In Shimane, I turn into a tomato everynight

So living in the country side has many benefits. Getting boiled alive every night is not one of them.



In case you didn't know, ofuro is the Japanese equivalent of water torture. Well, not yet but they really should consider using it as such. An ofuro is basically a tub of hot water that you enter after your shower to relax and wind down for the day and is part of common culture in Japan. Ofuros come in many size and the temperature also widely varies, depending on whether it's for public or private use. Usually households in Japan will have a 1 - 2 person sized ofuro in which you can independently adjust the temperature for personal preferences.

In our ofuro, you can theoretically set the temperature too - you can choose between 'Krakatoa eruption' or 'Chernobyl meltdown'  neither of which are particularly pleasant. Just for some comparison, my ofuro in Tokyo is usually 40C - in Shimane, the low setting is a whopping 60!!! And that is just for us young whippersnappers! When my grandpa and ma enter the ofuro, the temperature is a nuclear meltdown inducing 75!! Do you lose your nerves or something with age? If not, then how the heck do they do it?

Going into a flaming hot ofuro is like sleeping in a bed made of cacti while plasma is being poured down your throat. Take a moment to imagine it because that's how I feel every night. Not only is the water burning hot but when it touches my skin it makes me itch like no tomorrow. The worst part is, the part that is touching the water line is the only part that itches so it makes me want to go faster into the water to relieve the itch except I can't because when you go in faster without giving yourself time to adjust, it just stirs around the hot water, just adding to the torturous experience. Whew, what a conundrum! Thus everynight, I have to slowwlly enter the burning hot water while holding back an innate desire to just scratch my skin clean off. Once I get in, the experience is not bad - in fact, it's rather pleasurable really. Getting out however, is much of the same problem - it has to be done sloooowwwllllyyy, preferably while on some Vicodin.

The entire ofuro experience has basically my most memorable moment of Shimane each and every night. The fact that my entire body from the neck down is the color of a tomato also adds to the memorability of the experience.

However, I have to say that seeing my grandpa and ma coming out of the ofuro looking like giant walking cooked ham makes me lol every. single. night!

Enjoying the simple life,
TQT