Tokyo wants to host the next Olympics and tries to beats its opponents by offering athletes and visitors unique spa experience in onsens.Hosting the Olympic Games is a big honor and also a good promotion. Cities try hard to present themselves as the most suitable for the event. For the 2016 Olympics there are currently four candidates still in game. The candidates are
Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.Among other peculiarities Tokyo plans to offer natural hot springs spas (called onsens) for the athletes and spectators. There is the
Oedo onsen in walking distance of the proposed 2016 Olympic village. The mineral water comes here from 1,400 metres below. The Oedo onsen offers a wide choice of baths and is visited by some 6,500 bathers on weekends. The Olympics’ visitors would have the opportunity to enjoy the 50 metre long footbath to give their soaring feet a rejuvenating bath. They also could rest while watching stars from the outdoor baths it the middle of the Tokyo Bay. Those who get hungry receiving massages may appease their hunger in one of the 16 restaurants. Another interesting spa is the
Tokyo Dome LaQua which is opened 22 hours a day. There is a number of these relaxing facilities in 8 km radius of the Olympic Stadium. Those who do not like massages or saunas may spend their time in the nearby amusement park.To gain the onsen status is not so easy. A bath that wants to become an onsen must have a mineral spring or a spring with water hotter than 25 °C. The temperature and content of minerals, however, may change over time. In 2007, Japanese officials decided that an onsen has to be inspected every ten years to keep its status. So far prefectures of Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Kanagawa, Toyama, Yamanashi, Shiga, Okayama, Hiroshima and Koch are among those that found out some of their onsens do not meet the criteria. Related:
JAPAN FACING THE CRISIS WELCOMES RICH CHINESEBATHING IN BEAUJOLAIS? WHY NOT?
