But it is a lush place to be in my mind.
The town I first lived in, Katsuta, had a bath house [ofuro] which charged Yen1800 for a visit. You could soak all you liked in the different [heated] waters and lie about in the lounge and sleep or get a massage but it was too expensive for me to do more than once.
Yen1800 being about AUD$27 at the moment. I have to remember I am earning nearly twice that an hour but still, for a [HOT] bath. I ask ya?
The sports club is charging me Yen7000 [AUD$107] [plus 5% tax] a month for my day membership, meaning I can go there between the hours of 10am and 5pm [out by 6pm]. This fits my schedule rather well as all my classes are in the evening bar one so I save money by not paying to have all day access [Yen9000/AUD$138].This is two hours work so I think the ratio is not so bad. When I was in Sydney the membership for my gym, with similar facilities (less even) was $40/month and I was on $15-$20 an hour.
I do prefer this gym though. Bigger, better equipped & closer to my house than I've ever had a gym and oh the bath room.
There is a spa bath on the balcony so one can be outside whilst sitting in the hot and bubble, then in the single-sex change rooms there is also a spa bath with a *cold* bath next to it as well as a sauna. Then there's the showering.
The Japanese like to do this on a stool so one has a combination of shower rose [on a hose so you can get to those unmentionable places that really need a rinse] and a tap for filling up your plastic bowl so you can pour water over yourself, for variety I guess. I use it as my shave bowl, so I can have a shave during my shower whilst sitting down. There's a mirror and usually a shelf [tile/marble] at each water outlet.
After doing the whole hot water shave thing then there's the dry off room where you left your shorts and towel and then there's the make up room. For the ladies this room is obviously put to full effect but the men it's a simple affair I guess.
Complete with wall to wall mirrors basins, hair dryers, cotton buds, tissues, hair tonic and moisturiser, this room makes sure you are lookin' just right before you hit the streets again.
Of course the vanity basins are set into one surface so it's all very easy to clean and as such it is.
The fact that you carry your shoes from the lobby into the change area also means that the carpet is kept as dust free for as long as possible with no-one grinding outdoor grit into it.
It always seems trite to have to carry your shoes in some of these occasions but it's not long before you reflect on the hygienic state of the carpet/tatami/room. It's a given that you just don't wear shoes on the tatami. Blow you nose whatever just don't tread with shoes on the tatami.
So my daily routine now contains, much to my joy, a bit of a stretch/workout along with a damn good soaking and scrubbing. Then some teaching in the evening.
D
