The way of the sento — 8 comments
05
Feb 10
In a dark corner of the internet I found a list of the 10 most unique sento in Japan. This list, written up in 2005, lists the following 10 baths:
- Inaho Yu
Otaru City, Hokkaido.
- Taki No Yu
4-37六日町, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
- Nijuseiki Yokujo
Taitō Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
- Daikokuyu
32-6千住寿町, Adachi Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
- Kannonyu
2-3-8新富町, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture
- Funaoka Onsen
82-1紫野南舟岡町, Kita Ward, Kyōto City, Kyōto Prefecture
- Genkakyo Onsen
1-5-33林寺, Ikuno Ward, Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture
- Gonohashiyu
Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
- Asahiyu
Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka
- Chuzan Onsen
1390中山町, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
As it turns out, the four of the bath houses on the list have closed since the list was written. The ones that are linked to their corresponding SentoGuide listing are still open and are indeed quite unique. I have been to number 6: Funaoka Onsen myself, and as the original composer of the list wrote the open-worked balustrades … fascinated me.
Initially I wanted to write this post simply to bring the list to your attention, but when I found out four of the sento on the list had closed I figured we (you & me) could contemporize the list a little. Please submit any sento you deem unique in the comment section and hopefully we’ll get enough submission to update the list.
The way of the sento — 10 comments
03
Feb 10
When trying new things for the first time, many things can go wrong. We’ve all had that experience. Generally we would just muddle our way through and learn from the experience. Experience is usually the best teacher, so by all means, muddle. Just a few things to keep in mind when you start muddling in a sento near you:
- DON’T take any of those handy little baskets with various types of soaps and shampoos you will often find on or under the locker bank at your small neighborhood sento. They all belong to regular bathers. My first sento experience was with a friend at a super sento. At super sento’s soap and shampoo is generally provided in the washing area. When I ventured out on my first small neighborhood sento visit I wasn’t aware I should bring my own soap and shampoo, and when I saw those baskets with soap sitting around I assumed they were there to be used by whoever wanted to use them. Observation of the behavior of the locals quickly taught me otherwise.
- DON’T walk into the wrong changing room. Every sento has separate entrances to the male and female changing rooms, only marked in Japanese. The first time I went bathing I didn’t know any Japanese. As I mentioned, fortunately I was with a friend who guided me through the experience. When I went out by myself for the first time I remembered there were two entrances, but I had no idea which one to take. The only thing that I could do to prevent an unfortunate mistake was wait outside until somebody would enter or leave. After I came back home I immediately looked up the Japanese for male (男) and female (女).
- DON’T go if with your tattoos exposed. Tats are generally associate with yakuza, the Japanese mafia. If your tattoo is up-cover-able with a band-aid or water-resistant skin-colored sticker of some sort, cover it before you go.
- DON’T put any dirty or soapy body parts or your small washing towel in the bath water. The bath water is obviously shared, and just like you wouldn’t want to sit in the soap of others, others don’t like to sit in your soap. Additionally, make sure to wash and rinse yourself thoroughly in the washing area before entering the baths.
- DON’T be shy! The public bathing experience can be very relaxing for soar muscles and a stressed brain. Whether you’ve been teaching English to smelly businessmen the whole day, labored in a factory or crammed 200 kanji in an hour, relaxing=recovering. The whole nudity thing regularly keeps people from going to a sento, but everybody has the same (or similar, perhaps smaller) body parts you do, so no need to be shy.
All of the above I have learned through experience, and I’m sure there are many more experiences out there. Please be kind to me and this website, and share any additions you might have to this list in the comment section.
The way of the sento — 5 comments
21
Jan 10
If you have ever set foot in a sento, you no doubt have seen a denkiburo, or electric bath. We all know the Japanese sometimes come up with weird stuff, but did we not learn in school that water and electricity mixed together are kind of dangerous for the human body?
The fact that electric baths exist are proof to the contrary. Or is it? An electric shock is not always lethal. People survive sticking their fingers in wall sockets or being hit by lightning all the time. Even in water, if applied in a low enough amperage/voltage, electric current is not deadly. Again, the electric baths all over Japan are proof of that.
So what does an electric bath do? It sends a low direct current (DC) from one end of the tub to the other end. The bather takes place in between the two ends, thus sitting in the middle of the current. If you’ve ever tried it, you know it tingles quite a bit, and the muscles directly in the path of the current contract. This contraction is supposed to have the same effect on the muscles as stretching, but no real scientific evidence exists in English.
If you start running in the opposite direction when you hear of an electric bath, I can’t blame you. The rumor amongst the younger generation of Japanese people is that the electric current wreaks havoc on sperm count. The big red warning signs next to electric baths always list a host of conditions that don’t combine well with a denkiburo, one of them obviously being heart disease.
The official SentoGuide advice on this one is to try it completely at your own risk, or join me and a lot of younger generation Japanese people in watching from a distance.
