Japanese Baths

We’re staying at Sheraton Meguro, which is a nice hotel. My favorite part is the swimming pool and men’s spa area.

After swimming for about 30 minutes I went back into the locker room area and was in for a nice treat.

Inside was a mini locker area to store clothes before heading into the wet area. There were fresh towels and bathrobes waiting.

I went in to the sauna where there were a few old naked Japanese guys. I was probably 30 years their junior. They seemed to love the sauna. It was quite warm and I only lasted about 10 minutes. I was sweating bullets. The old guys must have thought I was a wimp, because they were seemingly in a meditative state, just relaxed and in a state of zen. I couldn't handle it!

I got up, rinsed off and went into the jacuzzi.

After, I spent about 1 minute in the cold pool.

What a shock to the system! It was ice cold! That's a wakeup call if there ever was one! I was jolted up.

I rinsed off, and dressed, and headed back to the room. If I chose to stick around, like many of the old men, I could have spent hours just relaxing and chilling out on a recliner, reading newspapers in my bathrobe.

I plan on doing this everyday while we're in Japan. I'm sure I look out of place, but to me, this is one of the parts so important to travel, is trying things that are unfamiliar to you and seeing how you respond.

The different shocks of temperature, sweat, and relaxation are a fantastic way to spend a portion of your day.