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冬の温泉で極楽気分
来日してから何度か温泉を訪れてはいた筆者ですが、最初のころは温泉のありがたさをなかなか実感することができませんでした。
ところが冬山に遊び、体のしんまで冷え切ったあとで入った温泉に、すっかり魅了されてしまったのだそうです。
The winter spa
There's a man I know in Nagano who once took me to his favorite onsen after we had climbed Mount Azuma. He told me then that he was thankful to have been born Japanese so that he could enjoy hot spring spas. Though I enjoyed the occasional visit to an onsen, I couldn't honestly share his level of enthusiasm. Still, I have come to appreciate a nice relaxing soak in bubbling hot water after a hike, and my most memorable spa experiences have always been in winter.
The first time was eight years ago. A pen pal of mine invited me for a drive around Mount Akagi in Gunma. It was a typical blustery Akagi winter day and the first snowfall had already left the trees standing like sketches on an unfinished canvas. It was below zero for certain and the wind sent the cold right through my jacket and sweater. I felt as though my bones were chilling me from the inside out!
After enjoying a walk around the wetland on Mount Akagi, he took me to an onsen somewhere on the Akagi mountainside. The location was great. In the outdoor bath we sat with a view over to Mount Haruna and Mount Myogi. We were up high enough that we looked over the haze covering the city, glaring white in the late afternoon sun. The chill wind was still slapping at my face, but on this side of the mountain it was weaker. With hot water up to my neck, I felt the wind had lost its aggressiveness and I could enjoy the cool feeling on my cheeks each time it buffeted my skin.
My next winter onsen experience was when I visited Kawayu Onsen in Hokkaido. It was February and the evening temperatures were around minus 12 degrees. Diamond dust drifted through the air and glittered in the artificial lights of the town like stars in a miniature galaxy. I had spent the last light of the day photographing the sulphur crystal-encrusted fumaroles around the nearby mountain, Mount Iou, and my toes and fingers were like icicles. Trembling, I crept outside in the buff to the outdoor bath. But, oh, how lovely that hot water was! I soaked up the heat until I could place my hand on an ice-coated rock and leave an imprint without even feeling the cold. When I finally left the bath, I strutted back to the door in minus 12 degrees, carefree!
I have had other very pleasurable hot spring spa experiences in Japan. But the best ones are the winter ones, especially after a day of hiking around in snow and bone-chilling winds.
- favorite
- お気に入りの
- Mount Azuma
- 吾妻山(群馬県)
- was thankful to 〜
- 〜をありがたく思っていた
- hot spring spas
- 温泉
- occasional
- 時折の
- honestly
- 正直に言うと
- enthusiasm
- 熱意
- have come to appreciate 〜
- 〜の真価が分かるようになった
- relaxing soak
- ゆったり浸かること
- bubbling
- ぶくぶくと湧き出す
- hike
- ハイキング
- memorable
- 印象深い
- pen pal
- ペンフレンド
- Mount Akagi
- 赤城山
- blustery
- 風の強い
- sketches
- 素描
- on an unfinished canvas
- 描きかけのキャンバスの
- below zero
- 氷点下で
- for certain
- 確実に
- were chilling 〜
- 〜を凍えさせた
- from the inside out
- 徹底的に
- wetland
- 湿地
- outdoor bath
- 露天風呂
- Mount Haruna and Mount Myogi
- 榛名山と妙義山(群馬県、赤城山とともに上毛三山に数えられる)
- were up high enough that 〜
- 〜なほど高いところにいた
- looked over 〜
- 〜を見渡した
- haze
- かすみ
- glaring white
- 白く輝いて
- (was)slapping at 〜
- 〜を打っていた
- aggressiveness
- 激しさ
- buffeted 〜
- 〜に強く当たる
- Kawayu Onsen
- 川湯温泉(弟子屈町)
- Diamond dust
- 氷晶
- drifted
- 漂った
- glittered
- 輝いた
- miniature galaxy
- ミニチュアの銀河
- sulphur crystal-encrusted fumaroles
- 硫黄の結晶が固まっている噴気孔
- Mount Iou
- 硫黄山
- icicles
- つらら
- Trembling
- 震えながら
- in the buff
- 素っ裸で
- soaked up
- 楽しんだ
- ice-coated
- 氷に覆われた
- imprint
- 手形
- strutted
- いばって歩いた
- carefree
- なんの屈託もなく