Bathing Culture in Japan: Public Baths, Hot Springs, and High-tech Tubs

My 4th year students graduated last week - dressing up in the traditional hakama (here) to receive their graduation certificate from the president - though it was a bit of shock to wake up to a heavy snowfall! Indeed, the weather has been very strange recently, 26℃ on Friday and 13℃ on Saturday. Nevertheless, spring is in the air, with the cherry blossoms now at their peak, after officially starting to bloom on the 24th. While many people are content to sit in the park under the trees and enjoy a picnic (known as hanami), a great way to properly enjoy the sakura experience is to take an evening boat ride under the blossoms on either Chidorigafuchi Moat (here) or Meguro River (here).

The awareness of the Japanese towards the changing seasons and their appreciation of seasonal foods is one of the reasons I love Japan, but for me perhaps the biggest draw of all is the bathing culture - nothing beats a visit to a hot spring (onsen) or even the local public bath (sentō). Of course, it's not realistic to visit these places every day so a fine substitute is the household bath which enjoys a level of technology that puts the British bath to shame. Earlier this month we had our bathroom renovated so I thought this would be a good opportunity to promote the joys of domestic bathing! The picture above shows the process of removing the old bath and installing the new one. One interesting point is how the bath is typically cleaned before it is demolished to show respect for years of use (this is also done before disposing of old cars or even used needles (here)! Respect for objects that have served one well is a nice custom but that doesn't detract from the joy of a new high-tech bath. Note that the new bath is not only lower but lacks taps too. As the control panel below shows, the bath in Japan is filled automatically and the temperature, height of the water, and even the length of time the temperature is to be maintained can be set. The most recent models even allow baths to be controlled via smartphone app from outside the home, so you can come home to a steaming hot bath after a hard day's work!

During the four-day renovation, I made use of a local sentō just down the road, actually a super sentō named Terme Ogawa which unlike the simple local neighbourhood public bath comprises a large complex of multiple baths and saunas as well as restaurants, massage, and relaxation rooms (map below). Regarding the difference between public baths (sentō) and hot springs (onsen), the latter use natural spring water while the former use boiled tap water - subsidised under the Public Bathhouses Law - explaining why sentō are often distinguishable by their chimney. The distinction is not clear cut however, particularly in the Kanto region, where super sentō like the one I visited often also describe themselves as "natural hot springs" (天然温泉). 

Map of "Super Sentō" Terme Ogawa (©Termeogawa) here

With the spread of private bathrooms from the 1970s, public baths plummeted in popularity and many went out of business. Data for Tokyo, for example, reveals 1968 as the peak, with 2687 sentō in the capital faling to only 444 in 2023. However, since around 2014, public baths have enjoyed something of a revival - in tandem with the sauna boom (sakatsu=サ活) - as a community spot or hub, especially among young people and foreign tourists. For example, last year, a new sentō tour named Sentorance Japan started with the aim of making sentō an "entrance" to Japanese culture: the tour includes a lecture on sentō etiquette in English followed by a bath. There are also a number of non-Japanese involved in preserving and restoring bathhouses such as Sam Holden and Stephanie Crohin. In terms of a specific recommendation, why not check out Denkiyū, a small sentō located in Kyojima, Sumida ward, which featured in the film Perfect Days? One thing you may notice in both public and private baths in Japan is a small stool which Japanese typically sit on while washing before getting into the bath. This is crucial - Japanese enjoy the bath for relaxation never for washing, and since they enter the bath clean usually reuse the same (clean) water for a few days before refilling. Certainly, British bathing seems primitive in contrast! Thoughts? Please write in the COMMENTS section.

Food Culture in Japan: Rising Prices, Buddhist Breakfasts, and Hospital Cuisine

February in Japan has seen record snowfalls in the North though Tokyo has only experienced a few flurries. It's still very cold though so keeping the aircon on high and snuggling under the kotatsu - a low heated table covered with a quilt - is definitely the way to go. But while people everywhere are struggling with soaring energy bills, the Japanese have been particularly hard hit after being spoiled by a long period of deflation - starting in the late 1990s and continuing for some 15 years - followed by very low inflation (0.5%) until relatively recently. Coupled with the weak yen and higher import costs, the result has been more and more people struggling with daily living expenses - what the Japanese call seikatsuhi (生活費) - amid price increases (ne'age=値上げ) in everything from energy to food (recent video here). Rice in particular has skyrocketed, with the price of a 5kg bag almost doubling for some brands. Just how many people are having a hard time was brought home to me the other day when I passed the Tobu Supermarket in Nishikokubunji, Tokyo, and saw a long line of people queueing round the block during a special 98 yen (52p/66¢) "lifestyle support" (生活応援）campaign. Personally, BritishProf now avoids buying carrots, cabbage, broccoli, and lettuce because they've just become too expensive.

For those looking to save money on food, one approach is to have a big healthy breakfast and eat less or even nothing later - many Buddhists, for example, practice fasting from noon to sunrise the following day. The Buddhist belief that one shouldn't take a life means that many Buddhists follow a lacto-vegetarian diet - no eggs, meat, or fish - though some Buddhists do eat meat and other animal products, as long as the animals aren’t slaughtered specifically for them. If you want to sample some Buddhist cuisine of the latter, less strict, variety, I strongly recommend the 18-dish breakfast at Tsukiji Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Tsukiji, Tokyo (reservations essential). While it does include duck, octopus, rolled egg (tamago-yaki), and salted salmon/pollack roe (ikura/mentaiko), for the most part this is vegetarian and includes rice porridge (okayu) and delicious miso soup. Unfortunately, even this breakfast has not been immune to the price rises: the once unlimited rice refills will no longer be free from March 2025 "due to the recent rise in the cost of rice and other ingredients."

