Onsen Day (or: Get nekkid with a bunch of old Japanese men)

IMG_0048 (Small)
Originally uploaded by p1ckle.

actually it's not quite like that; the Onsen is the traditional Japanese bath, and is actually quite fun. We went to the nearest onsen yesterday with Dan and Narumi (pictured after cycling up a big hill), who go quite often. The basic procedure is thus: you go in, pay your 500 yen, take your shoes off, get a little wooden chitty, separate into male and female sections, wash, sit in lots of different types of hot spring, sit in the sauna, sunbathe, repeat until you can't take any more hot water. For the most part it's really relaxing (however the pool that sends short-range electric pulses every second is a bit wierd - in the same way that that science experiment where you make a frog's leg twitch with a 9v battery is wierd) and well worth the trip. Dan and Narumi got married this month - the registration part anyway. If you're a gaijin here you have to marry your Japanese partner twice; once by filling in some paperwork in the local city office, and once in a proper formal affair. Their 'big' wedding is next month, in Tokyo, and we wish them luck. After the onsen, we went to Jusco, a big 'ol shopping mall, with all the usual stuff plus a pet shop with some proper cute little puppies, guaranteed to reduce even a pro-wrestler to tears. Lahhvly.