Japanese Luxury - Life at the Onsen (Japanese Hot Spring)

When you think of Japanese luxury, your mind might wander to Lexus, Japanese whiskey, cutting-edge electronics, or omakase at a high-end sushi bar. And while all these are wonderful, luxurious things in their own right, nothing encapsulates Japanese luxury for me more than a getaway at a traditional Japanese onsen (hot springs) hotel. A mix of beautiful scenery, amazing food, lazy afternoons, and endless soaks in hot baths - there's else like it.

Japan is famous for its onsens, so we had plenty of choice. We decided on the older hot springs town of Atami, which was on our way back to Tokyo from Nagoya. Walking out of Atami station, the kids were shocked to see scores of barefoot people soaking their tired feet in a pool of steaming water. It was a Japanese foot bath, filled from the naturally occurring hot springs that make the seaside resort town famous.

Water levels were perfect for adults, but with little kids, it was difficult to avoid wet pant legs. Kuri did the best he could.

After drying our feet, we hopped into a taxi and headed for our hotel, where Sumie's parents would meet us for two relaxing, food-filled days. Our onsen was a ryokan, which is a Japanese-style inn. That means it has shoji (sliding paper doors), tatami mats for floors, and no beds (futons are brought out for you when it comes time to sleep).

Here's a view of the main room. We'd be having our meals in here and then, when we finally finished, the tables would be set aside.

The room also included an enclosed terrace, perfect for taking in the ocean and city view.

When staying at an onsen, you need to dress the part. We all donned "yukata" (an informal Japanese robe) and tied them with long belts called "obi." These robes really do help put you in the right mindset for relaxing.

Even Mari had a special outfit (though she wasn't always a fan of wearing it).

At many onsen hotels, you can choose to eat in your room. If this is available, it's the choice I always make. There's nothing like lying back, reading a book, and then rolling over to begin one of the best meals of your life. And then, once your done, lying right back down!

Though Sumie's parents had their own room, they joined us in ours for breakfast and dinner each day. This led to a lot of fun family time, but still enabled Sumie's parents to escape the bedtime challenge of three kids (at least until we got back to Tokyo).

If you're used to room service in American hotels, you are in for a wonderful shock when you first see the spread set before you at a Japanese onsen. Most of it is more traditional Japanese food, with tons of raw and cooked fish, veggies, fruit, you name it.

One of my favorites was the red snapper they brought out for our third, or maybe it was fourth, course. Many of the dishes were heated by sterno, right there on the table. Some of these included soup, nabe (Japanese hot pot), and steak. Yeah, it was a feast.

It wasn't all just eating and relaxing, though. We were near the end of our trip and realized we were way behind on our homework. The terrace room made a perfect study center.

On our second day in Atami, we set out to explore the small city. We took a ropeway up to the top of the mountain behind our onsen to visit a castle.

While there, we left a "good luck" message for Sumie's youngest brother, Genta.

The kids had fun taking in the sights...

...and running around the castle (they're off somewhere, and hence not in the picture below).

Sumie's parents posed for a picture on the cliff jutting out into the ocean. It was a beautiful afternoon, but soon we were hungry.

We headed back down and sought out an udon restaurant (Sumie had been craving it since we'd arrived in Japan). After that, we went our separate ways, with Sumie's parents exploring their way to the station, and us heading for a park to run off a little more kid energy.

Now, at this point you might be thinking, "We seen your room, seen your food, and seen your day trips...What about the hot springs?" Well, here they are. An onsen has rather different rules than the hot spring resorts you find in the states. While those usually offer larger, swimming-sized pools, onsens focus on baths - smaller pools for soaking only. Modest westerners will also have to brace themselves for the dress code: bathing suits are not allowed. Of course, the baths are strictly separated into men and women only.

I sneaked into the onsen just before it was to close at dinner time for cleaning and, with no one there, was able to get a few pictures. Here's the first, enclosed bath.

Here are the shower stalls in the interior bath. Before getting into the pool, you need to wash off. These aren't standing showers, though. You sit on the small stool and wash. Once you're clean, you're ready to get in.

The best pool, by far, was upstairs and outside. It offered an amazing view of the city lights from the long soaking pool...

...and from the teacup bath. Jumping into this, the water, which is constantly being refilled, would happily spill over the top. I've a feeling I displaced far more water than the average bather.

