Japan returns to relaxing in the buff
From Rebecca MacKinnon
CNN Tokyo Bureau Chief
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Japanese have been visiting hot spring baths for the last 400 years.
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CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon gets her feet wet in the baths that are drawing crowds of Japanese tourists in the age of SARS.
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- With a war just finished in the Middle East and the deadly SARS virus still raging, many Japanese have decided that when it comes to actually relaxing, there is absolutely no place like home.
Japan has so far managed to escape the SARS virus which has struck cities in Asia, particularly Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing, but locals are taking no chances.
Forget the beaches in Hawaii or that hike on the Great Wall during this year's annual spring holiday week, known in Japan as the Golden Week.
The Year 2003 is about appreciating Japan's age-old comforts in an Edo-period bathhouse theme park where people can pretend they are living back in the 17th and 18th century.
Relaxing in the buff in an outdoor hot spring bath has been a favorite Japanese pastime for the last 400 years.
No McDonald's or Starbucks in this theme park called "Oedo Onsen Monogatari" set in Odaiba, a suburban part of Tokyo. It's all home grown Japanese comfort food like tempura, noodles and sushi.
A travel agent, who was enjoying the outdoor footbath in the theme park, said most of her customers were afraid of catching SARS and canceled their original plans for overseas trips this year.
Japan's Golden Week starts late in April and ends early in May every year.
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According to Japan's top travel agencies, Asia package tours are down 60 percent this holiday season. Departures from Tokyo's international airport alone have fallen 30 percent this Golden Week.
The bathhouse president said war and pestilence, combined with a historical nostalgia fad, means he's got 50 percent more customers than expected.
"Usually bathhouses attract mainly older customers," said the president, Kazuhide Kimoto.
"But we've attracted a lot of young people, too."
Bathhouses in Japan range from simple set-ups to weekend retreats and resorts, with many other facilities like tennis courts.
