Onsen 温泉

 My error in trying to keep up with this blog has been that I want to write really big posts, but then they feel daunting and I never want to just sit and sort everything out. So a potential remedy is smaller posts. Easier for you to read and me to do.

        Japan is a very tectonically active area. A couple hundred miles out into the Pacific Ocean is a big plate Faultline. Thus the frequent earthquakes. We actually had a 4.3 this morning about 10 miles away. Another side effect of this is that underground water sometimes gets close to magma and heats up then as hot things tend to do, it rises. Japanese people have been using the hot natural water to make bath houses for a pretty good while. I remember watching a short video of some foreigners using an outdoor one. They were in a small outdoor courtyard, maybe 15 meters/yards square. Some nice trees and great view of the countryside with a little privacy fence, and a 3 meter/yard square stone lined pool/bath in the center. It looked amazing. As such I've wanted to visit one myself, and had hoped friends would join me but Covid made it hard to travel this year. 

        Anyhoo. Work set us up at an Onsen hotel for a 2 day work function and I entered this one but it seemed just like bathwater.

(This was my first time to actually be in one, there was no one around at 6 am so I broke a rule and took a picture. I needed to go to breakfast and didn't intend to even get in the bath so only spent like 2 minutes in it. Seemed like bathwater far as I could tell.)

A Japanese English teacher I work with had asked about plans and learned I was seeking a hotspring that was more natural with like murky water. Several weeks later he had been asking around and seeking as well apparently, said he found one exactly as I wanted, and offered take me. This is the SECOND time in 12 months I've done a social activity with another person.  So we made a plan to visit the next week. Unfortunately the murky water one closes 1 DAY a month to clean, and it was that day. So we visited a different one.

        Etiquette at an Onsen is a little difficult for foreigners. The first rule is usually 'no swimsuit'. At the entrance you leave your shoes, pay the 5 TO 7 DOLLARS TO ENTER, then enter your sex's changing room. Then there are little lockers with keys and wrist bracelets. As the first rule says, disrobe and cram all your stuff into a locker, wear the key on your wrist or arm or whatever you like. Bring in your little towel and you're all set to head into the bath. At the entrance is usually a little tub to take water and rinse yourself. The baths purpose isn't to clean yourself and leave all the dirt for the next people, its to relax, so rinse off or even take a shower BEFORE getting into the bath. Typical setup is a very hot big bath, a medium temp, a small cold bath and sauna next to one another sometimes, and a shower area with complimentary body soap and shampoo. Other rules are don't put your towel into the water, don't wash yourself in the bathwater, and don't put your hair in the water. 

        The first Onsen I went to was more bath water. There was a smaller bath of very hot water, then a bigger one with what smelled like a little of some kind of mint scenting the water. We hung out and chatted and switched from one bath to the other and showered at our leisure. Before leaving a random man started talking to me in English and we chatted for a few minutes. He said he was in construction work, and had been all over the world. Like South America, bunch of countries in Europe, and the Islands to the south of Japan. I did note he had indented skin in the shape of Japanese characters, which I assumed was the effect of tattoo removal. You can interpret all that information as you will. Overall the trip was pleasant. We got some sushi afterward, but planned to visit the intended Murky water one in several days.

(This would be like the exact thing I'm looking for, hopefully I will find something like it when I visit the northern island in a few weeks.)

        You guys.... murky water one was amazing. The water looked like it had a bunch of rust in it. I a brownish red color, and I couldn't see my pinky finger when I held my hand vertically in the water. I was told there was nothing added to the water either, it was just straight from the ground with a very subtle earthy scent. EXACTLY what I was looking for! But wait there's more! I wanted to go to one outdoors to feel the contrast of hot and cold. This one had big glass panels with wood frame and they could open. So we sat in the murky bath while cool winter air came in and over the top. This murky water Onsen even had their cold pool filled with murky water. There was a little courtyard outside with bamboo and it looked so nice. When I got way too hot I transitioned and sat in the little cold one. I could feel my heart slow down as my body cooled. Almost seemed like I could feel the temperature difference around my heart and neck where where the cold water was cooling my blood but other parts were still warm from the hot bath. Made me feel weird, good weird, but quite unusual. Well I enjoyed the time and chatting a lot. On the drive back my skin felt a little different, like comfy and unusual, I don't know... different. My Japanese English teacher friend said he had noted the same thing from his first use of this specific hotspring.

