to look for our dinner. The large food market had tables and benches, and everyone bought their food from their chosen stalls. It was nice to enjoy the company of our gentlemen colleagues during the meal. In the adjoining room there were Japanese tables and chairs, even entertainment. Some samurai were having a noisy adventure. This was especially popular among families with children. All in all it was a magnificent sight when hundreds of bathers were wearing different yukatas and there was no sight of denim wearing tourists.
Fortunately, the sauna
congress tempted us onto our first visit to Japan. There is so much to see
there, that we will surely have to visit there again.
Writers and images: Ritva Müller, Liisa Uurtamo.