When planning this week, I had intended on leaving the day after our long hike with a chill out day as I knew we’d be sore and immobile due to our old age of 35. Even if we wanted to go out and explore the island, Typhoon Marwar decided for us that it was not the day to do so. The red arrow is where we are, just outside of the main storm but still getting a lot of wind and rain from it.

I couldn’t find weather forecasts for this specific area of Japan but the Kanto Region which Tokyo is in is forecasted for 50 mph winds and around 9 inches of rainfall today. There were announcements that the ferry coming and leaving Yakushima island was shut down and the hiking trails were blocked for fear of flash flooding due to the wind and rain.

I honestly don’t mind the chill out day because I tend to get a little travel fatigued 3/4ths through my trips just with the sheer amount of activities I try to cram in to the limited amount of time we have when visiting a country. I guess being on “island time” is pretty valuable in and of itself for recovery. Joanna wanted it to be a souvenir shopping day. Since I was the only one with the international drivers license, I drove her to each of the shops that were open in town and then took naps in the car while she looked through knick-knacks made of thousand year old Japanese cedar.

Many shops and restaurants were closed on Thursday. My assumption is that it’s probably one of the slowest days for tourism so our options were limited in finding a place to eat. Google pointed out that the small airport had a restaurant so we went there for a bite to eat. I think the restaurant owners were also on island time because there were only 2 options to pick from on the menu. Soba or Udon noodle soup with fried flying fish which is a specialty of Yakushima.

I’ve only had flying fish eggs (tobiko) but never the actual fish itself. It was delicious though, not fishy at all, felt like in between tilapia and mackerel.

We also drove past a tea shop that had an ice cream cone outside of the door. Joanna had me turn the car around so we could stop for some matcha soft serve. She’s seriously a sucker for any shop with a light up ice cream cone parked at the front door as we’ve had soft serve at least once or twice a day every day we’ve been in Japan.

Kentaro recommended that we check out the local hot spring (onsen) bath house 4 minutes down the road from where we’re staying. The onsen charged about $2 per person for use and it was surprisingly very busy for 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. We walked in and were surprised to see several cats just napping inside.

Japan has a very strong bathing culture going back at least 3,000 years. Onsens are geothermally heated beneath the ground and rises to the surface bubbling hot. The prerequisites of an official onsen are that the water must contain at least one of the 19 designated chemical elements that naturally occur in hot spring water, and it must be at least 25C/77f when it comes out of the ground. Onsen water has been believed to have a multitude of healing properties and is thought to be good for your skin, circulation and general health due to the dissolved minerals in the water.

There are specific steps to be followed before getting into an onsen. First, you are not allowed to wear a swim suit. It’s required to leave your western sense of modesty outside and be in the nude with a bunch of old Japanese people. Next, you have to wash your hair and body before getting in to the water. Finally, no staring. Everyone’s junk is pixelated anyway since you’re in Japan.

The first time I used an onsen, I felt kind of weird being naked around strangers, but I’m never going to see these people anyway so I got over it quickly.

Obviously cameras aren’t allowed but I was able to find a pic from google on what the guy’s side looked like.

I changed, showered, and attempted to get into the water but HOLY CRAP it was hot. Any slight movement into the water just felt like it was burning my skin and I was boiling alive inside. I managed to get to my shoulders and sit down for a minute max before getting out and cooling off. I made another attempt but didn’t beat my previous time. The whole time I kept thinking I was in a human soup with a bunch of other people but these old guys were getting in and moving around as if the water was at a non-scalding temperature. Maybe this is why Japanese people tend to live longer?

I got dressed and sat in the lobby waiting for Joanna thinking she would have noped out early as well. Onsens are required to be inspected every year or so by the local government and they display the certificate for public viewing. The certificate for this onsen stated the water tested at 49c/120.2f! I guess I wasn’t too far off thinking this was human soup.

Eventually Joanna came out and said she was in there for about 10 minutes. I was impressed. We sat in the lobby chatting for a little bit and then one of the onsen cats decided it was time for pets and jumped on me. I don’t like cats, I think they’re bossy, and I’m very allergic to them. This cat was fine I guess.

6:30pm was dinner time and we made it to the common area feeling very refreshed. Earlier at breakfast, we met a couple from Portland who were also staying at Shikinoyado. Matt is a writer and illustrator working on his own original graphic novel and Julie is a music teacher. We asked if they wanted to join tables for dinner and share about our day and exchange tips on what to check out in the area.

Kentaro set up stone bbq grills with Japanese wood charcoal inside. He said that all the ingredients were sourced locally from Yakushima. We had venison, pork, chicken, flying fish, some kind of small fish maybe anchovies,  shrimp, carrots, potatoes, carrots, peppers, mochi, and rice balls.

It was all very delicious and I was really happy we were able to have a nice meal with some new friends. We spent a lot of time talking about our dogs. Typical millennials right? We told them that this was intended to be our honeymoon and they said the same thing! It was their first time in Japan, but definitely not their last.

I’m hoping the rain lets up tomorrow so we can get another hike in to see the Japanese monkey and deer in the forest.