The way of the sento — 2 comments
20
Jan 10
McAlpine, the author of The Soul of Japan, perhaps the largest compendium of just onsen in full color in the world, commented on one of the Gokurakuyu baths listed on our site. He commented on the fact that Gokurakuyu is pretty much the same all over Japan. Firstly, thank you McAlpine for your comment. Secondly, it made me think.
I remember a particular lecture in university with standardization as its main topic. McDonald’s was, and still is I guess, the ultimate example on a global scale. No matter where in the world you walk into a McDonald’s restaurant, it will always look similar. The menu too, is largely the same anywhere in the world, with some adaptations for the local market. Take the teriyaki burger on the menu in Japan for example. This level of standardization takes a lot of spontaneity out of the food, and probably the work. Everything is standardized and written in a manual. The upside is that as a customer you will always know what to expect, and your expectations will almost always be met. Met expectations equals happy customer.
Some chains of super sento have gone the same way: standardize the customer experience. Gokurakuyu is the front-runner in standardized bathing in Japan. I personally enjoy visiting Gokurakuyu baths or any other super sento every once in a while when I have a few hours to properly enjoy the variety of baths those places have to offer.
As a sento lover however, I like to discover unique sento. Those are usually the smaller neighborhood sento or the ones that are not part of a chain. The standardization of the larger chain baths takes the adventure aspect out of it. As McAlpine said, no matter which Gokurakuyu in Japan you go to, you will always know what to expect.
In summary, standardized bathing bas its pro’s and its con’s.
The way of the sento — 15 comments
16
Jan 10
Unfortunately many foreigners visiting or living in Japan miss out on the whole onsen/sento thing. Not because they don’t know of its existence, but because they don’t feel comfortable going nude in public, or… well… in the privacy of a public bath house.
So, is it a cultural thing? After all, no Japanese person will ever understand this inhibition when it comes to bathing. Let’s have a look at that. I feel it is safe to assume different cultures have different views about nudity. In many African tribes for example women don’t cover their breasts because they don’t have the cultural inhibition to do so. Equally, in many strictly religious cultures social values dictate that skin should be covered, not revealed.
Many foreigners shying away from Japanese bath houses don’t come from either cultural background, but come instead from countries where showing skin is directly linked to sex, hence the inhibition.
Is that any different from how the Japanese society sees it though? Probably only ever so slightly. Fashion in Japan is similar, and perhaps less skin-revealing compared to fashion in any western country.
Would the answer then be just a simple: “the Japanese are used to it”? Probably. Thus the good news is that nudity is merely a nuisance, and once we overcome our own fear of a nude self, we can sit back and enjoy the bath.
Campaign — No comments
11
Jan 10
If you live in Kansai and have a PiTaPa card you’re in luck this winter. Surutto Kansai is offering discounted admission to a number of onsen in Ōsaka, Hyōgo, Kyōto, Nara and Mie prefectures. Some of the onsen on the list offer discounts simply for admissions, and others give discount on lunch/bath packages.
With some exceptions this campaign runs until March 31, 2010, so no need to be cold this winter.
In Ōsaka the onsen taking part in this campaign include:
For Hyōgo, the following onsen are included;
In Kyōto the following onsen are included on the list:
One onsen in Nara is part of the campaign:
And finally, one onsen in Mie:
Discounts vary per facility, but are somewhere in the vicinity of 20%. For more information, and an overview of the exact discounts at each onsen, visit the Surutto Kansai website.
Sento with a twist — 1 comment
09
Jan 10
Every once in a while you come across this idea someone had and implemented that really appeals to you. I had that the other day when I visited Sagano Yu, and old sento in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Well, sento… It used to be a sento, but someone had taken the building and turned it into a stylish cafe. Kind of a cool idea, with the main cafe area in what used to be the bathing area. They even left the mirrors and the faucets on the walls, as well as the original tiling. So if you ever want to visit a sento, but you are a little anxious about the whole nudity thing, check out Sagano Yu.
Read all about the cafe on MyKansai.
From other blogs — No comments
08
Jan 10
I myself enjoy visiting sento regularly. I go to my local one in Takatsuki at least once a week, and when I have time I also like to visit other bath houses around Kansai. When I came to Japan for the first time six years ago I had my first sento experience and I fell in love with it. I regularly look for people blogging about their experiences with public baths in Japan, and I found some more today I would like to share:
What about you? Have you every experienced a sento?
From other blogs — No comments
08
Jan 10
I recently read a very good article about this history of public bathing in Japan on Ruther’s Room, Ikyu International’s blog. It explains how sento, the public bath houses of Japan, came to be around 1590, during the early years of the Edo period. I’m not going to paraphrase the article here, but instead recommend you read it here.
About us — 1 comment
08
Jan 10
You might have noticed the website looks different these days. I have recently started to move SentoGuide to Wordpress, which makes it easier to integrate comments from all you happy bathers out there. Also, since SentoGuide is (hopefully) one of the richest sources of information on sento in Japan (working hard on that), I decided a .info domain would be more in order. Therefore, SentoGuide now lives under http://www.sentoguide.info/. Thanks to all you guys out there who have supported my website over the years, and I hope you will continue to find it at its new location.
