New location-based sento search: SentoNear.me

March 8, 2010 by Wouter

Ever since I started SentoGuide I thought it would be really need if it would be possible to search for a sento near your current location. This would make it so much easier to find a public bath when you’re traveling around Japan, or even if you’d just like to explore sento in your local area.

The good people over at W3C, the organisation in charge of HTML, the engine of the internet, have recently added a very cool tool to the latest HTML version (HTML5) making it possible for websites to pull your current location from either a GPS chip in your phone or your WiFi connection. How exactly that works is beyond me, but what I do know is that all of a sudden searching sento nearby has become relatively easy from a programming stand-point, and extremely easy from a user stand-point.

I am very excited to announce the initial release of SentoNear.me, a service that lets you look for public baths near you on an iPhone (minimum OS version 3) or with the latest version of Firefox on your PC. The service is still very much in development, and any feedback would be extremely welcome.

Curious? Quickly go to SentoNear.me.

Spaworld ¥1,000 Campaign

February 26, 2010 by Wouter

Spaworld in Ōsaka is one of the biggest public bathing complexes in the Kansai region. Boosting a massive six floors, three of which are dedicated to bathing space, it’s a great place to spend a day. The bathing floors are divided into a European floor, which over 20 European-themed baths, a similar Asian-themed floor and a swimming pool on the top floor. The European and Asian floors are for nude bathing and alternate on a roughly monthly basis between the genders. The swimming pool is a mixed gender affair with bathing suits being the compulsory attire.

You can read all about the experience I had on one of my many visits to Spaworld here, but what I would like to point your attention to in this post is the entrance fee. Spaworld generally charges a steep ¥2,400 for a three hour period of ¥2,700 for a whole day of bathing fun. If that way to expensive I agree with you, and fortunately for the not-so-well-endowed Spaworld slashes its entrance fee to a more affordable ¥1,000 for a whole day on a regular basis.

Currently they’re in the middle of another ¥1,000 campaign (¥1000キャンペーン). The current campaign runs until June 30, 2010.

Spaworld is open from 10:00AM till 8:45AM the next day, and if you arrive any time before midnight you can stay until closing time for ¥1,000. If you enter after midnight you’ll be charged a little extra.

Address: 3丁目4-24恵美須東, Naniwa Ward, Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan
Telephone: 06-6631-0001
Website: http://www.spaworld.co.jp/english/

New Design

February 25, 2010 by Wouter

If you’re a faithful reader of SentoGuide you’ll probably notice that the layout of the site has changed quite a bit over the past few days. Since SentoGuide uses WordPress as its back-end, and WordPress has a wonderful template system, I have started crafting a custom template for this site.

The aim of this is two-fold. Firstly I would like to make SentoGuide easier to navigate. To do this I’ve moved the list of prefectures in which we list public baths from the right side to the top of the page, and rather than listing all cities under those prefectures in the same list, they are now cozily nested under the prefecture they belong.

The second aim is to make the site prettier. The prettiness will roll out over the next few weeks. Any suggestions are of course always welcome in the comment section of this post.

Tattoos in the Sento

February 16, 2010 by Wouter

In an earlier post I wrote it is generally frowned upon to enter a sento or onsen with tattoos exposed. Some of the readers of this blog agreed with this, but others didn’t. And true enough, there is no set rule in the sento etiquette book about tattoos. So is it a preconceived notion that tattoos are out?

Well, yes and no. First, let’s have a look at the yes.

Many family oriented sento, super sento and onsen will explicitly ban people with tattoos from entering. They will have a fairly large sign up at the entrance stating tattoos are not welcome. Gokurakuyu for example does not welcome anybody with tattoos. This is presumably because many families with children visit these places.

So why would children take offense? Well, I’m not sure they would, but as a general rule most members of the Japanese yakuza sport large tattoos on their upper bodies. Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, are generally rough people who might be loud, disregard sento etiquette and set a bad example for children. So a ban on tattoos is an indirect way of telling yakuza they are not welcome.

No let’s have a quick look at the no.

Smaller neighborhood baths generally don’t mind, since the visitors there don’t include many children, and is generally made up of a small core of regular bathers, sometimes including yakuza.

So what about the foreigner with the fashion tat? Know that yakuza tattoos usually have a specific, very Japanese design which make them identifiably yakuza tattoos. If your own tattoo is not modeled after a Japanese gangster tattoo, fellow bathers will recognize you don’t belong to any yakuza clan.

