Sloshed in beer, Japanese style
HAKONE, Japan (AFP) — Having a cold beer after a hot bath is a nightly ritual for many Japanese, and now the country has found a way to further indulge -- soaking in the cold suds themselves.
In this mountainous hot spring resort just a day trip from Tokyo, a spa park is offering a bathtub, shaped like a beer mug, filled with heated amber water and white foam with the aroma of hops and barley.
The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun is also pouring and spraying real beer into the bath and onto the customers three times a day until December 31.
The beer bath installation, which began late last month, pays homage to the "beer fights" of professional baseball season winners, much like the champaigne fights of their US Major League counterparts.
"We wanted ordinary people to enjoy the fun," the spa said in a statement.
The facility says the beer bath moisturises and cleanses the skin.
The theme park-style facility, which features various tubs of hot spring water, annually celebrates the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau with a real sommelier pouring the fresh wine into its open-air "wine spa."
The Yunessun also offers baths of coffee, tea and Japanese sake.
