At The Spa !

Their allotted translator, a formal middle aged man called Mr Ito, drove Debbi and Lesley to the spa which was in hilly woodland some miles beyond the city. On arrival Mr Ito began conversing with the woman at the reception desk, before bowing and turning to his charges. "Please, follow the hostess. She will show you where to shower before entering the springs. I am afraid I will not be able to accompany you, but I will be waiting in the tea rooms just over there," he said, pointing to a building through the windows. "Enjoy yourselves, I will be ready to leave when you request. Come greet me and I will arrange transport." They both thanked him and he bowed, before leaving with a final, friendly smile. The hostess, an aging woman with tightly pinned hair and dressed in a kimono, beckoned for them to follow.

Lesley and Debbi were guided out into the spa, the old woman pointing to various buildings and talking in rapid Japanese as they went. Debbi hoped the information wasn't too important. For the first time since she had arrived, the absence of Mr Ito was proving to be unnerving. She looked to Lesley, who simply shrugged. They finally reached a large squat building. The hostess pointed to it and spoke to them with a sense of finality, before bowing and turning to hobble back towards her station.

The two followed their instincts and peeked inside as to where it seemed they were meant to be heading. It was a wide municipal washroom. Against one side stood numerous open showers, each with a low wall either side and completed with an attendant stool and bucket. The other half of the space was comprised of racks filled with a few dozen wicker baskets. Bundles of clothing sat in several. There were a handful of women inside, showering in the cubicles or stripping naked and placing their clothing into the shelving.

"Well, we get changed in here then. Good thing you're used to getting your kit off," laughed Lesley. They gingerly entered and, realising that nobody was reacting to them with anything that implied any transgression on their part, they made their way over to the baskets and began cautiously taking off their outfits. They placed their clothing into empty containers and retrieved a neatly folded towel from beneath each one. Debbi unfurled it and found it to be disappointingly brief. She would barely be able to wrap it around herself, let alone use it to provide any form of modesty.

She looked around nervously. There was an entrance way leading out of the building that some of the other women seemed to be heading towards. Debbi made to follow, but noticed a sign on the wall. It was written in kanji, but there were simple graphics that made it clear that she shouldn't proceed without having showered. She informed Lesley and the two of them made their way to unoccupied cubicles. Debbi found that the bucket beside the stool was filled with various soaps. She turned on the shower head and began cleaning herself under the pleasantly warm flow of water. She towelled herself off as best she could with her small cloth and waited for Lesley.

The punky artist re-joined her a couple of minutes later. Unusually, Debbi felt awkward standing around completely naked, but at least everyone else was in a similar state of undress. Still, it was clear that this was a traditional venue rarely frequented by foreigners. She hadn't seen anyone outside of Asian descent since she had arrived and she felt as though she stood out. This was something that only increased with the presence of Lesley, as her red locks only emphasised their Caucasian heritage further. They made their way out into the corridor together, finding it leading them down to a quiet, open pathway in the forest.