So in conclusion, some baths will specifically state that tattooed people are not welcome, and if that’s the case, live with it. Their house, their rules. If there is no sign banning tattoos at the front door, proceed at your own discretion if you have a tattoo. I know some people don’t feel comfortable exposing their tattoo at a sento and some people don’t care. If you decide to give it a go, try and be polite and cover it a little with a towel if you want, and have a good look at how your fellow bathers react. Sometimes you’ll get stared at, and sometimes you won’t.

I know it’s a bit of a vague issue, so any comments/corrections/additions are welcome.

6 Unique Sento

February 9, 2010 by Wouter

In an earlier post I asked your help to update a list with unique sento written in 2005. Some of the sento on the list have closed since the original list was written. I received some helpful comments to that post, and after some research and compiling, here it is: the new list.

First, let me say that since there are estimated to be over 6,000 sento in Japan, any list of most unique sento is bound to be inaccurate and incomplete, so I’ve dropped that idea and would just like to present you with a list of some unique sento. There are very likely very unique sento out there that are not on the list, simply because I nor you know about them. Since this is therefore not a top 6, but just a list of 6 (exactly 0.1% of the estimated total number of sento in Japan), the numbers don’t denote rank.

Anyway, enough prefatory, let’s list!

1. Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama

Image from Wikipedia

This bath is located in Matsuyama, on the island of Shikoku. I initially started searching for a unique sento in Shikoku because Craig mentioned in the comments that everybody always forgets about the island. I soon found this bath.

Unique point: this is the oldest operational bath house bath house in Japan and its building is listed as national culturally important property. This sento was also the inspiration for the bath house in the Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away.

2. Funaoka Onsen, Kyoto

Located in the inner-suburbs of Kyoto, this bath is, as opposed to some of the baths on this list, easy to find and even features in the Lonely Planet guidebook. It has been in business for close to 100 years.

Unique point: the building itself is not your standard bath house building, but rather it has the atmosphere of a small temple. The entrance gate and building are separated by a small Japanese garden. The changing rooms are what inspired my temple comparison, with beautiful carved woodwork and painted ceilings. The bathing area is separated from the changing room by yet another small Japanese garden which you cross by wooden bridge.

3. Daikokuyu, Tokyo

By many Daikokuyu is seen as the King of Sento. It is extremely popular with sento fans and listed in many guides as one of the best, if not the best sento in Tokyo.

Unique point: Like Funaoka Onsen this bath is said to resemble a Buddhist temple, and comes complete with a beautiful Japanese garden. Its sheer popularity and the buzz it generates in the blog-o-sphere has earned it a spot on this list.

4. Ebisuyu, Kurashiki

Image from Inside Japan Blog

When I was compiling this list I did a quick search to see if anybody had discovered a unique sento and blogged about it. AJD, over at the Inside Japan Blog certainly did.

Unique point: This bath appears very simple, but has a lot of history behind it. The changing room for example (see photo) has a beautiful wooden floor and matching wooden lockers.

5. Kannonyu, Toyama

This bath was listed on the original list, and deserves a place on this updated version too.

Unique point: the building is a typical Japanese structure. A ‘kannon-do’ (enshrined Goddess of Mercy) is arranged above the bandai. This bath is also renowned for its alpine scenery mosaic.

6. Genkakyo Onsen, Osaka

Another bath contained on the original list and deserving of a spot in this new version.

Unique point: this bath was built at a cost of ¥80,000 in 1937. The Statue of Liberty in the main entrance is a play on words, the Japanese for bathing being ‘nyuyoku’, which sounds like the Japanese way of pronouncing New York. This sento has many highlights, such as stained glass, a grampus on the roof, all granite bathroom, etc.

Close

This article is a submission for the Japan Blog Matsuri hosted by Muza-chan’s Gate to Japan.

Help me update the 10 most unique sento in Japan list

February 5, 2010 by Wouter

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:

1. Inaho Yu
   Otaru City, Hokkaido.
2. Taki No Yu
   4-37六日町, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
3. Nijuseiki Yokujo
   Taitō Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
4. Daikokuyu
   32-6千住寿町, Adachi Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
5. Kannonyu
   2-3-8新富町, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture
6. Funaoka Onsen
   82-1紫野南舟岡町, Kita Ward, Kyōto City, Kyōto Prefecture
7. Genkakyo Onsen
   1-5-33林寺, Ikuno Ward, Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture
8. Gonohashiyu
   Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
9. Asahiyu
   Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka
10. 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.

5 Don’ts of the Sento

February 3, 2010 by Wouter

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:

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. DON’T go in 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

What’s the Deal with Electric Baths?

January 21, 2010 by Wouter

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.

Gokurakuyu: The McDonald’s of Sento

January 20, 2010 by Wouter

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 has its pro’s and its con’s.

The Nuisance of Nudity

January 16, 2010 by Wouter

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.