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The cashier is usually sat behind a desk either in front of you, or slightly above in older bathhouses. All sento are separated into male and female sections, with the entrance of each marked by a short noren curtain. The curtain is often colored in stereotypical gender colors, or else red and blue, the former for females.
Japanese Onsen - Natural Hot Springs
Tokyo's five best 'sento' public bathhouses - BBC.com
Tokyo's five best 'sento' public bathhouses.
Posted: Wed, 17 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Sento, or Japanese public bathhouses, are dotted across towns and cities throughout Japan. Subsidized by the government, they are small facilities, split into changing and bathing areas separated by gender, often run by older people. It is important that every square inch of skin gets a pre-soak lashing of the suds. Typically, one squats centimeters above the ground under small showers with the backside resting on a miniature stool. Don't worry, it is more comfortable than it sounds - even if the knees have seen better days.
Oedo Onsen Monogatari
From early times large Buddhist temples would build structures within their precincts where local people could take steam baths for free. The goal of these bathhouses was as much about cleanliness as spreading Buddhism. There will be vending machines with popular post-bath drinks such as milk, coffee milk, and of course water, as well as an area equipped with hair dryers. When you’ve collected your belongings and returned the loungewear, you can return to the register to receive your shoe locker key and pay for the items you purchased with your bracelet. Dry saunas have regularly timed “experiences” where workers chant while increasing the heat of the sauna by using billows, whereas steam rooms and salt saunas are a more subdued affair. One of the most popular ways to relax in Japan is a trip to a bathhouse.
The History of the Sento
Sometimes they will ask for your shoe locker key as a deposit, so it’s good to have this on hand, just in case. Behind the noren you’ll find the changing area, containing lockers for you to put your things in. After stripping down naked, it’s then time to enter the bathing room. This always has both a sit-down showering section and at least one bath, sometimes more. The entrance of the sento has lockers for you to put your shoes in, before you head to the cashier or the vending machine.
Daikoku-yu is particularly foreigner-friendly being located close to an international hall of residence of Kyoto University. According to local sources, the electricity relaxes the muscles, doing nothing to dispel the myth that the Japanese have unusually masochistic tendencies. Rumors exist amongst younger people that the denki buro devastates the sperm count, so it may be a cheap substitute for the vasectomy. This writer, who has an acute fear of electric shocks and a sensitivity to even a hint of static, was convinced of this when he gingerly tested the waters for a split-second. For even the hardest of hooligans that plans to grace these shores, this ultimate test of machismo is sure to shock.
Bathhouse Etiquette
While you might see ‘forest bathing’ offered in the West, in Japan, it is more than a new-age wellness treatment, and considered a form of preventative healthcare. Likewise, ‘sand bathing’ is not a light-hearted children’s beach activity, but instead a therapeutic treatment whose benefits have been espoused for over 300 years. Super sento offers spa baths, onsens, and many different kinds of bathtubs, as well as saunas. Super sento prices vary from branch to branch and range from 500 to 2,500 yen.
There Is Often More than Just Bathing
Put in your money, select the option you want and get the ticket. I can’t imagine a more authentic way to experience real Japan. A guide for travellers to Japan on Shintoism and visiting shrines with information sourced from a 17th generation Shinto Priestess.
Mixed-sex bathing was prohibited once again after Commodore Perry visited Japan in 1853 and 1854—drawing question to the morality of the practice. I visited four different sentos while in Toko, and each one was unique in its own way. Sentos are a place for conversation and socializing (although not loud ones), and not quite like a Japanese spa house you may be thinking of. However, if you aren’t with a friend and you don’t speak Japanese, chances are you will be conversing with no one. But don’t be surprised if other people are having low-key conversations around you.
The following bath houses are just a little west of Shinjuku for a pleasant, easily accessed break from the hustle and bustle. Tokyo's first bath house was a steam bath said to have been opened in the 1590's, with today's tub-type bath house not appearing until the Edo period. The manorial system disintegrated in the ensuing Muromachi era, and temples were no longer in control of large swathes of territory. They therefore had to start charging a fee for entry to the bath house, and the sento was born.
Once ubiquitous, they used to serve as a public bathhouse and melting pot for the local community. These days, most Tokyoites have a bathroom within their apartments and no longer visit the sento as often; there are only about 500 sento in Tokyo today. Passed down for three generations, Kohmeisen underwent extensive renovation by renowned sento-reform architect Kentaro Imai, reopening as a designer sento in 2014.
As the water can be very hot, it is normal to douse oneself using a basin to get used to the temperature before stepping in. New bathers should be aware that it is considered poor manners to place one’s towel or washcloth in the bath water. The exception to this rule is if you happen to be at one of the less-common mixed-sex bathing areas. In that case, you can usually get away with a full-length towel at the very least.
The sento has existed for over 400 years in Japan, but a post-war construction boom in residential housing without bathing facilities or running water cemented the sento's prominence in the community. Sento numbers are dwindling today as Japanese can now afford baths or showers in their own homes. According to one survey, the top three reasons Japanese visit public baths is to warm up in the winter, to wash away the heat and sweat of summer, and to rest and relax.
Try to learn the kanji symbol for your gender, but you can also usually rely on the male curtain being blue and the female curtain being red. Some facilities only have one bath, so at these facilities you'd need to check the hours for men and the hours for women. Being naked in front of strangers is the stuff of nightmares for many people. But in Japan, being naked with strangers is part of the cultural experience of visiting a Japanese bath. I was extremely self-conscious the first time I visited a Japanese bath.
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