- Title: JAPAN: Japanese take a dip in a spicy "curry" bath
- Date: 29th July 2006
- Summary: (L!3) YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JAPANESE EATING CURRY AT CURRY RESTAURANT
- Embargoed: 13th August 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA6Y53IZ8DIGM7VLOBQYXJQV3BK
- Story Text: Japan's 3-billion U.S. dollar hot spring industry is looking to curry favour -- or curry flavour -- to tempt bathers.
The Yunessun Spa Resort in Japan's traditional hot spring town of Hakone has made a "curry bath," making traditional curry broth into a spicy spa treatment.
The 30-million U.S. dollar curry bath offers the smell and feel of the real thing but is not for human consumption. Vegetables floating in the bath are made of plastic.
"It feels like real curry. It's got a nice spicy smell," Kazuki Tanihata, a 14-year-old middle school student from Yokohama, said after a spa staffer wearing a blue turban poured the yellow curry treatment on his shoulder.
Kenichi Aoki, 36, a nurse from Tokyo, said: "Simply put, It's really fun - both the way it looks and the smell of it. It's my first time to bathe in curry. My daughter loves it a lot."
Spa officials say taking a dip in the curry bath is good for health as ingredients include red pepper and turmeric which both help improve the bathers' metabolism.
"The curry bath contains red pepper, so it makes you sweat even more. Other spices like turmeric and orange peel also clear and rejuvenate your skin," said Yusuke Sato, a Hakone Yunessun Spa Resort spokesman. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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