What’s your caption for this photo? Have your say in the comments below.
Thanks, Maureen!
5/2 UPDATE: Details now posted in the comments about the spa’s location–including two accounts from people who have been!
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On April 30th, 2007 at 10:26 am ,Mark Ashley wrote:
“This pool water has hints of cassis, leather, and a seven-year old’s urine. 86 points.”
“Papercut!”
“There’s blood in the sake!”
I’ll stop now.
On April 30th, 2007 at 2:05 pm ,Dr.Debs wrote:
Godzilla, shocked at the price of his imported Cabernet, dropped the bottle into a local paddling pool yesterday. There were no injuries, and swimmers found themselves in agreement with Terry Hatcher, who likes to bathe in wine to smooth her skin. “It really works!” enthused one wine-bather, pictured in the lower right corner. “But how do you get the red stains out?”
On April 30th, 2007 at 2:13 pm ,M. H. wrote:
“Japan lowers the drinking age for miniature people to 6. Revelrous party ensues.”
On April 30th, 2007 at 4:41 pm ,Barrld wrote:
“At a remote location somewhere near the Chinese city of Zian, the health benefits of wine are taken very seriously.”
“If only Ponce de Leon knew.”
On April 30th, 2007 at 5:33 pm ,M wrote:
And I thought stomping grapes with bare feet was gross…
On April 30th, 2007 at 8:35 pm ,Bud Dixon wrote:
For Sale: Large quantity varietal grape juice. “Full Bodied”, hint of asian spice. Perfect for the avid home winemaker! Bulk quantity deals available.
On April 30th, 2007 at 9:14 pm ,Dezel wrote:
Headlines! Today an Asian senior group discovered the Fountain of Youth in a pool of red wine!
On May 1st, 2007 at 8:37 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Hahaha these are great. I’ll let it run a little longer to the creative genius of more people and then post the original story in a day or so. Cheers,
On May 1st, 2007 at 9:13 am ,Carlos Silveira wrote:
Winipponics
On May 1st, 2007 at 11:31 am ,Ben StG wrote:
It’s funny seeing this picture reminded me of nice memories. We went to the Hakone Yunessun Spa resort last summer and bathing in all the different waters was fantastic. My daughter at the time was 1 1/2 years old and she enjoyed the wine bath a lot… although she seemed to prefer the hot sake bath… must be the unami factor…
On May 2nd, 2007 at 8:40 am ,Linda Frommeyer wrote:
This is my favorite spa! I go monthly…its wonderful. One of the perks living in Tokyo.
On May 2nd, 2007 at 12:37 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Well, as the last two comments have nailed it, here’s the original link from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6607643.stm
Their caption?
“Visitors swim at the open-air wine spa pool in Hakone, south-west of Tokyo. Wine is poured into the spa regularly during the course of a day.”
I liked yours better!
I’m intrigued, Ben StG, to hear about the sake bath!
On May 3rd, 2007 at 11:32 am ,Ben StG wrote:
Well let me start by mentioning that I am not Japanese, nor have I ever experienced a wine or sake bath before. So I was intrigued by it all. I couldn’t see how someone would use precious fermented grape juice for a group bath… but then again I had never tasted Japanese wine before…
The wine bath was more of a joke novelty (so was the coffee and tea bath) but the sake bath actually made a difference on my skin. I did feel “moisturizedâ€. Now I know that a lot of Japanese women use sake in warm bath as a moisturizer but I had never really thought it would make a difference (nor would I use my precious junmai-daiginjo to try this at home)… it did.
So next time that you have an unfinished bottle of sake at home and you have no foreseeable drinking opportunity for it in the next 2 weeks, just try and pour it in a bath…
Let me know, Dr Vino.
On May 3rd, 2007 at 12:53 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Wow – coffee AND tea bath?!? Together or separate? Hakone is the Shangri-La of beverage baths or what?!?
Thanks for the sake challenge. I’ll let you know! I just have to get over the idea of a bath first though…
On May 9th, 2007 at 4:50 pm ,Andy wrote:
Urban Legend proved true! If you pee in the pool it will release a special dye.
On March 3rd, 2008 at 10:17 pm ,Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Wine therapy, Japan-style wrote:
[…] saw the still version before but now we’ve got a four minute video clip from the outdoor, communal spas in Japan where you […]