Shane’s Japan Trip Report Day 3
Japan Trip Report Days 3 & 4: More Onsen, Ganbanyoku, Reflexology Trail, Persimmon Tree, and a Cell Phone!
Day 3
Day 3 was somewhat less eventful. The highlight was another trip back to Sakura no Yu onsen. This time, in addition to the onsen, we paid another 500 yen and enjoyed ganbanyoku, which is a kind of sauna that has been very popular in Japan over the past few years. Basically, ganbanyoku is a low-temperature sauna (45-50 degrees Celsius) that contains beds of various rocks thought to contain healing properties. You spread a towel over your rock bed of choice and simply lay on it for about 15-20 minutes, gradually working up a nice sweat, and presumably receive the healing properties of the rocks.
I can’t say that I detected any healing effects from the rocks, but the sauna itself was very pleasant. After a dip in the onsen, my wife and I treated ourselves to a 20-minute shiatsu massage, which was fantastic. For dinner we enjoyed oden, a cold-weather dish in Japan that consists of winter veggies and a variety of fish cakes.
Day 4
On day 4, we went to visit my wife’s childhood friend and her daughter Taki-chan, who is almost four. My wife’s friend and family had just moved into a newly built house, complete with a state-of-the-art high-tech Japanese toilet!
Taki-chan was adorable. At first she was leery of the strange gaijin in the house, but somehow the subject turned to English, and the fact that Taki-chan had learned an English song, which she started to sing. I recognized it as One Little Two Little Three Little Indians, except that the Indians had for some reason been replaced by donuts (maybe a PC thing?). I sang it for her, and gained her instant awe and respect for my flawless English accent. Thereafter, she asked me to sing it over and over.
After we left the friend’s house, we walked home past Odorii, Japan’s largest torii gate, in Yahiko, which is within walking distance of my wife’s home.
We walked home along this quaint river path.
Along the way we came across this “reflexology path,” which is not uncommon to find in Japanese parks. Basically, these reflexology stations provide various stone paths to walk on and give yourself a Japanese foot massage, which has been practiced in Japan for centuries, or foot torture, depending upon the intensity of the path and the tolerance of your feet to endure pain.
After lunch and a brief nap, if you can call two hours brief, we walked to AU, one of Japan’s mobile phone providers, to activate my prepaid cell phone that I had purchased during my previous trip to Japan. Along the way, we passed through this old temple, located right across the street from my wife’s house, where she used to play as a kid.
We passed by a persimmon tree (called “kaki” in Japanese), a common but nonetheless beautiful sight in Japan during the autumn months.
We also passed through downtown Yoshida, which today is now more of a ghost town.
Sadly, Yoshida, like many country cities, is what is referred to as a dying city. Although it is a charming little town, the population is aging rapidly as younger residents head to Tokyo for college and careers, never to return, and the older residents are now well into their Golden Years. Many of the downtown stores are shuttered. My wife tells me that the downtown used to be quite vibrant, but that certainly is not the case anymore. There were, however, a few elderly roadside vendors selling vegetables.
Cell phone activation successful, so I now have a cell phone in Japan! Dinner was grilled veggies and homemade gyoza stuffed with salmon and cabbage (sorry, I was too busy eating and forgot to snap a picture!). Did I mention that Okaa-san is a very accomplished cook?
Proceed to Shane’s Japan Trip Report Day 5–>
