'Totonou' - The Next Buzzword.
Hana has a newly born cousin, so she has the opportunity to learn how to be a ‘big’ sister in Fukuoka.
Compared to being in Melbourne, she is not the center of the universe.
She will have to speak and embrace the Japanese side of her.
Do you remember a time when you played with your cousins and stopped?
This is a window of opportunity for all of us, Chika’s parents, sister’s new family, and brother’s older family, to have that moment of ‘togetherness’ before everything fades out.
If you visit your parents once a year after hitting 40, statistically you have roughly 10-15 visists left.
At least, this is how I explained why I booked a December trip back to Fukuoka, during our October trip in Fukuoka.
As much as I’d like to think I’m a good person, I’m just lazy.
Have you seen the weather forecast for Australia's summer this year? I can’t imagine dealing with the heat. Actually, I can. We’d try to go outdoors, and get turned off by the heat and flies. We’d then try to find some indoor activities only to be flooded with waves of families with the same idea. Will it be bush fire or skin cancer? Why not both? We’d be blasting the AC at home, with Hana asking to watch TV or play on the iPad every five minutes. Ultimately we’d catch COVID and blame ourselves for not having a ‘plan’.
So this is me having foresight.
Sure, the wife grumbled about the high price, but no one is complaining as I’m sitting here typing.
It’s my fault.
That everyone is happy.
Local Fukuoka food, snow, nature, family time, me not having to be the bad guy, bathhouse, totonou.
Totonou.
There’s 80% chance I book this trip for Totonou.
How To Totonou
The word totonou (ととのう pronounce like totoro but with an ‘n’) was on the list to be Japan’s ‘top 10 buzzwords’ in 2021, I predict the West will try to jump on this bandwagon, like robata, ochazuke and musubi.
Yet it has nothing to do with food, or a dragon cat.
Sounds like both kanji 整う or 調う it usually means to align, adjust, fix.
Nowadays you see the word etched on walls or windows of bath houses.
‘Totonou’ in bathhouse terms is to spend five minutes in a hot sauna room for 3-12 minutes, then immediately submerge yourself into the cold bath (or roll in the snow if you’re in Finland) for 2-5 minutes, and rest in outdoor / room temperature for another 5 minutes.
Repeat the cycle 3 - 5 times.
Now that’s what I call totonou-ing.
This shock to the system claims to improve blood circulation, the brain’s oxygen intake, promotes the release of β-endorphins and growth hormones associated with decreased risk of high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, depression, and other mood disorders.
I totonou nowadays because it makes going to the bathhouse fun.
After years of staring awkwardly away from all the naked men, there’s finally some routine for me to do. Like a game.
Also, check out my BP1.
For those looking for scientific proof with a sample size large than 1, good luck as I’m sure all naysayers have been assassinated by Big Sauna companies.
There are now drugs in the US that help with controlling type 2 diabetes but instead are being sold as miracle weight-losing drugs.
My point is people are willing to pay over $1000 for drugs than getting into a hot room, then a cold icy river, then butt naked in the open for the same health benefits.
Sure, air tickets for three of us aren’t cheap.
But, ask your old uncles, how much would they pay, or how much are they paying to keep their BP to 120/80.
Can totonou be applied mentally?
The day before we left for Fukuoka I caught up with friends visiting from San Diego2. We touched on that migrants with a choice to leave are never happy because there’s always an alternative. A ‘what if’.
What if we’re in Australia. What if we’re in Japan. What if we’re in Bali. What if we’re in Singapore.
Does it have to be either/or? Can we try both?
Maybe, alternating between two extremes will make us appreciate the middle ground.
When I tell friends we are exploring to find a house in Fukuoka, they jump straight to ‘are you going to live in Japan? Will Hana be alright in a Japanese school?’
Please look up the definition of ‘explore’.
It’s not happening now.
When Hana grows up and bugger off to Aberdeen or Ho Chi Minh3, we don’t want to stare at each other going ‘now what?’
This is us having foresight4.
If this exploration gives us an opportunity to travel back and forth, to be hot and cold.
I say bring on totonou.
Another side effect of totonou is that I wake up at 3am and write about why I wake up at 3am.
In fact, I took them in a food tour. My own miso soup and tamagoyaki, lunch at CC Wok, croissant from Small Batch, Bench Coffee shokupan, finished with ice cream at Luther’s.
Chances are she’ll be part of the tang ping (lying flat) generation, then we’ll have to find the most economical way to support a bum.
Also, the yen is really at 50 yr low compared to the dollar. A house in Fukuoka costs less than a car in Melbourne. Tax or upkeep is a different story.