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| Wash and scrub up in communal bath |
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The softer suspension settings deny the Roadster the rapier-like responses of the European-spec Coupe, but the linear, talkative steering remains. By using the brakes to transfer the weight to the nose, it's possible to quell the initial understeer and encourage the car to bite hard into the turn. This technique works well but my reward is a soft brake pedal and some smoking front discs. One suspects that their specification will need to be upgraded for Europe.
We're to spend the night in the Mikawaya Ryokan hotel, which has been entertaining guests since 1883. Arriving a little before 5pm, photographer Brimble and I are escorted to our rooms by a serious-looking Japanese maid named Michiko. In broken English, she explains that we must change into our Yukata - a kind of cotton dressing gown - and prepare for our bath. Dinner will be served promptly at 7.30.
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| Sushi and beer served in private dining room |
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Bathing in a Ryokan follows a strict etiquette and is not for the self-conscious. In a communal but single-sex bath, you strip naked, rinse, and then plunge in the searing heat of natural spring water. Next, you hop out, perch on a tiny stool - awkward for a chap, indecent for a girl - wash, rinse and then return to the pool. It's an elaborate, time-consuming and sometimes awkward process but we emerge feeling fantastic.
We return to find Misawa already serving dinner in our private dining room. Don't be fooled by the taste of sushi in your local Sainsbury's; real Japanese food tastes nothing like its vacuum-wrapped Western imitations. Misawa's English isn't good enough to explain what's in front of me, which might be a good thing. Most substances are best described as squidgy and while some are delicious, others are retch-inducing. At least Japanese beer tastes like Japanese beer.
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