communal bathing ~ Japanese style

in my last post i said that out hotel had a communal bath but on the first night we all went in sepratly... that was a rare oppotunity that we could... yes on other occasions i have been in the bath by myself but that was by pure chance, but as it happens the hotel we were at in tokyo was a firly small hotel, that is designed for overseas guests, in fact it wont accomidate native Japanese people there. and because of this they assign a time to each group that is currently in the hotel, so us Grace girls had an hour and a half where it was only us that could access the baths. the fact that they allocate times like that is to make people feel as comfortable as possible, as they know that many non-japanese arnt overally comfortable with communal bathing.

but enough of that, i thought i would take some time to explaine the porccess of Japanese comunal bathing.

first of all the Japanese おふら(ofura~ bathroom) is actually made up of 2 rooms. the first you enter through a big (usually blue) curtain that has the character ゆ(yu) on it the ゆhas become a symbol of a bath house... i believe that it is a　ゆ character because it is the　first character if the relavent God's name or something like that (im not entirly sure, that is something i should find out more about some time) but anyway the first room you enter, the "dry room", has little lockers or pigion holes (it varies slightly dependign on the size of the bathhouse and area of Japan that you are in, for example the one i went to with my host family the locer had a key that was on a piece of elastic that you wore as a braclet while in the bath itself) these lockers are there to put your dry stuff in and your main towel. this room usually only has some sinks and mirrors. (again depending on where you are there are sonetimes washing machines to was the clothes you had on while you are in the shower, rather handy in some cases) so once you have taken off all your clothes and stuff that you want to stay dry and put it in the locker you take with you your little (tiny really) modesty towel (i dont really see what good they do but hey) and your soap and what not with you into the wet room.

Once in the "wet room" you get a stool and a little bucket and find a spare shower, these are just along the wall, with movable heads and you do your washing thing... making sure you have removed ALL of the soap suds ect from your body you may then get into the actual bath (leaving anything you took into the wet room at you r shower ~so like shampoo, conditioner ect). As these baths are extermly hot there are taps that you can use to put in a bit of cold water, but you must use this sparingly as the bath water is only changed every week or so (again depending on the size of the bathhouse, some places it is alot more frequent than this, this is also the reason you have to be totaly clean befor you get into the bath tub. the baths have heating much like swimming pools do that keep it as it constant temp which is why they really dont like you putting in to much cold water.

these baths can range in size dramatically, i have had the wonderful experiance of goig to one of the bigest bathhouse in Japan that the bath was literaly like a big swiming pool, seriously it was deeper than me at some points.. and im actually reliativly tall in japan. at the above mentioned bath house the bath itself was also actually(mostly) outside, so it provided a great atmosphere... i would really love to go back there in the winter, it had a mini water fall and everything.

you may enter and exit the bath tub as many times as you like, usually getting out and cooling off under the cold water in the shower

once you are ready to leave, you ring out your modestly towel and get as dry as possible with it befor you go back into the dry room. once there you dry and dress and what not. if you are actually at a bathhouse rather than a hotel or whatever there is usually a cafe at the exit where it is not uncomon to enjoy a cool drink befor returning home.

i forgot to mention that most places will provide you with towels when you enter the bath house, there is then a basket in the wet room for you to leave theres befor you go.

i personally love the Japanese bathing system and have no issue with the communal bathing, i mena after all your not actually that likly to ever see those people again are you. and quiet hosnetly i think that their bahting is not only about getting clean but also focusu alot on relaxation is just one of the many beautiful things of Japanese culture.

the relaxatin side of it is SO im portant that on my first night with my host family in Fuji (2005 trip) i got yelled at for not spending long enough in the bath ... how totally weird .

ok i think thats enough on my insight to japanese comunal bathing