Japan Day 5: Our stay in a ryokan

We took a bus back down the hill to the ryokan, where we'd stopped to leave our overnight bags earlier. We were ushered in by the ryokan staff. The designated shoe-keeper took our shoes from us and gave us slippers. We were also admonished to use the specific bathroom slippers (blue instead of the regular tan or brown slippers) whenever we stepped in to the bathroom.

The inside of the ryokan is an expansive, old wooden building, small gardens within. Our room face out on to a rushing river - very calming and zen-like. You quickly forget that there's a busy road 100 feet away. One of the views from our room:

We were given yakuta (robes for wearing while in the ryokan) and shown how to put them on properly by a Japanese grandmother who spoke to us only in rapid-fire Japanese. We were to communicate mostly with her for the rest of our stay. She seemed a little rushed most of the time, and while she was polite, I'd hardly say she was gracious or welcoming. The staff at the Sheraton in Tokyo had been more gracious and patient (also, they spoke English).

Here's Robin dressed in her yakuta:

Apparently, men are supposed to wear the robe in a slightly different way. I'm not sure if I ever got that part right. In fact, I'm sure we committed a dozen or more faux pas here.


We had some time before dinner, so we went to try out the family onsen, a mineral hot springs bath. The water in these is always piped in from an underground hot spring (volcanic islands do have some unique benefits), then mixed with cold spring water to adjust the temperature. The ryokan has a family onsen that you can use as a family or couple if no one else has grabbed it first, as well as separate onsens for men and women. There are a number of customs associated with the onsen. The most important one by far - wash thoroughly and rinse before you get in. Also, no bathing suits and no tattoos.

You dip your toe in and it melts. I think the water is kept at about 130 degrees F, which is about 20 to 25 degrees warmer than a typical jacuzzi or hot tub. Once you get in to the onsen, your body adjusts and the hot water quickly relaxes you. Although it's not a good idea to sit in the water for more than 10 minutes at a time, we would hop out, rinse with cool water and then hop back in for a few more minutes. I liked this ritual - it reminded me a little of the Finnish sauna, but the onsen bath leaves you feeling squeaky clean.

We retired to our room, and a few minutes later, the Japanese grandmother brought in dinner. It's a multi-course affair of colorful, largely unidentifiable foods - mostly involving fish. Robin had specified in advance that she doesn't eat fish, but this seems like an alien concept here. This was one of our courses:

Robin tried to push some of her plates over to me so I would eat them (she was trying to be polite), but I could only do so much to cover her tracks. Our hostess finally caught on, noticing that Robin wasn't eating. A staff member stopped in who spoke a few words of English, and we were able to communicate what Robin could eat. They brought us a plate of shabu shabu, raw pork strips and vegetables that you place in a bowl of hot broth to cook (like fondue). I'm not sure if this was part of the regular meal or something extra they brought for her. Still, some of the next course had fish, so I don't think there's really a "no fish" option at a typical ryokan. This place is not for vegetarians.

After dinner, I went back to the men's onsen for another bath. Warmed up from that, I slept pretty well, despite the firm futons you sleep on.