As the Buddhist breakfast illustrates, Japanese cuisine typically consists of multiple small dishes creating a very balanced, varied, and nutritious meal. A friend of mine recently spent a week in hospital and given the terrible reputation of hospital food in the UK  I was curious if the Japanese did a better job. As you might have guessed, the answer was a resounding "yes", with typically 4 to 5 healthy dishes cooked from scratch (if a little cold) accompanied with nutritional information. For example, the picture below shows an evening meal of rice, deep-fried cutlet with cheese, seaweed salad, thinly sliced stir-fried radish, and roasted green tea comprising a very low 584 kcal - and only 2.2g of salt. Even better, each meal costs only 490 yen (£2.59/$3.28) - a big plus in these days of sky-high food prices.

While the emphasis seems to be on more "traditional" Japanese food, reflecting the fact that patients tend to be older, meals did include bread, pasta, keema curry, and even a chocolate dessert for Valentine's Day! For more detailed pictures and descriptions of typical hospital fare check out the link here; there is also a fascinating Guardian article comparing hospital food - including Japan and the UK - from around the world. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on healthy eating, Japanese cuisine, and hospital food in the COMMENTS!

Visiting "Little Edo" for New Year: Buying a Daruma Doll and Eating Daifuku in Kawagoe

A big akemashite omedetō (Happy New Year) to all readers at the start of 2025! While making new year's resolutions (新年の抱負=shin'nen no hōfu）is not as popular in Japan as in the West, a similar but rather unique cultural tradition centres around the daruma doll, a round, bright red, hollow paper-mâché figure representing the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma with a weighted bottom that enables it to bounce back when knocked down (like Weebles in the UK). This feature contributes to its popularity as a charm for good luck and encouragement, echoing the Japanese phrase nanakorobi yaoki (seven times down, eight times up) which signifies bouncing back from adversity and never giving up. When bought the eyes are usually blank (closed) and people fill in the left eye when making a wish or setting a goal and then fill in the other eye later when the wish is fulfilled or the goal is achieved - politicians typically do this at election time. Many temples hold new year markets selling these and I visited one of the biggest held at Kita-in temple (喜多院) - also known as Kawagoe Daishi (川越大師) - in Kawagoe City held every January 3rd.

Kawagoe City is located north of Tokyo, in Saitama Prefecture, and is often referred to as "Little Edo" - Edo is the old name for Tokyo - due to its many old buildings and retro Showa/Taisho atmosphere. Certainly wandering down the main street, surrounded by the ubiquitous food stalls encouraging you to snack as you walk, it would feel like stepping back in time, if it wasn't for the flood of foreign tourists (though to be fair, some do get into the spirit by utilising the many kimono hire stores). Walking along the main street I also spotted a daruma painting workshop in which participants can colour and draw the faces of daruma (the same shop has a delightful footbath cafe in the back which you should definitely check out). Other highlights include the Bell of Time (時の鐘=toki no kane), a bell tower which chimes four times a day and many buildings in the traditional kurazukuri (蔵造り) or warehouse style with walls finished with mud and plaster supposedly making them fireproof, damp-proof and even burglar-proof!

Street food is certainly a key point of the Kawagoe experience. Sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo=さつま芋) are probably the most famous of these and you can grab a bag of crisps, ice cream, or even sweet potato beer and coffee to sustain you as you battle the crowds. Sweet Shop Alley (Kashiya Yokocho=菓子屋横丁) is an area dedicated to traditional sweets and cakes and has a wonderful retro atmosphere. Another edible recommendation is daifuku (大福) - literally "big luck" - a type of Japanese sweet (wagashi) with mochi (chewy rice cake) wrapped around a sweet filling, typically anko (red bean paste) or fruit. Kawagoe has an amazing shop - prepare to queue - with paper thin mochi wrapped around a variety of high quality fruit such as strawberries, musk melon, mango, kiwi, orange and many more. The prices are astronomical - we paid ¥650 (over £3 or $4) for one strawberry - but the eating experience, where you use a fine thread to slice it in two and then savour, is probably worth the fee as a one-off cultural experience.

My daruma doll has one eye filled in, though since I wished for peace (a theme emphasised in the last post of 2024) I fear it may well be a while since I am able to draw in the right eye. In actual fact, the dolls are usually burned at the end of the year in a purification rite so it might remain with one eye closed (video here)! I could also have wished for a response to global warming though I might be waiting even longer to have that wish fulfilled - we still have not had any snow here in Tokyo, so no chance to build a yuki-daruma, the Japanese word for snowman (the Japanese snowman is typically two not three sections reflecting the shape of the daruma!). Finally, for those of you who have watched Squid Game, the Statues (Red Light Green Light) game is called Daruma-san ga Koronda (Mr Daruma Fell Down) in Japanese - go figure! If you have any wishes or goals for 2025, please let me know in the COMMENTS - I'll send a Japanese daruma doll to the best suggestion!