L S
11-19-2007, 03:22 AM
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It was after a three-hour train ride north from Tokyo (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/japan/tokyo/overview.html?inline=nyt-geo), heading for Tsurunoyu Onsen, that I learned Tsurunoyu isnft an onsen at all. gItfs really more of a hitou,h Moto, my guide, delicately pointed out. We were in Honshu Islandfs far-north prefecture of Akita, winding our way up the unpaved road to the 300-year-old mountain lodge, and Moto seemed especially intent on setting me straight. An onsen, he explained, is a natural hot spring. A hitou is a natural hot spring that is hidden. Ah. Hiddenness being perhaps the most prized characteristic in Japanese culture — second only to a love of drawing precise distinctions on a minute scale — I undertood this was a critical difference. ..........
One night the dining room was filled with a rowdy group of married couples in their 50s having a lavish meal with many bottles of beer and sake. High, whiny violin music (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/music/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier) played on a stereo while powdered wives in bustled kimonos danced for their husbands, who smoked heavily. Their exhuberance was so deep that for a moment I wished I were Japanese..........
Which is not to say that the joys of the onsen are lost in translation — the staff doesnft actually speak any English. Our server said he knew the word gdinner,h and that was enough to connect with the foreign guests. Hardly anyone speaks at Tsurunoyu, anyway. When youfre naked in mixed company, as you are in the baths, there just isnft much to say. No forced camaraderie, no spiritual communion, just the savoring of hitou. When the reservationist learned that Ifd come all the way from New York City (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/new-york/new-york-city/overview.html?inline=nyt-geo), that gleaming Xanadu that usually elicits a response the world over, he barely registered the fact. It was wonderful.
Article here (http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/travel/tmagazine/14well-fashion-t.html?em&ex=1195448400&en=bee66c8ef9c6d7be&ei=5087%0A)
It was after a three-hour train ride north from Tokyo (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/japan/tokyo/overview.html?inline=nyt-geo), heading for Tsurunoyu Onsen, that I learned Tsurunoyu isnft an onsen at all. gItfs really more of a hitou,h Moto, my guide, delicately pointed out. We were in Honshu Islandfs far-north prefecture of Akita, winding our way up the unpaved road to the 300-year-old mountain lodge, and Moto seemed especially intent on setting me straight. An onsen, he explained, is a natural hot spring. A hitou is a natural hot spring that is hidden. Ah. Hiddenness being perhaps the most prized characteristic in Japanese culture — second only to a love of drawing precise distinctions on a minute scale — I undertood this was a critical difference. ..........
One night the dining room was filled with a rowdy group of married couples in their 50s having a lavish meal with many bottles of beer and sake. High, whiny violin music (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/music/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier) played on a stereo while powdered wives in bustled kimonos danced for their husbands, who smoked heavily. Their exhuberance was so deep that for a moment I wished I were Japanese..........
Which is not to say that the joys of the onsen are lost in translation — the staff doesnft actually speak any English. Our server said he knew the word gdinner,h and that was enough to connect with the foreign guests. Hardly anyone speaks at Tsurunoyu, anyway. When youfre naked in mixed company, as you are in the baths, there just isnft much to say. No forced camaraderie, no spiritual communion, just the savoring of hitou. When the reservationist learned that Ifd come all the way from New York City (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/new-york/new-york-city/overview.html?inline=nyt-geo), that gleaming Xanadu that usually elicits a response the world over, he barely registered the fact. It was wonderful.
Article here (http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/travel/tmagazine/14well-fashion-t.html?em&ex=1195448400&en=bee66c8ef9c6d7be&ei=5087%0A)