Shima Onsen

As a final goodbye to our long break, we treated ourselves to an overnight onsen trip, Japanese-style. We booked rooms at a hotspring resort in Shima, a town in Gumma prefecture, a few hours NW of Tokyo. Loading onto the bus, it quickly became apparent that we'd stumbled into a parallel universe, populated by older Japanese folks. We stuck out like sore thumbs, but, by the end, I think we'd become the group's gaijin mascots. The town is a beautiful spot up in the mountains and, after arriving, we quickly suited up in our yukatas and headed for the baths. Our hotel had one on the seventh floor with a big picture window, but the better ones were outdoors (rotenburo) on the bottom level. This spot had one-person wooden tubs continuously fed with hot spring water, as well as larger slate baths with roofs, open on three sides. These baths were good, but the hotel up the road had the four-star baths and, once again, we were trumped by the seasoned onsen veterans, who beat us up there and staked out the best spots as we stumbled up the street in our yukatas (everybody walked around inside and out with them on) trying to figure out where to go. Here are some pictures of the various baths.

We were able to have them all to ourselves on occasion, since many of the grandmas and grandpas seemed to be fairly regimented in taking their baths at certain times. The dinner was spectacular - a feast (for eyes and stomach) of tiny, succulent specimens laid out in a stunning array of dishes. We woke up the next day, took a look outside and it was snowing! The perfect cap on a relaxing getaway. We spent the morning feeding our new-found bathing addictions and then headed upwards for a hike to a nearby dam, in search of Japanese mountain monkeys. No monkeys, but the bluest water we've ever seen. Luckily, the monkeys made an appearance on the bus ride out of town, though we zoomed by too quick for pictures.