Everybody Out!!

With the weather warming up, the pollen making everyone's eyes itchy and the sakura beginning to blossom, I decided I had been spending way too much time in front of the computer, and needed to re-establish some form of exercise routine to get back in shape.

The local gym is still disallowing us from playing actual full court basketball games, we are only allowed to play three-on-three practice games (sigh! I'll explain later) so I figured the best outlet would be to get back into swimming.

Toshima ward's West-Ikebukuro Heated Swimming Pool is a short bike ride from our apartment and a surprisingly new facility; it doesn't attract very big crowds and if you buy a multi-visit card it is only 400 yen per visit.

There is however (as always) a catch. The catch is that you must abide by Japanese pool etiquette.

Basically you can get by at the pool with common sense. The change rooms are fairly standard; they are clean and there is plenty of locker space available at only 10 yen a pop - very reasonable. But here are the provisos:

1. You must take your shoes off before entering the change rooms. A fairly standard requirement in Japan.
2. You are not allowed to use soap in the shower. Ok, I don't really understand this one, but I can get by with a water-only shower to rinse the chlorine off until I get home.
3. You must wear goggles and a swimming cap in the pool at all times. This would seem fairly strict, except the friendly life guards are actually happy to lend you goggles and a cap if you do not have your own (for free). I guess this is a hygiene-related requirement, fair enough.
4. Do your laps in the lap lane, and not in the "free swimming area". I guess this makes sense. I was doing some back and forths in the free area and was requested by the life guard to move into the lap area. I didn't think I was getting in the way of the obaa-chans doing their aqua-walking exercises, but rules are rules.

But here is the clincher.

5. At 10 minutes to the hour, every hour, the whistle sounds and everyone must get out of the pool for 10 minutes.

Huh?

That's right. Apparently it is standard practice in all pools throughout Japan, that they enforce a "rest time". For 10 minutes the patrons sit or stand at the side of the pool. And they wait patiently. Those who are particularly keen do some stretches and psych themselves up for the laps they are about to embark on. But no-one gets in until the all-clear is given.

This baffled me and I had to inquire about the logic behind it. Was it for the safety of those swimaholics who keep on doing their laps and wouldn't stop otherwise?

"Oh, it is in case someone has dropped a contact lens, or if we need to do some cleaning," the life guard told me.

Hmm. I joked about this with a friend of mine at the pub the other night, and he relayed a story about an Aussie mate of his who swims regularly at his local pool.

"Barry doesn't get out", Steve told me. "He keeps on swimming for the whole 10 minutes, despite the pleads and whistle blows of the life guards at the side of the pool. He figures that he's not tired yet, so he doesn't stop."

Atta boy. Nothing like a good ol' Aussie disrespect for authority. We don't win those Olympic gold medals by adhering to "break time"...

West Ikebukuro Heated Swimming Pool - 03-981-6468