Arima Spa and Japanese Bath Houses

(The ubiquitous Japanese "in-come" cat.)

So one of the favorite Japanese past-times is getting completely butt naked in front of a bunch of strangers and soaking in hot baths to relax (sorry ladies, it's men's and women's separate).

Usually you enter these things, put your stuff in a locker and swap out for a tiny towel and some slippers, and then you go into a shower area for the scrub down (Japanese folks get totally clean BEFORE getting into the bath - it's only for soaking). After that you usually have your choice of different tubs, baths, saunas, steam rooms, etc.

Since I've been here I have been to a variety of them, from crappy capsule hotel and backpacker hostel ones, to really sweet set-in-nature, zen garden, healing water types.

One of the best ones I've been to (and one of the most famous in Japan) is at Arima Spa, which is a suburb of Kobe, about 40 minutes from where I live. There is some sort of natural hot spring that runs through the ground there, and there are even little baths that just pop out of the sidewalk - literally you can be walking down the street, stop, take off your shoes, have a seat, and start soaking! Cool, huh.

(Walking is tough! Ayame and I decide to have a soak in the middle of the street.)

The water there is well known because it's got lots of iron in it, which apparently is good for the skin and muscles if you soak in it. It turns the water an opaque, rusty red, and you smell like a rusty pirate sword after you get out. Also at the same spa they had a bathtub that was full of tea water! You soak yourself in this scented tea water and it kinda gives you a buzz. They also have all of these crazy waterfalls that you can stand underneath and the water pressure falling gives you a massage. Rad huh?

So afterwards they have these lounges for you to relax and chill out in. Usually they have massage chairs and you can even hire on a masseuse right there on the spot! They also have all of these beverages you can have - the traditional post-onsen drink of choice is this really awesome coffee drink that comes in these minature milk bottles - and I guess they used to have this old school commerical, so now you're supposed to drink the coffee in the special pose:

(Me and Masa strike a pose.)

Anyway, they're loads of fun until the old dudes start lettin' 'em rip in the water, then the writing's on the wall that it's time to go. Yokorassho!