An Unexpected Adventure

This weekend I visited my cousin Shina up in Akita prefecture for Thanksgiving. I didn't know what we would do or who I would meet, although all I was really concerned with was seeing Shina and spending time with family on this American holiday.

To my amazement, we met with about 10 other folks in Akita and made ourselves quite a delicious little Thanksgiving feast. Kathleen, our host for the night, went to the trouble to cook TWO turkeys! Since Japanese kitchens don't normally have ovens, and when they do, they certainly can't accommodate a whole turkey, she had to take the turkeys to a special facility and do them up right. When we finally got to eating, we had 4 kinds of stuffing, 2 carved turkeys, 2 kinds of mashed potatoes, some corn salad, candied yams, green salad, turkey gravy, and Shina's "family recipe" curried fruit. Perhaps the only thing missing was cranberry sauce. Honestly, it's not just that I haven't had decent western food in 4 months; this dinner was amazing! We all ate until we made ourselves sick. Then, out came the desserts. We had 3 different kinds of pumpkin pie, I brought pumpkin bread (care of my mother and Trader Joe's), others brought apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and a few other little goodies. Finally, Corey, one of Shina's Canadian friends in Akita, made coffee and milk tea for those who would have it. We sipped our hot drinks over a serious game of Attack Uno. This special game is Uno-regular, with a special device that literally shoots random numbers of cards at players who are unfortunate enough to have been handed an Attack card. It's quite fun and raises the anxiousness of the game considerably.

Now, Thanksgiving dinner is not the unexpected part of my trip to Akita. The really interesting part came the next day when Corey and his friend Koji (Japanese guy from Chiba) picked me up at Shina's apartment and took me out for the day. Neither of them had to work, and Shina did, so we decided to make a it a guy's day. None of us showered and we headed out for the onsen. If you've read my previous posts about the onsen, you'll know that it's best to meet people when you're naked. It's cold in Akita this time of year, right around freezing, and Japanese houses don't really have decent heating or insulation systems. The notion of a hot soak was a welcomed invitation from Corey in weather like this.

Corey drove us closer to the mountains up past Lake Tazawako to a special onsen that he wanted to visit. When the road turned to dirt and black ice and it started to flurry I became a little skeptical about the kind of bath we were going to get. It seemed like there weren't any people, let alone a huge facility for bathing all the way up in mountains like this. We arrived at the spot and sure enough, there was an onsen. Sadly, however, it had closed for the winter. As we walked around, though, I was introduced to a whole new kind of onsen. All of the onsen I've been to have been largely indoor with clear filtered water and nice soaps to bathe yourself with. There's always a shower area where you must bathe rigorously before putting a single toe into the hot pools. This onsen was more rustic, had mostly outdoor pools, and little rivers of water ran through the center of the onsen facility. We couldn't walk between buildings without stepping into the stream. This made it perfectly clear why they would close in the winter months!

We trekked back to the car and Koji said that he knew of another onsen that we could drive to. When we continued down the road a piece, the terrain proved to be too dangerous to drive. So, we parked the car and hoofed it down the side of the bluff to the next onsen. When we arrived, this one was definitely open, but presented an even MORE rustic exterior than the previous one. We found the cashier, paid our few hundred yen to take a bath, and headed to the pools. This is where the real adventure began.

This onsen had no indoor washing area, no indoor pools, and no indoor changing area. Well, it had a shack with a door you could change in, but it was most certainly not climate controlled. It was just a little wooden hut with a door and some shelves. This led to the initial bathing pool (outdoor, but covered). In this pool, you could splash some hot spring water on yourself, even use some soap, but it was nothing fancy. And, remember, we're high up in the mountains and it's around 30 F. Not only was it cold, but the wind was blowing a bit and it was now snowing. I would like to say that shrinkage wasn't a problem, but I'd be lying! It was DAMNED COLD. We took our privacy towels, wrapped them around our heads, and jumped into the hot water. We three men sat there, talking, listening, sometimes just sitting, letting the whole rest of the world just disappear for an hour. The volcanically heated mineral water was like a thousand little hot Japanese hands tickling at my skin. The freezing cold air on my ears and face were the bites of Winter telling me how lucky I was at that moment. The steam lifting off of the water turned to ghosts of the earth as the they gently disappeared into the falling snow. It might be one of the fondest memories I have will have for the rest of my life.

On the lighter side, this onsen was "mixed", which means that men and women share the same baths. I saw a couple of obaa-chan (little grandmothers) at the onsen, but wasn't lucky enough to catch a glimpse of any younger Japanese beauties. No worries, because it probably would have made me nervous and detracted from the experience. But, after we got in the hot spring, I decided I needed a picture, so I hopped out and ran (quickly, mind you) to get my camera. When I got to the hut, there were 5 older Japanese women walking around the springs, just checking things out. They were bundled all the way up with hats, scarves, down jackets, and whatnot. I ran into the hut in my stark nakedness, and they immediately started muttering and giggling nervously. They kept repeating 'gomen nasai' or 'sumimasen' (both of which mean I'm sorry). But, I was unphased and just proclaimed loudly 'Ohayo Gozaimasu!' with a huge smile on my face. This means Good Morning in Japanese and they let out a full sigh and relaxed laughter as they hurried out of the hut. I'm sure I was more than they bargained for when they decided to take a walk around the hot springs! Imagine, a gaijin (foreigner), a clear foot taller than the tallest woman in the bunch, naked and wet, in the middle of winter and snow, yelling Good Morning at the top of his lungs and smiling!!! I still chuckle when I think about it.

As far as the rest of my trip with Shina, the whole weekend was equally fulfilling. She and I talked about our futures, enjoyed being with family, visited another onsen with Corey, ate Italian food, ate Indian food, had Starbucks coffee, brownies, scones, and did all the things that I can't do very easily back in my part of Japan. Corey took me to Kakunodate, an old Samurai village, where we toured some houses, visited some museums, and bought some Christmas gifts. On Saturday night Shina and I went with her South African friend, Soma, to a Jazz club called The Cat Walk. Soma's friend was singing that night and he gave a flawless rendition of the Girl from Impanema. His English is good, but he sang that song without any trace of an accent. Impressive to say the least.

Right now, I'm on my way home, writing this on the Shinkansen (bullet train). We're cruising through rural Japan around 200 MPH, just watching towns whiz by. The train is so smooth it sometimes feels like I'm floating home. Even when it's not so smooth, though, I'm still floating.

Have a wonderful week. I miss and love you all.
Michael
:-)