Maybe the Best Day Ever

     Thursday this week was a holiday. There are many holidays in Japan so I tend to lose track of what they are for, but to my friends and me this day was for food. Specifically, it was a day for home cooked Japanese food and a lot of it.

     My friends and I got together in the afternoon and took the train to the city where my Japanese speaking-partner (Yuko Kimura) lives with her family. Her father and sister where so helpful and drove us from the station to their home a few miles away, by the Yodo river. When we got to the station, I was amazed to find out that Mr Kimura is a mason, and the whole family lives above his shop. In front of the shop there were many stone statues including this iconic piece. Apparently Mr Kimura bought it in China.
     Originally we had planned a crepe making party, so when we went inside the Kimura house we started making as many crepes as we could. Of course they were delicious, and we slathered them with all kinds of jam, peanut butter, ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate, and bananas. Yuko's parents were kind enough to supply us with all sorts of wonderful drinks.
     Once the crepes were over I thought we had completed our plan. But little did I know the Kimura's had been preparing temakizushi. For those who don't know, temakizushi is sushi you make by hand and then eat right away. It's quite fantastic really. They had such things as krab, squid, and tuna.
     Along with the crepes, the sushi made a rather filling meal, so to 'wash it down' Yuko's mother and mother's friend prepared the traditional Japanese pancake called okonomiyaki. I guess they decided that one delicious dish should follow another so they also prepared a traditional soup that I forget the name of but will probably never its taste.
     At this point my stomach was ready to explode and all I could think about was sitting and trying to digest. So as everyone sat we started conversing and ended up on the subject of how fun it would be to go to a hot spring. I guess Yuko's parents overheard us, because they decided to treat us to an hour at the local onsen.
     After splitting off from the women in the group, us guys headed to the locker room. At first everyone was a little shy about just droppin' trou' infront of each other, but we just buckled down and walked, in the buff, out to the public bath.
     I love Japanese hot springs. It is so relaxing to just sit and soak. I even spent some time in a sauna and detoxed a little. The hilarious part of the day came when Mr Kimura indicated to a section of one of the pools and suggested I sit in it. He explained it as a seat that was supposed to relax you with electricity. I really wanted to try it so I wadded over and plopped right down. Unfortunately the electric current in that area was extremely strong and I jumped in my surprise. It felt like my butt had just been tazed; a sensation for which I was not prepared.
     An old man sitting next to me in that pool thought the whole thing was the best joke of the day, and he openly laughed at me. Because of that I had to accept the challenge of the 'denki buro' as it is called here. Once again I sat down, this time a little slower. I found that it is actually quite relaxing when entered properly.
     The whole affair put a rather devious plan in my mind. I told one of my friends he should go sit in the "chair that relaxes your muscles in some way." The sight of him floundering in the pool was priceless, and everyone had a good laugh including him.
     After the onsen everyone headed home full of good food and revitalized by a refreshing bath. We all noticed how the nudity wasn't weird when everyone just accepted it. I can't wait till my next trip.