resisttakinga look.Wepaidourentry
feeandboughta bagofdriedfruitto
feedthebears.
LikeotherAsiaticblackbears,the
Japaneseblackbear(Ursusthibeta-
nusjaponicus) hasa paleyellowcres-
centmarkingonitschest.Standing
betweenonemetreto1.5metresand
weighingupto 120 kilograms,itis
consideredsmallamongbearspecies.
ExtinctinmanyregionsofJapandue
totherapidlossofhabitatafterWorld
WarII,thepopulationofblackbears
onHonshuisconsideredhealthy.
Noroadtripiscompletewith-
outa pitstop.Unlikeany whereelse
I’vetravelledintheworld,youcan
beassuredwhereveryoustopinJa-
panthetoiletswillbeimmaculate-
lyclean.I wouldn’tbegoingtoofar
insayingthatstoppingatapublic
convenienceinJapanwasapleas-
ure: warm water to wash your netherFromleft:amountainshrine;enjoyingahot spring foot spa; the Bear Ranchmorning,wehaditalltoourselves.
Asbeautifulasthelocationwas,the
watertemperaturewasa littletepid
andwesoongotdressedandwent
lookingfora moreestablishedfacility.
Wefoundanotheronsenaboutten
minutesuptheroad.Ithadseparate
bathingareasformen andwom-
enanda varietyofpoolsatdifferent
temperatureswherewesoakedupthe
mineralsaltsforaslongaswecould
handlethemostlyveryhotwater.With
theexceptionofour16-year-oldson,
whofoundthenuditytooconfronting,
wealllovedtheexperienceandvowed
torepeatitasmanytimeswecould
whileinthealps.Andataround$10
a pop,thisisoneofthefewthingsin
Japanthatisveryaffordable.
OnourwaybacktoTakayamawe
sawa signfora BearRanch.Piqued
bythesignwe’dseenthedaybefore
f lutteringinthewind, we couldn’t
110 April 2020
READER’S DIGEST