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Japan Takes A Bath

An odd scene out of Japan's past is rising right by the trendy neighborhood, facing Tokyo Bay. It is a vast spa 1 complex, and inside are meticulous reproductions of the streets, eateries and shops of the Edo period ( 1603—1864 ) 2 , the final years before the pressures of the outside world began forcing change on Japan. Called the Great Edo Hot Spring Story, it is the longtime dream of its chairman, Isao Nakamura, who bemoans3 the postwar Americanization of Japanese culture and its impact on Tokyo."We used to tell foreign visitors that they had to go to Kyoto to taste and enjoy the good old Japan, "says Nakamura. "Now they can come here. "

The promise of a hot dip in Japan 's golden age is an idea whose time has come. There 's even a term, iyashi-sangyo, or"healing business", that refers to services designed to ease the anxiety of Japan 's seemingly endless recession. They include aromatherapy, massage and work trips in farm country, but none rivals the popularity of hot springs, long venerated for their reputed healing powers. A volcanic archipelago4 , Japan has 30 , 000 natural hot springs and 3 , 000 hot-spring resorts, most located in small country inns.

What Nakamura is building has no precedent for scale or extravagance: a vast bathhouse and theme park with a rural feeling in downtown Tokyo. Yet already, there are two other hot-spring spa complexes in the works, one almost three times more costly than Nakamura 46 million project. Tadanori Matsuda, a professor who studies hot-spring culture at an university, says that the sudden appearance of these huge facilities in the urban nerve center of Japan suggests that angst5 over the economy" has hit the critical point", and spa builders are capitalizing on it.

The new Tokyo spas could not be more different from the city's traditional bathhouses. At a bathhouse, visitors pay about 4 to scrub in regular water, and have to be out by closing time at around mid-night. All the new Tokyo spas will tap real hot mineral springs at depths of up to 1, 700 meters. They offer more -luxurious services, longer hours of day rates starting at 20. If there is a risk in this building boom, it is that Japan already looks saturated with soaking opportunities: the existing spas attract 300 million day-visits each year.

Yet the worse the economy gets, the more popular a nice soak becomes. Already dozens of books and TV programs offer to steer travelers through the hot-spring circuit. In a 2001 survey by the nation's largest travel agency, hot springs ranked as the favorite destination of Japanese tourists, and the second favorite ( behind theme parks) among those in their 20s and 30 s. In the agency, a staff of 32 years old says her peers seeing their fathers losing jobs fear for their own careers and marriage prospects, and can find" no certainty in the future ". With all that hanging over one's head, 20 is a cheap price for relaxation.It's worth remembering, though , that Edo society grew stagnant and ended in turmoil.

Enjoy the waters, while you can.

练习题：

Ⅰ. True or False:

1. Great Edo Hot Spring is the reproduction of Edo period.

2. Isao Nakamura constructed the Great Edo Hot Spring because he bemoaned the America's influence on Tokyo.

3. Hot spring is the best way to ease anxiety.

4. Great Edo Hot Spring will be the largest hot-spring complex.

Ⅱ. Questions:

Are new spas totally the same with the traditional ones? In what way are they different from the traditional ones?

参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. T 2. T 3. T 4. F
Ⅱ. Not totally, they offer more luxurious services, longer hours.

参考译文

东瀛: 沐浴在温泉之中

在临东京湾的时髦地区出现了奇特的仿古式场景。它是一个温泉疗养中心, 里面逼真地模拟了日本江户末年街道、小餐馆、商店的情景, 那些年日本尚未因外来力量的冲击而发生改变。这个名为“ 江户温泉神话”的浴场是董事长中村勇夫多年的梦想。中村勇夫惋惜战后日本文化的美国化及其对东京的影响。“ 过去我们告诉国外游客到京都去体味和享受古朴的日本, ”中村说:“ 如今他们可以来这里。”

在日本的黄金时代温泉浴行业有前景的想法已经得到映证。现在人们甚至用一个专门的词——— iyashi-sangyo , 即治疗产业, 来表示这一行业。该行业通过提供各种服务来缓解日本似乎无止尽的经济衰退引起的焦虑。其中包括: 熏香、按摩和短期的田间劳作, 但这些都不及温泉受欢迎, 温泉的治疗效果已是久负盛名。日本是火山群岛, 有三万多处然温泉和三千多处大多分布在乡间小旅馆里的温泉胜地。

中村建设中的这家浴场规模和排场都是史无前例的, 是一座位于东京市中心的具有乡 村风情的庞大的浴室和主题公园。另外还有两家温泉疗养中心正在建设中, 其中一家造价比中村浴场的四千六百万美元几乎高出三倍。在一所大学研究温泉文化的教授松田忠德说, 在市中心快速矗立起的这些庞大的设施, 暗示人们对经济的焦虑“ 已经一触即发”, 而投资者们想从中渔利。

东京新的浴场和传统的澡堂大同小异。在一般的澡堂, 客人花4 美元用普通的水洗刷一下, 午夜打烊时, 他们就得离开。东京所有新建的浴场都要用抽自地下1 700 米深处的真正的矿物温泉水。他们提供每次最低消费为20 美元的时间更长、更舒适的服务。尽管这股建设热潮中存在风险, 但是在日本温泉浴行业似乎充满了商机: 现有的温泉浴场每年接待3 亿白天来访的客人。

经济越不景气, 人们越喜欢舒服地泡澡。各种书和电视节目都向游客介绍温泉。2001年日本最大的旅行社进行的调查表明, 温泉是访日的游客最喜欢的去处, 在二、三十岁的人中, 它的受欢迎度程度也仅次于主题公园。该旅行社一位32 岁职员说, 她的同伴们目睹父辈纷纷失业, 就担心起自己的前途和婚姻, 感到“ 未来捉摸不定”。这些烦恼挥之不去, 花20 多美元放松一下身心很便宜。但是, 值得铭记的是: 江户时代停滞不前, 动乱而终。尽情享受水吧, 趁你还有机会。

阅读解释

1. spa n. 矿泉, 矿泉疗养地, 游览胜地, ( 尤指附近有矿泉的) 游览胜地豪华旅馆。

2. Edo period ( 1603—1864) 是日本历史上很重要的一个时期。1603 年, 川家康被任命为征夷大将军, 在江户( 今东京) 开设幕府, 即江户幕府, 亦称“ 德川幕府”。江户时代的社会经济有很大的发展, 商业很繁荣。幕府末期, 商品经济的发展导致了作为幕府统治基础的自给自足经济的解体, 由此引发了一系列的阶级和社会矛盾。西方资本主义势力伺机而入。1853 年, 美国东印度舰队司令M. C. 佩里率舰队驶抵日本, 以武力要挟日本开埠。次年, 美国迫使“德川幕府”签订《日美和好条约》和《神奈川条约》。1858 年德川幕府又被迫分别和美国、荷兰、俄国、英国和法国签订了通商条约, 总称“ 安政条约”。至此, 德川幕府的锁国政策告终。

3. bemoan v. ①哀掉, 为⋯⋯恸哭, 如: bemoan sb. ’s death ( 哀悼某人之死) 。②悲叹, 对⋯⋯表示惋惜, 如: The manager could only bemoan their firm’s low productivity. ( 经理们对他们公司的生产率之低只能表示惋惜。)

4. archipelago n. 群岛列岛, 如: the Japanese archipelago ( 日本群岛) ; 还有“多岛屿的海”的意思。