While enjoying a long shower,my mind drifts to a new story.
How does an onsen become a tool of social leveller as rich and poor goes back to bare basics,stripped off from social status of clothing and accessories,a communal bonding and a therapeutic tool to mentally destress.a comic tragic tale
Owner of onsen in which business is at risk as people have shifed lifestyle and bathtubs with jacuzzi installed in privacy of homes. Their ancestors have given a secret formula to be used when business is bad.this secret formula added to the waters of onsen will bring about harmonious relationship into lives of onsen users.One by one lives are transformed until competitors are jealous and try to send in spies to find out secret of their roaring business
An arrogant superior and the bullied employee get to soak in the onsen during a paid company trip.This high tech onsen has a glass frosted screen that if you press the button,it will mist up and you cant see the occupants.The two get into the tub and the superior fogs the screen but unknown to him,the device is spoilt and they are in full view of passers by.Superior is conscious of his hairy back and his wife nickname for him is THE BEAR.He makes the employee scrub his back with a towel but the cheeky chap uses a special backscrub filled with ink that reacts to steam He doodles pictures of clowns and faces of dogs and spiders on the back of his superior . Onlookers gather around at the back,giggling and laughing.Superior drunk on sake,wraps towel around waist and totters out to the warm applause and bows of onlookers.
Should read more japanese novels for ideas that are comical
Another customer is a left behind girl.She has issues of conflict with her mother who is a bitter divorcee and warns her that men cant be trusted and marriage is a trap.So she binge eats with comfort food and develops severe skin allergy that disfigures her face.No cosmetic treatment works.
One day,after a big fight with her mother,her best friend takes her to the onsen and says it may help lift her mood.The dip soothes her inflamed skin and reduces the itch.She becomes a regular at the onsen.slowly she clears up her skin problems and resolves her conflict with her mom.Then the waters boost up her metabolic rate,she decides to try a slimming diet and exercise and slowly shed the pounds.After two years,she feels light and healthy and much more confident.She went for a backpacking trip alone to explore the world.She meets and falls in love with a sushi chef at this small Italian city,and gambles and takes a chance to start anew.She took him back to her hometown to meet her mom who gives her blessing.They visit the onsen together and sweet memories of her life flashback
the spy has disguised herself as a shiatsu massage therapist at the onsen to see what draws so many repeat customers back to the onsen.after the place is closed ,she bribes the cleaners to let her into the spring.She secretly stores some spring water in bottles and hands them over to the competitors.Chemical analysis shows it had the same mineral contents as their hot pool.Ah ha,try drinking the raw stuff and she got severe diarrhoea and purging,running to the loo non stop.
There have been rumours among customers who told her that their infertility problem was resolved after dips in the pool so she paid for a guy who had trouble having children to go there but he had no luck even after a year.
Matsu had frequent quarrels with his wife Kaori as he felt she was too career oriented ,with her online business,frequent business trips overseas,going to check on her factory,distributors etc.He felt that her stress level and lack of time for him made it difficult to start a family.Coming from a well off family as the only heir to the family busness,he was pressurized to produce a grandchild to con tinue the family business.Despite numerous IVF treatments,they were unsuccessful.Doctors warned him against going too much to the onsen until he found that his wife was infertile,not him.He bought the spa package at the onsen with the massage therapist so she could relax and destress.He was surprised to see how she was so relaxed and chill and started to be frequent onsen client although everytime he wanted to get in bed with her,she turned away and would sleep in the spare room .unhappy,he went to the maids cafe where he met a sympathetic young waitress from his hometown.He poured out his problems and soon they started an affair.A few months short of his forty three birthday,she gave him a big surprise by announcing her pregnancy.He was worried how to reveal it to his wife.Over the birthday dinner,she sprang a surprise on him.She asked for a divorce and confessed her love for the therapist and how she hid her secret life from him.They divorced on amicable separation,she with her grand business enterprise and new partnet and he with his new role of parenthood.The spa was really the place for wish fulfillment and harmony.
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