Kyoto's Couples Massage

After Tokyo, Rmax and I spent four days exploring Kyoto and its surrounding cities. Kyoto was the the capital of Japan before Tokyo. It is a very old place with lots of temples and shrines. Most of our time in Kyoto consisted of visiting about five temples, a rock garden, a bamboo forest, and a traditional Geisha neighborhood (Geon). I also meet up with a friend from high school who was studying abroad in Kyoto. Meeting someone from home in Japan was very cool! Kyoto is a lot smaller and quieter than Tokyo, and it is about a three hour train-ride from Tokyo on the Shinkansen (bullet train).

In Kyoto, Rmax and I were both were having small aches and pains from traveling, so we decided to get massages. We happen to pass by a nice looking spa and went in and booked two massages for the following day. When we arrived for our appointments we were greeted with cold, herbal tea and asked if we wanted a traditional shiatsu (pressure) massage or an oil massage. We both decided on the shiatsu massage. The receptionist's English was not fluent, but with my Japanese we could understand each other. She asked if we wanted to have separate massages or massages together. We said separate and then received separate bills. Once again we were asked if we wanted separate massages and we said we did. Then Rmax and I were lead in separate directions to the female and male locker rooms. Before entering the spa I was instructed to take off my shoes and put on slippers, and then I was provided with amazingly comfortable Japanese-style pajamas. I changed in the locker room and then was taken down a long hallway to a red room with dimmed lights. To my surprise Rmax was there! And there were two tables set up. We had a private foot-bath (when we chuckled about the fact that we were having a couples massage in pajamas) before we took our spots on the tables for our massages.

My masseuse spoke more English than Rmax's masseuse, which was ironic because I speak more Japanese than Rmax. So any questions that they asked like "how hard would you like your massage?" were asked by my masseuse and usually translated for Rmax's. I think Rmax and I both dozed in and out during the massage. When we were done we were guided back to our respective locker rooms and then met at the spa bar, where we were serviced water and given a warm/wet towel to wipe our hands.

The couples massage is a small example of the language-barrier we encountered, but the massage itself was definitely relaxing and worth it for our backs!