Some like it hot…and steamy!
Posted by ampontan on Sunday, June 22, 2008
NOW HERE’S A PASTIME it would be very easy to get accustomed to. Hotels and ryokan, or Japanese-style inns, at the Yunogo Spa in Mimasaka, Okayama, held an annual event earlier this month in which Japanese iris plants (iris ensata) are placed in the bathwater. It took place on the 7th, one day before Tango-no-Sekku, the traditional boys’ festival, under the lunar calendar.
Legend has it that floating some ensata iris in the tub that day will repel illness and evil spirits. Does it work? Well, anything’ s possible, and even if it doesn’t, the steam elicits a pleasant fragrance from the iris.
It’s such a good idea that the Yunogo Spa Tourism Association has made a point of doing it every year since the mid-80s. This year, the event started with a Shinto ceremony at a local shrine located at the springhead for the waters, which have been a popular destination for the past 1,200 years. Then the association distributed about 1,500 plants to the 27 facilities in the district.
At the Yunogo Sagi Onsenkan shown in the photo, two miko (Shinto altar girls) tossed in about 200 plants at the facility’s outdoor bath. What a pair of duds those two guys in the tub are! If I were in an outdoor bath and those two miko showed up with some iris plants for the water, I’d certainly be a lot more friendly and hospitable. I might even invite them in to take the waters.
Would it work? Well, anything’ s possible, and even if it doesn’t, the steam elicits a pleasant fragrance from the iris!
Reports say the event has become established as a local custom the residents have come to associate with the delights of early summer. So what better event to describe on the first day(s) of the season?