(The smaller one in the foreground is the cold tub. This place is called the "twins" onsen because the two sides look like one another for the most part. I got to try both sides! I also went in the evening when it was dark just because it was how my schedule worked out.)

(Both sides have a section like this where those big panels can slide and let the outdoor air in. It is glorious.)

(On the right is where you enter from the changing room. Then the stone lined thing holds water for you to rinse before you enter any of the baths.)

        I needed to go to the city a 2 hour drive to the South last week, and on my way back that evening I stopped at murky water place again. Alone I could enjoy it however I wished. So I cleaned and then would soak in the hot murky water bath, then the cold tub, then back. This time they had switched the Male/female sides so there was a small outdoor kinda deck with a bench. It's really early spring so outdoors is cool, but I went out to sit on the bench several times as well. You know when you're chilly and you warm up quickly either by getting into a bath or a warm car, and the feeling of warming up is just soooooooooo nice? I found one of my favorite things to do in cooling myself drastically either by sitting outside or entering the small cold tub, then return to the hot murky water tub. My goodness does that feel good. There's light soft music playing, the air is all misty from the humidity and temperature. I'm super disappointed that this kind of thing doesn't exist in the US. I'm trying to set up a trip to the northern island of Japan before leaving and hopefully I can hit up some Onsen up there. Different Onsen advertise themselves as having specific nutrients and so forth in their waters. As a foreigner it was unusual for me to be naked near strangers but since everyone else is accustomed to it I didn't care after about 10 minutes or so, it's different, but also nice to just be naked and in a warm place with a comfy bath ya know? The Onsen is immensely relaxing and wonderful, highly recommend. For 6 bucks is extraordinarily worth the price. 

Food. 食べ物 tabemono

Food is excellent. I love food. If I have to consume sustenance nearly every single day to stay alive... might as well seek out the good stuff. And the good stuff, is in Japan. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added Japanese food to its 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' list. Do I know what that means? No. However, see for yourself how it looks and is presented, and I'll do my best to explain how it tastes.

As a relevant note, I now more closely recognize my appreciation for taste as influenced by the display and plating of the food. There are studies showing people's ratings of food as different simply based on how it is presented. I didn't appreciate the degree to which this is true however. So, have a gander.

I don't know if the sizing of these pictures will be too big but if so. Deal with it. Anyhoo. This place is down the road from my apt and I go about every other week. My favorite thing here is pictured somewhere below. This is like a relatively cheap family kinda place. My meals here are usually like 11 dollars total.

This is a breaded fried cut of pork with rice and pickles and a salad and soup. I ordered the sides of soy beans and dumplings.

The pork cutlet is almost sweet, I find it a little difficult to finish. Like a hint of maple syrup. The soup is of a variety I don't particularly enjoy but I've learned I can order different pieces.

So next we have another restaurant right down the street from my apt. After the Covid restrictions were lightened and we were told it was ok to go out sparingly (about 3 months after I'd gotten here). I was curious what this place was. Grilled meat! 

I love getting a bowl of rice here and then grilling little bites of meat and dipping them in the sauces. There's some better pictures from this place later on.

So one of the reasons I wanted to come to Japan was for the sushi, and this was the first place I tested. Still some issues with language for me but I managed to get something. This is the counter you can sit at, common at most sushi places.

There were some good pieces on this that I really enjoyed, however there were some I didn't, and it was also more expensive. I tried a few other places as well but soon discovered there are like two kinds of sushi places. The traditional one that offers set price things like this, with chef selected seasonal pieces, then more like sushi conveyor belt places. I've tended to favor the conveyor belt places since I can select exactly what I want to eat. There is one for pretty cheap and a more expensive one I visit occasionally. 

After having tasted the Japanese food and seeing how it was prepared and presented I wanted to make my own as lunches for work. So I made bento lunches which are quite easy with all the components being available in the grocery store. the protein in this one was a fish/octopus like patty kinda thing. Taste great. I would add them in many of my lunches.

Ah, another visit to the grilled meat place. I always order a platter of meat for 2 people so I don't have to make choices and try to verbally say 10 different things. I only go here like once a month or less so it works out pretty good.

