Most health professionals agree that stress and tension can be the underlying cause of many physical ailments. Fortunately, one treatment for some kinds of such strain can be quite easy to take.
Thalasso therapy may sound like Greek to most of us, and it actually is. The word thalassa means ‘sea’ in that language. While ‘taking the waters’ is an age-old practice, it was a French doctor in the nineteenth century that first used the term to describe the use of seawater as a form of physical therapy.
There is no mystery to the therapy. While it can include showers of warm water, application of marine mud or of algae paste, or the inhalation of sea fog, one method is to simply step into a hot pool of seawater and allow the soothing action to take effect. The benefit, not medically proven but widely accepted, is said to occur through the body’s absorption of some of the ocean’s mineral content.
Trace elements of magnesium, potassium, calcium sulphates and sodium, found in seawater, are believed to be absorbed through the pores of the skin.
Hot springs are found throughout Japan, thanks to the geothermal activity that created its many islands, including Okinawa, and are known as ‘onsen’. However, in order to be called onsen the Japanese government has set minimum standards for the minerals to be found in the water.
In Okinawa many of the finer hotels offer seawater pools or treatments but there are some establishments that are dedicated solely to the spa environment. Three that are popular among people in the know are Chula-u in Chatan, Kanna Thalasso in Ginoza, and JA Bath House Aroma in Ginowan City. Though all offer various forms of massage and saunas each has unique qualities.
Chula-u is situated in American Village across the street from the New Century Hotel behind Jusco. It has the largest outdoor pools of the three, with access to the adjoining beach. Men and women are both allowed to use the pools but there are separate hot springs for the customary nude bathing, men on one side, women on the other.
Chula-u also offers a fine Japanese style restaurant with a view over the huge outdoor pools to the China Sea beyond. The water here flows from a sea geyser at a temperature of about 106° F. Be sure to try the “Doctor Fish”, tiny fishes that eat old skin cells from people’s feet and cause a most agreeable sensation of electric tingling.
Kanna Thalasso is owned by the village of Ginoza and can be found by leaving the expressway at exit 9 and heading south on highway 329 for about two kilometers. Look for it on the left just past the Hokubu Hospital.
Kanna features a series of connected indoor pools with jet sprays, and a large Olympic size lap pool. It also has a water slide that offers an exhilarating plunge into a not so warm pool. Outside, the spa has a number of pools also with jet sprays, some under canopies, some uncovered to the whims of the weather.
Kanna has the most spectacular of settings, facing the Pacific Ocean looking out onto the islands of Ikei and Miyagi.
It has both dry and steam saunas with a frigid plunging pool adjacent to them and the rest of the hot pools. The restaurant is pleasant and seating can be had outside to enjoy the fabulous view. Bathing caps are mandatory and the pools are all co-ed. No nude bathing here.
JA Bath House Aroma is a pleasant surprise in the midst of an industrial complex behind the 100 yen store off of Convention Center Drive. Turn west at the light immediately north of UniQlo until you see the flags opposite the Tostem building. There are no signs in English but the exquisite Japanese garden in front will be a clue.
Although the spa is not directly on the beach it has been designed into a very tasteful environment. The outdoor pools are set in a stunningly created landscape that will make you forget the outside world. A word of caution: JA does not allow anyone with tattoos to enter.
JA offers jet baths, a peaceful relaxing pool, bubble baths and a waterfall pool. Clothing is optional in the separate areas, as is the tradition in Japan. A small restaurant is on the premises for refueling after the relaxation open from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.
Prices for the spas vary from 1,000 yen to 2,500 yen and can depend on the time of day or week. It wise to check the schedules at each place as hours may also vary.
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