Visiting Tokyu Hands, one of my favorite shops in Japan I found a corner full of little branches. There are differents sizes, packs with many of them, different types of wood etc. It’s ok if they sell branches, but look at the prices! This branch in the first picture is 378 yen (more than 2 euros/3 dollars).
Japanese people love to take baths inside really hot water(40~50 degrees Celsius). Maybe is their lack of swimming pools or maybe is just that being a volcanic island makes it easy to build baths from hot spring water. Here there is some of the basic vocabulary related to the Japanese bath culture.
The water is usually around 43 degrees, but it can be up to 50. I can go inside even when the water is 45, but no more! Japanese like the water to be REALLY hot. Next there is a poster with some of the rules you have to know before going to an “onsen” or “sentou”:
I respect all these rules. But there is another rule, that is not written in this poster but everyone knows it, you can’t enter the bathing area with sandals. It’s a stupid rule! I think it’s one of the reasons why it’s so easy to get “athletes foot”(水虫=mizumushi= “bug water”), in summer you see that one of the most featured products in drugstores are ointments to treat fungus. They could start using sandals, I don’t think it would hard anyone, but sometimes stupid rules are difficult to change…
“iDrop” is a speaker where you put your iPod inside. It keeps the iPod protected against potential dangerous external agents like sand or water. Is a cheap alternative to the waterproof iPod.
