I just got back from a 2 night stay at an onsen (hot springs) inn in Northern Japan at the end of our long New Year's holiday. I went with my father-in-law who is a bonafide expert on onsens. For those of you who may not know, it is a wonderfully relaxing experience. We take about 4 baths a day and eat amazing food and lounge around in yukata (a kind of kimono). Hotsprings are all over Japan and the waters have different properties depending on where you go. Many are good for arthritis (good for me!), skin problems and even (supposedly) cancer and other ailments. But mostly it's just relaxing. Where we were they have several different baths from different springs. Baths are separated by gender and everyone is quite naked. They have three baths which are outside which is especially nice when it's snowing. Fortunately for us it was snowing and we enjoyed the outdoor bath quite alot.
One rather haunting part of the trip was the location. We flew into Sendai airport which was hit by the tsunami in the big quake last year. We saw so much of the coverage on television that I felt like I knew the place even though I'd never been there before. The surrounding area had been largely leveled and we could see remnants of many foundations and still a bit of debris. On arrival, at the airport there were travel posters for places that don't exist anymore. Quite a sobering experience. The onsen was in the mountains another hour and a half away but I kept thinking about the badly hit areas the rest of the trip.
For those of you interested, you can see where we stayed here:
http://www.takuhide.co.jp/english.html
It's an English page which will give you some idea of the place. Highly recommended.
One rather haunting part of the trip was the location. We flew into Sendai airport which was hit by the tsunami in the big quake last year. We saw so much of the coverage on television that I felt like I knew the place even though I'd never been there before. The surrounding area had been largely leveled and we could see remnants of many foundations and still a bit of debris. On arrival, at the airport there were travel posters for places that don't exist anymore. Quite a sobering experience. The onsen was in the mountains another hour and a half away but I kept thinking about the badly hit areas the rest of the trip.
For those of you interested, you can see where we stayed here:
http://www.takuhide.co.jp/english.html
It's an English page which will give you some idea of the place. Highly recommended.
You certainly get plenty of snow (softly falling and otherwise) in your part of the world. The water in the one outdoor bath we were in was pretty hot. About 44-45C I think. But when you soak up to your neck with the cold air/snow on your head, it kind of balances nicely.
