Bathing in Japan's Hot Springs

choi

Adam H Graham, Soak Up Japan's Oases of Calm (Bonus: Snow Monkeys); A soul-warming, haiku-evoking, clothing-light tour through a nation's beloved natural thermal baths. Wall Street Journal, Mar 16, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 46742213425344.html

Note:
(1) Kanji is marked Chinese pronunciation or 音読. If not marked, kanji has Japanese pronuncoation or 訓読.
(2) onsen 温泉 【おんせん】 (n): "hot spring"   音読

(3) The article states, "Another noted benefit is the waters' ability to break down barriers via 'hadaka no tsukiai' (naked companionship) in a homey atmosphere."
(a) hadaka 裸 【はだか】 (n): "nude"  (Japanese pronunciation)  (Japanese pronunication)
(b) tsukiai 付き合い(P) 【つきあい】 (n): "association; socializing"

(4) "Hirauchi Kaichu onsen, the tidal pool in which the man and I were poaching, is on Yakushima, an island whose cedar forest earned a spot on Unesco's World Heritage List (and was the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki's anime classic 'Princess Mononoke'). There were none of the appurtenances that usually accompany these baths—no changing room, no yukuta (bathrobe), no vanity mirror and stool."
(a) Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen  平内 海中 温泉
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5 ... D%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89
(屋久島の南端の磯の中から湧き出ている温泉。海面下にあるため、一日二回の干潮前後の5時間しか姿を現さない。そのため、この干潮時のみ入浴することができる。満潮時は海中に沈む)

translation: [Onsens are tidal pools] The hot spring gush among craigs. Under sea level, tidal pools appear in the low tide (twice a day, lasting only five hours a day), and submerge in high tide.

Both "kai" and "chu" are 音読.
(b) The following two are in Kagoshima Prefecture 鹿児島県.
(i) Yakushima 屋久島
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakushima
(covered in dense forest noted especially for old growth Cryptomeria trees known as sugi 杉 in Japan)
* ya 屋
* ku 久
(ii) Ibusuki, Kagoshima  鹿児島(県) 指宿(市)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibusuki,_Kagoshima

The WSJ article opines, "Ibusuki is legendary for its sunamushi onsen, dry sand baths heated by subterranean lava. I had booked a stay at Ibusuki Hakusuikan hotel, which claims the town's best sunamushi and 25 baths of varying salinity and temperature."
(A) sunamushi   
* suna 砂 【すな】 (n)  (Japanese pronunciation)
* mushi 蒸し 【むし】 (n): "steaming"  (Japanese pronunciation)
(B) Ibusuki Hakusuikan  指宿 白水館
* haku 白
* sui 水
* kan 館
* All the preceding three are 音読.

(c) Hayao MIYAZAKI 宮崎 駿
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki
(1941- )
(d) Princess Mononoke  もののけ姫
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke

* mononoke 物の怪 【もののけ】 (n): "(vengeful) ghost; specter"
* mono 物
(e) appurtenance (n):
"3 plural : accessory objects <the appurtenances of wealth>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appurtenance
(f) yukata 浴衣 【ゆかた】 (n)   (Japanese pronunciation)

(5) Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture  神奈川県 箱根町
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone,_Kanagawa
(a town; on the shore of Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖)
(a) ashi 《葦; 蘆; 葭; 芦》 【あし】 (n)"common reed"
(b) The article avers: "Views of Mount Fuji don't come better than those from Hotel Green Plaza Hakone's onsen, which is fed by Sengokuhara, one of the area's major hot springs."
(i) Hotel Green Plaza Hakone ホテル グリーン プラザ 箱根
http://www.hgp.co.jp/inf/Z11/hgp/
(ii) Sengokuhara 箱根 仙石原 温泉
http://www.sengokuhara.net/
* koku 石 【こく】

(6) geta (footwear)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geta_(footwear)

(7) In Nagano Prefecture 長野県:
(a) Jigokudani Yaen-koen (National Park)  地獄谷 野猿 公苑
(i) Jigokudani Monkey Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigokudani_Monkey_Park
(ii) jigoku 地獄 (where "ji" is 地 and "goku" 獄)  音読
(iii) en 園(P); 苑 【えん(P)】 (n): "(えん usually when a suffix) (See りんご [apple]園) garden"
(iv) snow monkey  雪猿

(b) The author writes, "I made a reservation at Hoshinoya Karuizawa, a posh hotel modeled after a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). * * * The Nagano town of Karuizawa is the Hamptons of Japan."
(i) For Hoshinoya Karuizawa  星のや 軽井沢, see 星のや ブランドサイト
http://www.hoshinoya.com/

, and click 軽井沢 in the left column.

(A) The katakana ブランドサイト (pronounced "burando saito") is "brand site" in English.
(B) karui 軽い 【かるい】 (adj): "light"
(ii) ryokan (Japanese inn)  旅館
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryokan_(Japanese_inn)
(iii) Karuizawa, Nagano  長野県 軽井沢町
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuizawa,_Nagano

(8) Fuji-san (P); Fiji-yama 富士山 (where P stands for "principal")
(9) ohayou おはよう 《お早う(P); 御早う》 (int): "(from お早く) good morning"
(10) A side bar with the heading: "Rub-a-Dub in Your Home Onsen":

rub-a-dub (n)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rub-a-dub