Clockwise from top left: wine, coffee, ramen, and green tea spas at spa theme park Hakone Kowakien Yunessun in Japan. If you've ever fantasized of loafing in a pool of wine, visit Hakone, Japan and your dream can become reality. Food-themed spas are just one of the trends listed in Adage.com's feature on Japan's latest could-be trends, from ramen-noodle baths to self-cleaning toilets (Madonna is a fan). Hakone Kowakien Yunessun, a spa theme park in Hakone with a menu of "amusement baths," is your spot for that wine bath. Not feeling wine? Perhaps you would prefer a soak in green-tea, coffee, or sake. I'd go for a ramen-noodle bath, myself, which is shaped and outfitted like a ramen bowl....
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Slate's Jacob Weisberg breaks down the growing ubiquity of green tea: "In China and Japan, green tea is a hot drink usually served in a small ceramic cup. But to American commercial culture, green tea is yoga in a bottle—or in a can, candy bar, candle, lotion, soap, perfume, pill, or extract. Described as soothing and gentle, it sits paradoxically at the red-hot intersection of New Age health mania and industrial chemistry." As an example, Weisberg points out that if you're drinking the Tazo Green Tea Frappucino at Starbucks for any other reason other than taste like, say, your health, you're delusional—the venti size has a whopping 560 calories, and that's without whipped cream. [via Amy's Robot]...
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