Mixed bathing...and london living

I should add, both mutually exclusive! I had a very eye-opening last few days in Japan. The first of which was at the gorgeous onsen in Takaragawa - Gunma prefecture... The onsen is supposedly the best outdoor onsen in Japan and I must agree it was very impressive. There were 4 outdoor baths, though as with all things steeped in Japanese tradition, the women baths were 1/4 the size and quality of the male baths, so what they did was open the male baths to the women bathers with the condition that women had to bathe with the bath towel on. This is fine in theory, I just wished they had the same standards for the men, who got these tiny little hand towels that either covered the front of back, unfortunately not both. And not even the front very well at that. Luckily men have no qualms strutting about with their asses bared for all to see.

I've always been curious about what a bunch of naked men do in onsens. Now I know. I was lucky enough to have the outdoor baths to myself, that was until a bunch of rowdy men came hooning across the rickety bridge, jumping up and down trying to shake each other off, slapping each other's butts with their little hand towels and taking photos of themselves. So I don't know whether that is normal onsen behaviour for men. I hope not.

It was definitely uncomfortable but the scenery certainly took my mind off all the nekid men there. The onsen was set right beside a gushing river, all around were trees that were just beginning to turn into fall colours, the stone statues and rustic lanterns that dotted the baths just made it all so picturesque and timeless.

The last onsen on my trip was all the way up north in Akita in a little village that seemed far from civilisation. The huts still had straw thatched roofs, the architecture and olden ways of cooking in an irori (fireplace) was still retained. The meals were made of fresh seasonal produce grown right in the valley. The baths were old but my last night bathing in the outdoor pool and lying under the moon and stars was magical.

So back to civilisation! London to be exact. I've been here for a few days and am feeling very comfortable here. I find it all very familiar but of course randomly coming out of an underground station and being confronted by castle walls or a palace here and there certainly make the experience purely British.

So it's my 2nd day of job hunting, a scary prospect being unemployed but luckily I have good friends to doss with (thanks Hung and Colin!) and I'm sure I'll settle right in.