Asia, Day 12 | Japan, Day 4
Sep. 26th, 2023 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sen_no_ongakuWe have two very different activities planned for the day, one sublime, and one absurd. The first is a visit to the Hakone Open Air Museum, a gigantic sculpture garden; the second is a visit to Yunessun, a hot springs-themed water park.
The Museum also has a Picasso Pavilion, which mostly showcases his ceramic work -- plates, vases, etc. -- and I came away quite impressed. A few pieces here and there are quite striking (I particularly enjoy a couple of stained glass works), but most of these seem sloppy and amateurish -- overall I get the sense that much of the time, he just plain didn't give a shit, and coasted by on his reputation to imbue these with the merit that they lack intrinsically. While I definitely think he made some great art, most of these seem more like a tribute to his own arrogance. Maybe that's just a consequence of being as prolific as he was...?
(No pictures from the Picasso Pavilion, BTW, as per policy.)
We break for lunch at the buffet, and tool around the gift shop, where we're made happy by a small bank of art-themed gachapon dispensers and a plushie of Mt. Fuji (which I regret not purchasing right there and then).
Then, we take the bus to Yunessun! It's apparently part of a much larger complex, and so when we first arrive, it's not clear we're in the right place. Thankfully, E sorts it all out (by having a conversation entirely via Google Translate, which itself is a piece of modern-day wizardry), and we make our way inside.
And it's utterly ridiculous, as expected. There's an enormous indoor pool lined with hot tub jets. There are smaller baths, each filled with red wine, sake, green tea, or coffee, and of course we have to try them all. There's an indoor lazy river that's the main attraction for the boys. Outdoors, there are a bunch of pools in a faux cave formation (complete with waterfall), a big water slide, and a water playground. We also can't resist trying "Dr. Fish", one of those deals where you stick your feet in a tub filled with tiny fish that nibble on your dead skin, which SUPER tickles and is both somehow uncomfortable yet compelling.
(There's also an adults-only section of Yunessun that's presumably more sedate, but obviously we see none of it.)
We eat dinner at reasonable buffet in that very same complex -- and because it's attached directly to the water park, they're apparently OK with us (and other folks) tromping around the dining area in bare feet.
Back at the guest house, E teaches me how to use the shaved ice grinder in the public kitchen (shaved ice is one of the things the boys love most about Japan), and we add the melon syrup they have on hand. (The prevalence of melon flavoring in Japan puts the US to shame.) I convince J to accompany me to the baths again, though G bows out this time. And E and I close the evening by splitting a bottle of the ryokan's sake on the balcony.
The Museum is beautiful and sprawling, full of modern and postmodern art, which is 100% up my alley. Some pieces are out in open fields, others are tucked away in the woods, or installed in ponds. Among my favorites are:
- A huge metal ball that looks like it's being torn apart
- A kinetic sculpture that's dizzying to watch
- A glass gazebo-like thing that the boys say looks like a teleporter
- The Symphonic Sculpture, a stained-glass column that you can climb inside
The Museum also has a Picasso Pavilion, which mostly showcases his ceramic work -- plates, vases, etc. -- and I came away quite impressed. A few pieces here and there are quite striking (I particularly enjoy a couple of stained glass works), but most of these seem sloppy and amateurish -- overall I get the sense that much of the time, he just plain didn't give a shit, and coasted by on his reputation to imbue these with the merit that they lack intrinsically. While I definitely think he made some great art, most of these seem more like a tribute to his own arrogance. Maybe that's just a consequence of being as prolific as he was...?
(No pictures from the Picasso Pavilion, BTW, as per policy.)
We break for lunch at the buffet, and tool around the gift shop, where we're made happy by a small bank of art-themed gachapon dispensers and a plushie of Mt. Fuji (which I regret not purchasing right there and then).
Then, we take the bus to Yunessun! It's apparently part of a much larger complex, and so when we first arrive, it's not clear we're in the right place. Thankfully, E sorts it all out (by having a conversation entirely via Google Translate, which itself is a piece of modern-day wizardry), and we make our way inside.
And it's utterly ridiculous, as expected. There's an enormous indoor pool lined with hot tub jets. There are smaller baths, each filled with red wine, sake, green tea, or coffee, and of course we have to try them all. There's an indoor lazy river that's the main attraction for the boys. Outdoors, there are a bunch of pools in a faux cave formation (complete with waterfall), a big water slide, and a water playground. We also can't resist trying "Dr. Fish", one of those deals where you stick your feet in a tub filled with tiny fish that nibble on your dead skin, which SUPER tickles and is both somehow uncomfortable yet compelling.
(There's also an adults-only section of Yunessun that's presumably more sedate, but obviously we see none of it.)
We eat dinner at reasonable buffet in that very same complex -- and because it's attached directly to the water park, they're apparently OK with us (and other folks) tromping around the dining area in bare feet.
Back at the guest house, E teaches me how to use the shaved ice grinder in the public kitchen (shaved ice is one of the things the boys love most about Japan), and we add the melon syrup they have on hand. (The prevalence of melon flavoring in Japan puts the US to shame.) I convince J to accompany me to the baths again, though G bows out this time. And E and I close the evening by splitting a bottle of the ryokan's sake on the balcony.
