Comments on: Japan In My Bathtub

By: Ryukyu Mike

Ryukyu Mike — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:33:34 +0000

The search is on; it may take me awhile !

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By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:22:27 +0000

Oh, Mike, you’ll have to post a link to that photo if you’ve got it! I am so susceptible to rain nostalgia.

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By: Ryukyu Mike

Ryukyu Mike — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:51:46 +0000

Damn bathtubs down here in Okinawa are around 2×3ft and a 6ft body doesn’t fit too well in them. Before I met my present wife I used the tub for degreasing engine parts !
One of the greatest photos I’ve ever seen taken in Japan was a black&white shot of a couple walking in the rain with a perfect reflection of them in the flooded street. Rainy season’s just around the corner; keep your eyes open !
Great post and some cool photos.

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By: admin

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:44:12 +0000

@ Turner– I definitely need to learn more about bathing culture seeing as I’ve always been a bath fiend. I got here, saw the bathtub, and spent about five minutes straight saying, “ooooo….”

@ Doug – so true! Sometimes I feel like getting sucked into routines that don’t feel like what you should be doing teaches you more, or at least teaches you weirder cultural phenomena than you might otherwise discover.

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By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:08:31 +0000

You hit the nail on the head for me, Sarah! I’m doing the coporate 9-5 in Barcelona and i’ve been constantly struggling with travel guilt. Pulling myself away from a nocturnal exploration of a good time on a school night is tough. But osmosis kicks in eventually and you get feel the culture in different ways whether it through morning commuter trains or watercooler chats. Rainy days are tough no matter where you are.
Thanks adding travel guilt to my vocab!

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By: Turner

Turner — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:13:28 +0000

Very good, Sarah kohai – the bathing culture is Japan.

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By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:29:42 +0000

Sarah, I loved this post. It reminded me of lying in the tub, first week in Hokkaido, listening to drums from the festival down the road. Maybe I should have stayed at the festival and hammered the drums myself, but at that moment what I wanted most was to be alone, in the bath, listening to the drums and luxuriating in the fact that Japan was my new home.

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By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:12:31 +0000

@ Hal — Bravo for sticking it out! I had the prospect of a comfy (if teensy) little apartment to come back to so it was a lot harder to maintain walking-in-the-rain stamina. It is weird how rain changes everything, isn’t it? It really gets you into a different vibe.

@ Julie– yes! I’ve finally figured out that it’s possible to indulge both my I-want-to-stay-home-and-cook-all-day and my I-want-to-walk-for-7-hours-and-eat-bizarre-kebabs-on-the-side-of-the-street urges. Living abroad, particularly, puts you in a weird spot–you live there, so you don’t want to feel like you have to be out and about all day doing “cultural” or “traveler” types of things. At the same time, you feel guilty for staying in because damn, you should be figuring something out, right? But really, neither one is cut and dry, and there’s always something in either–nesting or exploring–that reveals an element of place.

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By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:45:02 +0000

I loved this piece, Sarah, mainly because it articulated the constant tug I feel to nest and to be out in the world, exploring, regardless of where I am. I felt this all the time when we lived in Mexico City… strangely guilty for not being outside, exploring more markets, more museums, more galleries, more street food. One day I had a similar realization as yours– staying inside and stuffing squash blossoms was just as ‘authentic’ and ‘cultural’ an experience as roaming around the streets aimlessly, drinking in ‘culture’ for the sake of feeling like I’d accomplished something. Thanks for this!

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By: Hal

Hal — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Wow, Sarah, I had no idea you were in Japan! Awesome.

A few years ago, I was in Tokyo to get my Korean work visa. I only had one full day to explore. It poured. The prospect of spending the day in the hostel (no bathtubs to be found) didn’t appeal, so I bought one of those translucent umbrellas and struck out in the rain.

It was exactly as you describe…peering through the umbrella, with wet shoes and wetter pants. But I was feeling lonely anyway, so it seemed right somehow. I walked all over town, from Azabu Juban to the palace and back. It was beautiful, the cherry blossoms in the rain.

And for me, that was the unexpected that etched my impression of Tokyo–rain, clear umbrellas, and yes, cherry blossoms.

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