We'd sneak up to the baths as often as we could, usually before dinner, after dinner, and then again in the morning. Kuri really loved the experience and, despite his energy, learned to relax in the hot water with his papa.

Mari and Mimi, of course, enjoyed the baths with their Mama. For Mari, though, I think her favorite part of the onsen visit was cuddling with Obachan and Ojichan (Grandma and Grandpa).

On the morning of our last day, we got up early to enjoy the baths and to take in the view from our room one final time. The sky was getting a little cloudy and rain was on the way. It was time to head out.

We visited a few shops around the station, picking up souvenirs for family and friends, and took some touristy pictures with the kids.

 Of course, we had to stop by the foot bath one last time.

Mimi and Kuri were still going strong, but Mari and her papa were looking forward to an afternoon nap. 

We then boarded yet another shinkansen and headed back to Tokyo.

On our last night, we met with Shu's family for dinner at the Prince Hotel, which was already decorated for Christmas.

It was very apparent that the cousins would miss each other. Poor Asuka, who is the same age as Mimi, was in tears when it was time to go. She insisted Mimi was part of the family and should stay.

It had been an amazing trip, but as with all vacations, we were happy to be back home as well. Being back, I thought we'd finished our Japanese adventures for a while, but the Japanese blood runs deep in my family. After taking the Porsche out for a much needed drive, I came home to find everyone asleep under the kotatsu, our Japanese heated table.

It will probably be at least another year until we're able to head back to Japan, but already the kids are asking when we'll make the trip. As they get older, we'll be able to explore more and more. Can't wait for our next visit (and perhaps a flight in which all the children, for once, can entertain themselves).

Hot Springs, Cold Nights, and a Warm Heart

It's been a while!  Sorry for the break, but our last few days in Japan were so packed with friends and family that it was all we could do to finish packing in time to catch our flight home, which is where we are now.

Picking up where I left off, though, Sumie, Mimi, and I had braved insanely narrow and snowy streets, in a Toyota Vitz no less, to reach our onsen, or Japanese hot springs.  This would be our base of operations between visits to Sumie's grandmother (Obachan), who would turn 103 years old during our visit.  The journey to the onsen had been a harrowing one, but the end result was worth it.  Here's the view from our room.

 Mimi approved.  She wanted to put on her new galoshes (which she insisted on wearing everywhere) and explore outside.

I had other ideas.  Upon stepping into my room I found my left knee was in agony.  Strange, that, given the car was an automatic.  Luckily, the hot springs worked the tension right out.  Of course, before going down to soak, I had to don my yukata.  One must try to be native, even if one looks ridiculously out of place!

Each morning and evening we'd meet Sumie's aunt and uncle, as well as two of their friends staying at the onsen, for breakfast or dinner.  Here's Sumie, Mimi, and Reiko-obasan. 

The food, traditional Japanese fare, was fantastic.  And Mimi really began to embrace the cuisine of her second homeland.  Here's what's left of a grilled fish she had.  Fish heads, fish heads, yum!

 Mimi even used the fish skewer to get the most out of every bite.  She doesn't always have the best appetite, but she can be quite the industrious little girl when she finds something tasty. 

Despite the pleasures of soaking and eating, that was not why we'd braved the snow and come so far north.  We were in Yamagata to visit Sumie's grandmother and to introduce her to Mimi.  Obachan was staying in a wonderful rest home about 20 kilometers or so from the onsen.  Thanks to the rental car, we were able to visit with Obachan three times during our two night stay.  Here's Sumie and Mimi outside Obachan's place.  You can see that Mimi's still infatuated with her boots. 

Obachan sleeps most of the day now, and her memory isn't what it used to be, but she still looks wonderful and her spirit, that dynamic personality which has brought her through 103 years, still shines through.  At first, Obachan simply enjoyed a few strokes of her hair from Sumie. 

But before too long she turned to meet her great granddaughter...

....opened her eyes, and smiled.  It was such a wonderful moment.  Three women spanning four generations of family.  All together.  All smiling.  Mimi was so taken with the moment that she even came out with a new word: Obachan!

There were many highlights during our Japan trip, but our time with Obachan, despite being brief, was assuredly the most memorable.  Neither Obachan nor Mimi will remember these meetings, I'm sure, but that's really beside the point.  Someday, when Mimi sees these pictures, she'll ask us, "Who's that?" And that's when we'll get to share our adventures in Yamagata and, most importantly, the life of the very special woman who was the reason for our visit.