hot springs in narita

Posted on | August 21, 2008 | No Comments

we arrived in narita at 4pm yesterday, after an eventful 12 hour flight from detroit.

i fell into bed immediately and slept like a log until about 1am, at which point i awoke, lively and chatty.
we debated getting room service as we were both hungry…jetlag!….but we held out until 6am, when we stormed the breakfast buffet.

we took the narita circle bus to the hot springs and had our first japanese bathhouse experience.
men this way and women this way, please.
the need for segregated bathing became quickly apparent when we both realised that “naked” was the dress code.
we wouldn’t be needing those board shorts or swimming togs after all.
once past that little culture shock, the hot springs were a wonderful experience.
beautifully clean water, a range of temps, a range of hydrotherapy jet options, steam room, sauna, heated toiled seats, an entire grooming area with shampoo and soap supplied in big pump bottles…..hey, i felt like i’d finally found my kind of people!
i suspect that the naked, communal bathing thing sort of informs japanese culture as a whole.
we spent a blissful hour or two, then emerged limp and relaxed and ready for sushi.

the sushi bar was just across the street and was great….with on-tap hot tea at every seat.
fortified, we continued on the circle bus to a shopping mall and immersed ourselves in the pink and fluffy world of hello kitty.
my husband is stil fruitlssly searching for a hello kitty t-shirt in his size and a hello kitty beer cooler.
but i got a minuscule charm of the ubiquitious cat, for my phone.
and we goggled at gaggles of schoolgirls in knee-high black stockings, with very mini black skirts, white shirts and black ties and loads of shiny hair to toss around and pondered how that could exist in such a modest culture.

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