Hot springs and little fishes

The day dawned bright and sunny and I headed off to meet my Japanese friend at Roppongi station to sample the delights of a real, Japanese onsen (public bath).  It is in Odaiba - a part of Tokyo Bay which has been built on reclaimed land.  The train out there has the most wonderful view and is well worth the trip!  What amazed me most about Odaiba was the wind strength.  It was blowing a real gale and whipping up the dust out there - not a bit like the sheltered parts of Tokyo that I usually frequent.

The Onsen is built in the traditional style and the whole place resembles an old fashioned village from the Edo period.  So having taken off your shoes and paid a modest sum for entry you are guided to the counter where you choose  your Yukata - a casual dressing gown type thing that covers you from neck to calf or toe.  There is a good selection in many sizes and we were soon kitted out.

We headed outside.  It was a lovely day and the temperature was not too low.  This part of the Onsen was, what the Americans call, co-ed - mixed, male and female so you keep your yukata firmly tied!  We spotted a place that has a shallow pool with doctor fish in it.  These are small black catfish like fish that just love to chomp their way through the dead skin on your feet.  We plonked our feet in the pool and the agony/ecstasy began.  The feeling was like a million bubbles bursting all over your feet - very gentle and very tickly!!  A fellow Japanese guest screamed throughout the whole process ....  but kept her feet firmly in the water!  The effect, after 15 minutes, is beautifully manicured feet - quite the best I've ever had!  I will return.

The rest of the place (single sex places this time) was full of hot springs to wallow in, steam rooms to indulge yourself and a couple of places which were very unusual - there was the sand bath (yep, had to have a go at that) and the hot salt bath (nope, not doing that!).  In the sand bath we were wrapped in our yukatas, in towels and then buried in hot volcanic sand.  The sand was at 43 C.  They bury you from your neck all the way to your toes.  The sand is hot and very heavy and they keep checking on you.  Believe me they need to!  You cannot move and you perspire very heavily for 15 minutes then they unwrap you and guide  you to a cold shower.  I'm sure it does you good.  It left me feeling very sleepy and totally spaced out! 

We took a break, ate an ice cream and then headed off for lunch.  There were plenty of places to be massaged and pummelled if that was your fancy.  It was a great day out - another tick in the box for things to do in Japan!