Japan in the East, Finland in the West, and are probably the only two countries in the world that entertain guests with baths. However, although the Japanese hot springs are good and comfortable, it is not easy, and how to put on a yukata, how to get into the water, and how to soak are all very particular. Three steps and a small soup, five steps and a large soup, the Japanese love of hot springs can be said to be famous all over the world, and it has become a so-called culture, which is so exquisite that it is difficult to express in words, and Downing is soaking in hot springs in Nagano at the moment.

There are many places in Japan with hot springs, but the hot springs here in Nagano are absolutely unlike any other, and the name alone can make you break out in a cold sweat. This place is actually called "White Bone Hot Spring"! This can't help but remind people of the "extinguishing spring" mentioned in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" -- this water is no different from soup, if people bathe, their skin and flesh will rot, and they will die when they see their bones.

The name "White Bone Hot Spring" is not a hot spring that produces white bones, and the main reason for its name is that the hot spring water is full of limestone, which is deposited at the bottom of the pond like white bones. However, until you enter the hot spring pool, you can't help but think of the scene of meat and bones boiling in a large cauldron. Interestingly, in the Kansai area, there is another hot spring called "Shennabe". If these two hot springs are moved together, people who want to go will inevitably think twice.

I've never heard of hot springs in Japan that can really cook people, but they did have a terrible name called hell.

According to the Japanese understanding, Hell is a place hidden beneath the ground, and it is said that it is in dire straits. And the hot springs are the hot water that spews out from the ground, so they suspect that hell has some connection with the hot springs. As for why no one feels bad luck in doing this, perhaps there is a psychological suggestion on the part of the Japanese. No one may have done something immoral to make Lord Yama worry about it, and if hell is like a hot spring, it would be worth comforting. Because of this, Japan is now famous for Oyu and Owaki Yu. In ancient times, it was called the Great Hell and the Little Hell, and it is said that it was later to entertain the emperor, but it was changed to its current name because it was indecent to let the emperor "go to hell".

Today, the city of Beppu in Japan has kept the name "Jigoku" in order to show the long history of its hot springs, and has launched a special tour called "Beppu Hell Day Tour". There are sea hells, blood hells, etc., and in fact, they are a tourist project composed of eight of the most distinctive hot springs.

There are many places in Japan where you can soak in hot springs that are different from those in China. For example, we may take it for granted that bathing in a hot spring is bathing. In fact, in Japan, no one bathes in hot springs, people just sit and talk quietly or close their eyes and do nothing. Hot springs in Japan are not really used to wash away dirt, but to enjoy the comfort. For this reason, there is a public bathhouse outside the pool of Japanese hot springs, and customers are provided with soap and bath towels for customers to shower first. After washing, you can go down to the hot springs. Soaping or bathing in a hot spring is not only a joke, but also a sign of interference from the security guards, as this behavior is considered to be polluting the hot springs.

But if you talk about the most unique feature of Japanese hot springs, it's the "mixed bathing"!

If we use the concept of a public bath to set up a Japanese hot spring, the image of a mixed bath is probably a group of men and women rubbing their backs around a bathhouse, which is a little too strange for modern people.

In fact, the traditional Japanese mixed bathing is considered a rather elegant thing, and it is not so unbearable. Japan and China have different views on sexuality. It is relatively open and does not have many taboos. During the cherry blossom season in Japan, men can squeeze and touch women's bodies at will. And the woman can only dodge and not get angry, according to the way of thinking that ancient women in our country had to cut off one hand when they were pulled by the opposite sex, these women who watched the cherry blossoms could go home completely must be rare.

The so-called mixed bath is actually more like socializing, except that you don't wear clothes. Although they do not wear clothes, both men and women are required to wear a towel when entering the hot spring pool. It cannot be removed before entering the water. It is a Japanese tradition that many hot springs in Japan are located outdoors with beautiful scenery, and the beautiful women in the pools tend to see the gaze of men as artistic appreciation.

This openness to sexuality is also reflected in the hot springs where even men bathe. Most of the servants are well-trained female service staff, called "female generals". For men with a toned body, some "female generals" will also show heartfelt praise. It is said that in ancient Japan, hot spring baths were also used as places for sexual activity, but this is no longer the case today. Today, mixed bathing hot springs in Japan are mostly high-end establishments, and they do not bother to associate them with pornography, believing that it would tarnish the cleanliness of the hot springs and only have a bad reputation.

Speaking of which, this phenomenon of mixed bathing is unbelievable in the eyes of foreigners, and it has caused many problems. Tang Ning smiled at the moment and said to Jimmy, who specially flew to Japan to make a bath: "Speaking of which, it was still something that we Americans did. After Japan's defeat in 1945 and the entry of American troops into Japan, General MacArthur began to reform Japan.

As a result, the Japanese hot spring owners are very clever, and the method of banning mixed bathing is often nothing more than pulling a rope in the middle of the bath, with the men's bath on the left and the women's bath on the right. Nowadays, one of the hot spring baths that can be found everywhere in Japan is a symbolic partition between the male and female baths with bamboo curtains and gauze curtains. It looks like men and women are separated, but the top is not connected to the bottom, and it is still a mixed bath in disguise. ”

Jimmy frowned as he drank, "I think Japanese people think differently than people in other countries, and although they do come up with some interesting things sometimes, they have more ways of thinking that I can't accept, such as the pink movies and private theaters that are all over the streets of Japan now, even if I'm considered the most unruly person in Hollywood." The only thing to be thankful for is that you have been in Japan for so many years and have not been infected. ”

Then he changed his words and said, "By the way, I finished the supermarket you let me take a stake in last time and bought eight percent of their shares, but are you really so confident in this supermarket?" You know, they've just gone public. (To be continued.) )