Cheated by Shibayama!
Shibayama planned a special feature on Tohoku travel. This photo was taken at Sugawa Kogen Onsen, which we visited this time.
Why don't you go on a sauna tour to Tohoku?"
The Tohoku sauna trip began with a sweet invitation from our young editor Shibayama, who is the biggest sauna fanatic in HOUYHNHNM's editorial department. Although I said "Let me think about it," my mind was almost set on "yes," and in fact, I readily accepted the offer the next day. However, I later came to realize, albeit only half-jokingly, that I had been deceived....
To the north is "Sugawa Kogen Onsen" in Iwate Prefecture. This trip is based in Sendai and travels by car to five different facilities.
As the plan became more concrete, I became concerned and anxious. The plan was to visit a total of five saunas over the course of two days. The Tohoku region is spread out over four prefectures: Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Some of the itineraries included driving from the Pacific Ocean side to the Sea of Japan side, and after visiting the sauna of his choice, he would turn around and drive back to the Pacific Ocean side again. What was supposed to be a fun trip turned out to be a painful journey, with a whipping of the old man's body and a painstakingly arduous route.
Good grief, youth is a terrible thing.
