Life In Japan: Onsen | John Rachel

Granted, it took me sixty years to figure it out. But yes, it was worth the wait. I say . . .

The onsen is the greatest invention in human history!

Salad Shooter™

Okay . . . okay . . . maybe that’s a bit extreme. After all, there’s the wheel, the combustion engine, the computer. The salad shooter!

Having said that, the onsen still has to be somewhere up there in the Top 20.

An onsen — 温泉 — is a hot spring for bathing. And I have to say, I had no idea what I was missing until my first visit to Japan in July 2007. That was in Nagano Prefecture, where I was a WWOOFing volunteer at an organic farm/restaurant called Canadian Farm.

A little history: My first introduction to the onsen was a chapter in a hilariously funny book by one of my favorite humor writers, a volume called Dave Barry Does Japan. I can still feel his discomfort, his utter humiliation, sitting in a pool of steaming hot water with a bunch of strangers, naked except for folded towels draped over their heads. In fact, I can still recall my discomfort and humiliation my own first time in Nagano! Of course, that was purely the result of my own narrow conditioning, my being uptight, self-conscious, squeamish, and completely ridiculous, the product of growing up a pathetic urban hick in the hypocritically Puritan anti-culture of the American Midwest.

But enough about me and growing up in the shaming buzzkill of Detroit, Michigan.

In 2007, I quickly discovered that onsens are as much a defining characteristic of Japan as sushi, geishas, tofu, Mt. Fuji, and sumo wrestling.

There are hundreds — maybe thousands — of onsens scattered across the volcanic landscape here. Americans go skiing. Or to the beach. Or Disneyland. Japanese go to onsens, often for an extended holiday. There are whole towns full of resort hotels catering to this ritual.

Onsens come in all shapes and sizes. Some indoors, some outdoors. Some are spartan. Others indulge in lavish aesthetics and connecting with nature.

Our favorite local onsen — there are three relatively close to town — is on the way to Kyoto, maybe a twenty-five minute drive. It’s called Rurikei. While the attached resort is relatively fancy, the baths themselves are purely functional. Mostly indoor but a few outdoor pools.

Rurikei has no stunning mountain or rocky river rapids vistas. But it’s very functional, with a decent-size swimming pool, steam baths, saunas, refreshments, even massages.

One of the main reasons we really love this place is that, unlike 99% of other such facilities, it’s co-ed! Yes, it’s a family affair with males, females, moms, dads, kids, all ages, all sizes. Of course, everyone wears a bathing suit. On the other hand, if a person prefers a more traditional setting, each dressing area has bathing pools, men only and women only, where everyone lets everything hang out as they hang out in the hot water together. There are even huge flat-panel televisions, so there’s no excuse for missing a favorite sporting event or cooking show.

I marvel every time I go. I leave feeling renewed, relaxed, refreshed. And clean! I’ve never ever felt so clean, as when I walk out after an hour or so at a Japanese hot spring.

By the way, it’s not just us humans who are totally enamored with relaxing in the steamy hot, therapeutic water of an onsen.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]





Life In Japan: Onsen

Life In Japan: FBI | John Rachel

We have camped all over Japan. And the campgrounds are always clean, well-organized, properly-equipped, friendly, quiet. If I have any complaint, it’s that many of them have few trees, thus the campsites have no privacy.

The notable exception to that is FBI — which stands for First-class Backpackers Inn — our favorite campground within easy driving distance of Tambasasayama.

FBI has a view of Mount Daisen, the highest volcanic peak in the area.

It’s in close proximity to Hiruzen, a town famous for its exceptional dairy products. The soft serve is to die for! So is their incredibly popular yogurt.

If you’re really in luck, you can pet Lovely, probably the most famous cow in the Eastern hemisphere, recognized and acclaimed for the white patch on her forehead in the shape of a heart.

For a complete change of pace, it’s also less than an hour from FBI to the Sea of Japan beaches. On our most recent trip, we walked along the shore and visited a still-operational lighthouse.

There is a whole range of camping options at FBI. We of course prefer to do the tent thing. But cabins and teepees are also available.

The cabins are the height of luxury for this type of facility, making me wonder why people just don’t stay in a hotel. Not quite sure how this is “camping”. In fact, there’s a term for it here in Japan. It’s called glamping — glamor camping.

I guess we do slumping . . . which would be slum camping.

FBI is very family-friendly with plenty to keep everyone occupied. There’s a trampoline, a swimming pool, restaurant, bar, hiking trails, kid’s treehouse, frogs, snakes, foxes, insects, everything needed to guarantee a splendid time for all, in the tamed wilds hunkered in the foothills of Mount Daisen.

For the maraschino cherry on top of this delicious camping experience, every evening they have a giant bonfire, very handy if you happened to bring along a 50 kg marshmallow.

Friends not familiar with Japan always express surprise when I tell them that camping is one of our favorite ways to tour the country. I have to remind them that Japan is not just cement and tall buildings with giant flat-panel displays advertising cafés, pachinko, and novelty shops. 70% of Japan is covered with forests. And we have an array of topological features which offer both stunning natural beauty and incredible variety: rivers, oceans, seas, mountains, valleys, hills, volcanoes, ponds, lakes, sand dunes, tropical rain forests (Okinawa), hundreds of kilometers of beaches, by golly even one semi-parched desert, finally, last but certainly not least, hundreds of islands. After all, Japan is an island!