This may have been one of my first visits to this place. I really love the restaurant and it's one of the closest to my apt. Warm food close by, wonderful. This place is a rice bowl restaurant specializing in a house sauce it puts on some of the fried meat cutlets. Also has Japanese curry, which I find to be closer in taste to an American chile than an Indian/Thai curry. Still good though.

More SUSHI! In the closed container is a savory pudding. Caught me off guard. I expected sweetness but it's pretty good. Also usually has a mushroom or small potato in the bottom.

Salmon that has been seared on one side and raw on the other, over rice with a sweet sauce and egg yolk. I think it's a quail egg. One of my favorite dishes here. Doesn't make me feel all heavy and bogged down like a big chunk of meat does.

This is about 400 feet down the road from my apt headed into town. The light was great so I took a picture. This is the grilled meat place.

This may have been the time I went to get grilled meat on July 4th to celebrate. I think it was the first time I saw other foreigners in my city too.

Conveyor sushi place! The white plates are a single dollar, then it goes up to about 3 per plate depending on what you get. I usually get about 10 plates with a few from the more expensive stuff. Usually about 15 dollars for my bill here. This year they aren't having the food rotate, you use a tablet to order what you want and then a little train brings it out. Also hot water on tap and you can make tea with some powder. There's also pickled ginger as you like.

One of my schools does a lunch order each day for 4.30. I use it almost every day I go now because my kitchen is so cold in the winter. But they are quite wonderful.

A yogurt vendor comes by the same school on Fridays and I like to get this yogurt. 

The rice bowl place near my apt and I've order the meat cutlet with special house sauce and an oolong tea. They give you those two syringes with mayo and spicy mustard to use as you will.

I'm experimenting with ramen places. Take off your shoes and sit down for some ramen.

That's oolong tea not beer. I was a bit disappointed because the variety of miso in this miso ramen bowl was a local kind that I don't really like instead of the regular variety of miso. Lesson learned.

Popular in Japan is something called takoyaki, Tako is octopus and yaki means grilled. So it's like a little pancake batter ball with a chunk of octopus in the center. Then the outside is grilled and turned. It's more like a sac when finished. I never failed to burn the crap out of my mouth when eating these. When they are done usually bonito flakes and mayo go on top. They're pretty good but I prefer different things if available. 

Fast food ramen place. Finally found a decent place for ramen. I've been going here fairly frequently but I just found a new place. So this is maybe my number 3 but this bowl is probably 5 dollars. In the US this would be 15.

A fancier ramen place. This was a seafood ramen with fish balls and a different base. Pretty good but I wasn't a fan of the fish balls. Who would eat cooked fish when you can have it raw?!

oooooo So this is agedashi tofu and I love it. Fried tofu in a broth made from fish flakes and seaweed. So salty and goooooood. When I choose to go to this restaurant it's mostly for this appetizer right here.

Pounded tuna over rice bowl with a mini noodle bowl. Tasty.

This is one I cooked for myself. I shore do love breakfast.

I think this is called Taiyaki. yaki means grilled but not sure what the first part means. This little shop was selling them while I was out walking around so I got one and a little ice cream shake. There is sweet bean paste inside the fish and it tastes like a pancake.

Ah yes ふかひれ or fukahire, or sharkfin. Most everyone asked me if I'd had it. I know it isn't supposed to be too good for the environment on account of eating predators really messes up the predator/prey balance. So lets just say I tried it to communicate to you how it is. Honestly it tastes just like another fish. It has a mildly unique texture being a little bit more spongey/stringy. But I think people just eat it to say they are eating a shark... just get any other fish and it would be about the same... yeah.

More Ramen! Ramen is the noodle. The soup that goes with it can be miso flavored (which is fermented soy bean or rice depending on the region), can also be flavored with soy sauce or just a light salty flavor.

Grocery store sushi... is under 44 dollars after being marked down in the afternoon.

This 4 dollars of sushi would likely be about 18 in the US. Top left is cucumber roll. Then pounded tuna? salmon egg and cucumber. egg. Bottom left eel, cooked shrimp, squid, salmon, uncooked shrimp, and tuna.

