I was soaking in a lukewarm natural hot spring at Tenzan.
It was late afternoon on a weekday. Although the place was almost packed for that time of day, the atmosphere felt relaxed.
I saw a group of tourists gazing at the misty mountains surrounding us, in admiration. Another group of young girls, after hopping between baths of different temperatures, timidly joined a group of older ladies, already professionally loosened in a wooden-framed bath.
The air was fresh, cleansed by the typhoon that had passed through the night before. The breeze against my wet hair, combined with the steady warmth of the mineral-rich water, put me in a contemplative mood.
Nijiri-guchi
was the concept in my head: the term I found in the book I was translating in the morning.
That small entrance into a tea room.
It’s a device, metaphorically and physically, to disarm anyone who wants to enter the tiny, yet special space.
Inside, only the invited can enjoy the select tea bowls, utensils, arranged for the occasion; a scroll hangs in the alcove, accompanied by a flower picked just a few hours earlier and placed in a vase.
It was a private museum back in the day, open for a handful. There, everything that speaks to the guests’ senses -touch, smell, taste, sound- had been thoughtfully and meticulously designed.
And to enter, you had to put down your sword.
What does that mean?
You had to become nobody. There was no need, nor place, to prove who you were. Whether you were a samurai or someone of a particular social standing, those things stayed outside.
And it came to me…
“We have it right here!”
In a public bath. We leave everything that decorates us in the changing room and enter just as we were once born. No fur coats. No watches. No jewellery.
We all have nothing to show in that space.
Yet, something starts speaking so eloquently.
I noticed one lady flexing her hands with such elegance that I wondered if she practised some form of Japanese dance.
Perhaps when we have nothing to show, something else becomes more visible.
This reminded me of another morning at a local bathhouse, when I found myself choreographing with two other ladies in the space, without a single word.
“3 Women in 5-Tatami, 7 am Observation”
Illustration by Megumi Naoi
There really is something about being in water, or hot spring water, that brings inspiration… right? The quest to be continued…!
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