Japan promotes "onsen triathalon"
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Your support makes all the difference.A Japanese businessman has dreamed up an alternative take on the triathalon and is encouraging fans of traditional hot springs to take part in his Spa Triathalons.
The Japanese are huge fans of soaking away their worries in communal hot spring resorts, known as "onsen," and Yasuharu Inoue wants to spread the word of their charms around the world.
"Onsen are a very important part of Japanese culture and can work as an excellent form of international communication," he told Relaxnews.
Inoue's onsen triathalons are "races" incorporating running, walking and bathing. Competitors usually wear traditional "yukata" robes and Inoue has staged events at 11 hot spring resorts across Japan.
The next event is scheduled to take place over three days from March 26 in the resort town of Minami-Aizumachi in Fukushima Prefecture. He is expecting more than 1,000 people to take part.
Inoue's inspiration for the event is rooted in the Olympic Games that were held in Athens in 2004. Keen to promote Japanese hot springs - which had fascinated him ever since he produced a series of programs on the topic for a Japanese television company - Inoue flew barrels of water from Shiobara Onsen, in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, all the way to the Greek capital.
There, he set up a footbath containing the soothing water, which is naturally heated far beneath the surface of the earth and contains healthy natural minerals and salts. Even some of the athletes tried out the ad hoc onsen, just outside the Olympic stadium, leading Inoue to make the jump to onsen sports.
His company also operated an onsen for competitors in the Tokyo Marathon on February 28, with thousands of sore-footed runners taking advantage of the recuperative properties of the water.
Inoue says he has visited more than 300 onsen across Japan and says he hopes that his onsen triathalon - or "Spa-lympics" - catches on around the world.
JR
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