After researching lots of massage places in Osaka, I reserved a 120 minute “aroma oil” massage at Mouton Spa. When I arrived for my massage, a staff member had me sit on a couch where I was soon greeted by a friendly young woman who would be my therapist. She walked through the chosen course and length to confirm and then led me upstairs by elevator to the treatment room.
Once in the treatment room the therapist gave me the typical paper shorts, a place to put my clothes, and instructions to use a wall-mounted phone to call when I was ready. I’d been told during a previous massage at another place that I could just say “I’m done” (終わりました) but this time I chose “I changed” (着替えました). I hope that was ok too…I’m still working on my “massage Japanese” language skills.
Once the therapist returned, she took a few minutes to wash my feet. This doesn’t happen before every massage in Japan but it seems to be fairly common in the higher-end places… I like it. I usually close my eyes once the massage starts so the foot wash is a nice transition period where you can see and chat with your therapist a little bit, ask any questions, and just generally feel a little more comfortable with them before they begin.
I won’t go into any great detail about the massage itself but it was great. I’d had a few other massages in Japan by this time and for oil massages, this was the best so far. Maybe part of it was that it was such a long massage, but I felt like I was really able to relax my muscles and let the therapist do her work. I’m not sure what the different techniques are called but there was one particularly notable part with a sort of alternating pace motion on the backs of my legs for an extended time. It was really nice.
After the massage, I came downstairs and at first didn’t see anyone. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to sit back down on the couch from earlier or wait at the counter or just leave. Fortunately, a staff member quickly noticed and rushed over to guide me to sit back down at the couch. Soon after, my therapist came by to give me some tea. She had written up a sort of post-massage evaluation, noting which parts of my body were the most “tired” and went over it with me in detail, making a recommendation for what areas I might consider focusing on in a future session.
The therapist also presented me with a nice card with a personal handwritten note. I’ve had one other place do this but I couldn’t read the note because it was in Japanese, so it was nice to be able to read this one. Apparently she was learning English and I think she knew I couldn’t read Japanese so this was a thoughtful touch.
She left me at the couch to relax a minute and finish my tea. As soon as I got up to leave, she came right over and walked me out the front door (where I almost fell down the stairs because I was still groggy from the super relaxing massage). I was very relaxed and happy and knew I’d be back for a second visit.
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