aaaand we're back

It has been some time since my last post, I realize.  Rather than explaining my absence, an observation:

In Tokyo, there are bathhouses all around the city, sort of like mini-onsen, where people congregate to bathe and soak in the hot tubs, usually in the evening.  When I say people I mean older people, generally.  At onsen, you're likely to see bathers of all ages, but at neighborhood bathhouses, in my limited experience, one is unlikely to see anyone under the age of 35.  Also, no tattoos, but that is a whole other story.

Now, in addition to bathhouses, which generally run you between 400 and 600 yen, there are also coin showers located in various places around the city, which are presumably cheaper.  Unlike the bathhouse, they are no frills affairs.  I really have a hard time figuring out the coin shower thing, and ask Jeff frequently when passing "who uses those things?!"  

Having never seen the actual showers themselves, I was curious tonight when I walked by the cluster on our street this evening and some of the doors were wide open, so I popped my head in one.  Eeew.  "Reallly, WHO uses those things?!"  

From what I understand, resulting from the bathhouse culture that still exists to some extent in Japan, there are apartments that simply do not have a shower.  People who live in them must go to the bathhouse or (if they are cheap and not weary of foot fungus) the coin showers to bathe.  Maybe it's my western prejudice, but (with the exception of while camping in state parks and with the protection of rubber flip flops) I could never bring myself to a) live in an apartment without a shower or b) use the skeevy coin showers on the street corner.  

An actual post about what we've been up to in the last month to come. Soon.