Longest Night

Now, if my poor Japanese has let me down this will be a funny story. If not, it's still a little funny, to me anyway. While I was speaking to some Japanese friends I noticed a few oranges on the table. It was explained to me that these special oranges are put into the bath. I think they are put into bags first, though I'm not sure about that part. Also, people eat pumpkin. Why? Because this is the longest night of the winter.

Comments

[Rick]

Was the 22nd winter solstice? Hmmmm. The sun has been setting pretty early I guess.

[Darren]

Well, they said this yesterday which was the 21st. Sounds about right, though.

Recently though, I just got the feeling the sunset was already getting a later though. Maybe just the weather.

[M Sinclair Stevens]

When I lived in Beppu, one of the baths was famous for floatin zabon in it. They're a kind of citrus that looks like grapefruit, but aren't.

Here's a link.
http://www.geocities.com/oitaajet/history.htm#beppu

[Darren]

Even in the onsen? You've got to love the Japanese way of doing things!