Sand bathing: tourists in Japan are paying to be buried in the sand.
As if there weren’t enough crazy, nonsense spa treatments in the world, tourists on the island of Kyushu are paying good money to be buried in the sand.
Known as sand bathing, the process involves a large pit of volcanic sand that is heated with natural hot spring water, then drained. People are then put in robes, given a wooden pillow (which is kind of an oxymoron if you ask me), and buried in hot sand for 30 minutes. The process is supposed to help with infertility, diabetes, anaemia, and asthma.
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Visitors who have been through it say the sand itself is kind of uncomfortable, but the after-effects are life-altering. While our opinion on the matter is hardly scientific, we suspect that having mounds of sand shoveled AWAY from your body is the part that feels good.
We’ll try anything once, so this whole thing actually sounds kind of cool as a one time experience. Our only hope is that they make sure there are no insects or worms in the sand, because all anyone needs is a crab burrowing into a crevice when we’re supposed to be zenned out at the spa.