Let me leave you with one last image, a side of Japan you don’t typically see . . .

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]





Life In Japan: FBI | John Rachel

Life In Japan: TVs on TV | John Rachel

Gender roles are sharply defined in Japan. The simple truth is, men rule the roost here. Yes, folks, it’s a highly patriarchal arrangement. For example, the idea that marriage is a partnership, one that requires empathy, fairness, consideration, diplomacy, mutual respect and generosity, is more the exception than the rule. The man is the head of the household. His tyranny is regarded as absolute and accepted as normal. Women do his bidding, cook the meals, clean the house, take care of the kids. The man is the primary breadwinner and that fact is never forgotten.

It is no exaggeration to say that Japan is a “traditional” society in that respect, similar to what is seen across vast swaths of the planet’s inhabited surface. I include Africa, South America, and most of Asia.

Of course, there is push back for better treatment of women, equality in both the home and the workplace, for equal rights not just as a legal window dressing, but in all actual areas of the day-to-day functioning of society: economics, politics, social relations.

Progress toward equal pay is discernible but painfully slow. Women are grossly under-represented in leadership roles, especially in the corporate world. The majority of political figures are men. Women operate within this framework, don’t like it, merely tolerate it. Younger women are certainly promoting other options, so this will change over time. Frankly from what I’m seeing, this could take a very long time.

Having said all of that, while I as a matter of principle prefer a more “liberated” society, I’m not here to judge. I’m here to accurately report what’s happening on the ground.

What I see in Japan, then, in terms of the “battle of the sexes” is what we in the West would regard as garden variety male vs. female “conservatism”.

Extreme conservatism!

Now . . . try to imagine my surprise, amazement, total belly-laughing delight, when I discovered looking over my wife’s shoulder one evening after dinner, probably the most unconservative thing I could have imagined here or anywhere, something which is not just a common occurrence, but one that doesn’t prompt any reaction from Japanese people whatsoever. To them this is as normal as raw fish on rice.

I’m referring to . . .

TVs on TV!

(Translation)

Transvestites on television!

Mind you . . .

There are hundreds of brutal homicides, the result of homophobia in less the open-minded enclaves of the West, accounts of “redneck” men who completely lose it when confronted by gender-bending of any sort. Disputes about which bathroom a transexual should use sometimes scream out as the feature story on the nightly news hour. The world having 15,000+ nuclear bombs armed and ready to destroy the human race apparently is not something to be concerned about. But the idea that the person in the next stall in a restroom is a guy with eyeliner and silicone breast implants is the real threat.

But here in Japan, as conservative as this country is in some ways, having a guy dress up as a woman, at least from what I now often see, is an acceptable practice and regarded as normal entertainment fare anytime of day or night, even for family television. Astonishing!

I’ve seen a number of transvestites on various shows over the years. But Matsuko Deluxe — you have to love that name! — is hands-down the best known TV on Japanese TV. She’s everywhere! Comedy shows and advertisements are her main venues. But I see her on billboards, in magazines. Seriously. She’s everywhere!

Correct me if I’m wrong . . . but Matsuko Deluxe is not exactly a beauty queen.

But who can argue with success?

Uh-oh . . . I just realized. Maybe the title of this article — TVs on TV — is actually a little inappropriate, though I do frankly think it’s devastatingly clever. ‘Transvestite’ is a term rarely used anymore. With the new identity politics insurgencies in full swing, genders are proliferating way beyond the basic boy-girl binary I grew up with — according to some gender bender aficionados in the U.S., there are at least 64 and as many as 81 genders. As a result, the terms ‘transsexual’ and ‘transgender’ are the preferred nomenclature of the new woke stormtroopers — aka the PC Police — prompting many folks wonder if they should demand an induced coma, perhaps the only way of avoiding the minefield of attempting to formulate an acceptable sentence.

Truth is, the term I hear used most here all throughout Asia when referring to boys who are now girls — with or without a penis — is ‘ladyboy’. Ladyboys are not just “dressing up” or play acting. They are actually embracing all that it means to be a female. Frankly, many of them are more convincing females, than many females I’ve known over the years, especially in America, where feminism has savaged the whole idea of femininity. But that’s another whole topic.

The lady pictured on the right is also a ladyboy. She is used in an English teaching program here in Japan for explaining verb tenses. No, I’m not making this up. The lesson goes like this . . .

“This is Ms. Haruna Ai. She is a girl. She was a boy.”

Yes ! Excellent! Present tense. Present tense. Past tense. Got it!

And yes, the ‘Ms.’ is a nice touch. A nod to the legacy feminism of the 70s. Progress, no matter how you look at it, eh?

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen — and everything in between. A glimpse into gender blurring in post-modern Japan, where the man still wears the pants in the family . . . when he’s not wearing a mini-skirt.

Alright, folks!

Tell me you’re not amazed . . . shocked . . . astounded . . . speechless.

Impressed?

(Maybe a little bit?)

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]



Life In Japan: TVs on TV