I recall using my AC this day and it being a warm fall day. I stopped by a bakery on my walk home and got a strawberry milkshake and this lil chocolate cake.

I'd started craving pizza after not having it for about 5 months. So I went over to this pizza place I'd seen. They are a bit more expensive than most foods in the area. Some crazy options but I went with this chicken and mushroom one. There's mayo all over it and I scrapped some of it off in places cause it was too intense. Pretty good overall, but I've only had pizza the one time since coming over.

The day I went to visit Cat island I got lunch at this little place in the middle of the island. A rice ball on the left and some curry. Pretty tastey.

Takoyaki with the octopus in it again. I burned my mouth on this one too.

The only burger I've had since leaving the US. Taste was pretty good and was nice to have fries again. This is from a burger chain called MosBurger. My city doesn't have a McDonalds. There was a nice sauce on the burger but still, I'll go for Japanese food before this kinda stuff most any day.

Another of my lunches. The pink things are pickled plums and BOY HOWDY are they salty. I do love em though. You're supposed to like mash it down, remove the pit, and eat a little piece of it with a bite of rice.

I thought the bowl on the right was meat but it was tofu in a sauce. Wasn't too bad. I found one of my favorite things at this restaurant, sorry not pictured. A ball of rice dough with sweet black sesame paste inside, and rolled in sesame seeds.... and fried. Oh my its wonderful.

I went to this place near my apt and when I told them it was just me they kinda gave me a weird look and sat me down anyway. I could hear people laughing so I think it caters more to upper class business people or gatherings. Food was pretty though and tasted pretty good.

T

Now this place I absolutely love. Its a little run down but the old dude and his wife that run it seem pretty nice. The guy always has old samurai shows on his TV while cooking. Usually only me or one or two other people in the restaurant. I go about weekly now. This was what he recommended first time I went. I've tried a bunch of other stuff on his menu. I bought them a bag of tea that I'll give them in a few weeks before I return to the US, to say thank you for the food and stuff. They're great and this place will always be one of my favorites. 

I think this was the second traditional sushi place I went to. The guy chatted with me a little bit and it was nice to practice my Japanese in the year of "don't talk to anyone or go anywhere". The dish is Chirashi. It's like sashimi pieces(raw fish) over sushi prepared rice. 

More AGEDASHI tofu!!!! Stuff is so good.

That pork is called chyashu pork and it is insane. It's like butter and soft and jeeeeeez. 

Sometimes you need almonds and dried fish snack.

They're actually pretty good.

I made my own sushi! You can buy little cuts of fish at the grocery store. I made the sushi rice myself as well. Start with warm rice, add some rice vinegar mixed with sugar and a little salt then let cool to room temp after mixing together.

This was the fancier of the two conveyor sushi places. I can pick exactly what I want. A bit more expensive but that's ok. Haha also my second or third time hear a plate came through the belt of something I had ordered so I took it. Then 3 plates came out together with the number of my table and I was like "ooops I took someone elses plate" So I called the waitress over and was like.... "uh.... this.... number 3.  Me table.... 12.... this.... table 3... no." She gestured to take it away, so I said "will eat.... but.... table 3.... isn't have'. I am a professional ya'll. I think she understood.

Pacific saury is the thing to eat in the fall. So I bought a couple. I prefer it as a sushi though, all smokey and flavorful. Still decent how I cooked it, but better raw.

I love breakfast. And toast. Yay toast.

Seared salmon rice bowl with a lil kimchi. Gotta make kimchi when I get home.

It was more like a cheesecake and strawberries but I would have been happy either way.

Homemade lunch!

Homemade breakfast

Fancy ramen place again.

Exquisite breakfast. I tell you what finding good cheese over here is difficult. 

Work lunch!

This was a nice little surprise cafe. That's like Real fake maple syrup which I hadn't seen yet. The pancakes were nice and fluffy and the syrup was that buttery flavor infused stuff. But still good.

I nabbed a bowl of ramen for lunch when I went to Sendai one day. I had ramen for dinner before driving back home that day too muhahahaha. It was like a slight burnt meat flavor to this that was just right, and the meat itself was so soft. 


Ok children that's like half the pictures I have of food so look forward to FOOD II rise of the food machines coming later on. 

I got plane tickets back to the US for March 25th. So lets have ramen together when I get back. :D