Friday, April 4, 2014

Nagano: Skiing, Craft Beer, Monkeys in Onsens (part 1)

Our first out-of-town trip since we arrived was to Shiga Kogen ski resort in Nagano prefecture. We joined a pre-arranged outing offered by Tokyo Snow Club, one of the well-known outdoor event organizers in Tokyo.

The itinerary for the weekend included two days of skiing, an all-weekend craft beer/music festival and a Sunday outing to see Japanese snow monkeys (Japanese macaques). How perfect - a weekend that blended things I love with things Vince loves. I assume I don't need to clarify who prefers which activities.

Staying at a Ryokan: A Traditional Japanese Inn

Upon our arrival to Shiga Kogen, we realized that we would experience more firsts than we had bargained for. We were staying at a traditional Japanese inn, called  a ryokan.* This means:

  • We stayed in a tatami mat room,
    No beds, just thin, futon like mattresses and some covers. The pillows were filled with some type of beans. 


  • Had our first Japanese-style breakfast,
    It consisted of cooked noodles (later learned they were cooked with beef, sigh), a selection of fish pieces, salad and green tea. 



  • Showered in a communal washroom, and
    Taking a Japanese communal bath properly requires following a detailed set of rules. A complete guide can be found here, and are worth reading if you plan to visit. Here, I highlight key points to emphasize.
    1) Men & women take onsen separately because it is done in complete nudity. Each sex enters their respective onsen through a changing room in which everyone
     gets completely naked. Just you and your birthday suit.
    2) Naked and proud (or naked and terrified, but definitely naked), enter the communal bathing room. Feel free to introduce yourself to everyone who is already in there. Just kidding (sort of .. strangers will occasionally strike up small talk). It also seemed common for people to cast a casual glance at new entrants. And, yes, I mean casual as if you had just walked into a coffee shop, fully dressed. No one cares that you're nude.
    3) You will be faced with a row (or several) of 6" inch tall stools, each of which sits below a removable shower head and about 18 inches from the next stool. Take a seat and wash up (some onsens offer soap, others expect entrants have their own).  --Spend a minute imagining trying to wash completely, while seated on a 6" tall stool.--
    4) Fully washed, move from the shower area into the onsen (which is a pool filled with geothermally heated natural hot spring water) and relax. But, don't get your hair wet and definitely don't put your wash cloth in the water! (Many people put them on their heads)
    ** Do not be frightened by the floating translucent white particles throughout the water. This is not the skin of every bather who preceded you. It is mineral powder called yu no hana, which means water flower. It is cultivated in Japan and made into powder, which is put in all onsen and is widely available for purchase. It is improper to scrub in the onsen, so it's functionally more like a hot tub than a bath.
    5) When you finish your soak, you may return to the shower to rinse off the onsen water, although many say this negates the water's healing benefits. Whether you rinse or not, dry yourself with your wash cloth as best you can before leaving the communal bathing room.

    It's a strange, but also really lovely experience once you shed your clothes and prudish Victorian hang-ups. The only other option was to ski for three days and not shower. 

japanese-bath.jpg
                                        Courtesy of tb-kumano.jp

  • We were exposed to a traditional Japanese toilet in the ryokan's communal bathroom. 

                                              bredlowfamily.blogspot.com

Skiing at Shiga Kogen

The skiing at Shiga Kogen was quite good. We were lucky to get 30 cm of snow the day before we arrived and a full day of snow on our first day on the slopes.


Day 1

In the morning, Vince took a half day ski lesson. In the afternoon we skied together in heavy snow with low visibility and strong winds. Challenging but still fun!



Day 2

... was perfection... 



And there was a guy boarding in a head-to-toe Tigger costume.



* I have had the pleasure of staying at a ryokan once during my first trip to Japan. Thanks, dad! But for ease of writing I have adopted "we".

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