Massage and Japan

Massage therapy is omnipresent everywhere in big cities:
Temomin, Global Sports, Raffine, Queensway... and many others.

For a very reasonable amount of time you can reload up, without killing your travel budget.

Going to a massage therapy place is a real treat to yourself. Your menu goes like this:
1. choose the part of your body you want to relax: feet, shoulders and neck ...
2. choose your time: it usually starts at 15 minutes and you can go up to 60 minutes by increment of 10 minutes. Price is related to time (approximately 1000 yen for 10 minutes).
3. choose extra service: oil, aroma therapy essence...
and 4, the best: relaaaaax!

All the chains are very competent, staff people are nice and kind. But they are strong! Do not underestimate them: they know where your body aches and they will make it go away!

My favorite place is Global Sport. http://www.global-sports.co.jp/

All the staffs are very well trained, and not only for relaxation but also for healing: they are as close as it gets to a kinetherapist.

There, beside the usual back and shoulders massages, you can get a lymphatic facial massage. Well, facial and neck and scalp and shoulders actually...

This treatment is just f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s. You start with a peeling, then a steam bath, and an oil massage. oooooh. You just do not want it to stop!

And, your skin gets rid of 10 years of "use". If you are 20 years old, it does not really matter, but if like me, you have, hum, more than doubled that age, well, it does mean something!

So, what is oyakoko? Litteraly it means: "show filial piety to your parent"
Basically, it means that the child would do a shiatsu massage on the neck of his dad, coming back from work, to release him from stress and show his gratitude for working hard to feed and educate him or her... A big word to say that parents are really using any kind of excuse to get a free neck shiatsu massage!