the public baths
On Sunday a few weeks ago, I went to the public baths here for the first
time. Maybe you`ve heard that Japanese are real big on baths and keeping
clean.@I was amazed at what I saw. Each neighborhood has at least a few
public baths. You go in and pay your money, about $3.00 US. Everyone
complains that this is so high which seems strange to me because its the
only thing that I`ve found in the country that doesn`t seem outrageously
priced. The men go to one side and the women go to the other side. Once
in you get a locker with a key and inside the locker is a woven basket
that
you put all your clothes in. The Japanese men have a little basket with
their soap and or shampoo and razors (they do have facial hair and they
do
shave) and they put this into a little plastic basin and carry it into
the
bath room. The one I went to was about 20 feet by 30 feet. 2 walls were
lined with spickets with hot and cold water and a showerhead but they
were
designed to be used sitting down. There are these little plastic benches
that the men sit down on with their rumps about 5 inches off the ground.
THen the work sets in. I thought that I was clean after my shower but by
Japanese standards I was filthy. THey have these little towels about the
size of a dish towel and they use this to clean or maybe scrape the dead
skin off would be a more accurate description. They put the dish towel
on
their leg and then@vigourously and thouroghly soap it. This takes
literally about 2 minutes . Then they meticuously and thouroughly scrub
and scrub each part of the body. That means scrubbing the back of the
hand
about 10 times(20 seconds) and then the forearm about 10 times and the
upper arm. They are meticulous and don`t miss an inch of skin anywhere.
Back, back of the neck,everywhere. Its amazing. At the risk of looking
stranger than I already did, I watched one man from start to finish (as I
was soaking in the bath) and it took 20 minutes. Only after all this is
done, do they proceed to the bath. There were 5 tile tubs in the one I
went to. Each was about 5 feet square and the depth varied. One was very
cold and people would sometimes come over and fill water bottles with
this
water. It was well water and better than the metallic tasting city
water.
The others were all hot but one was very hot. Also one was steeped in
herbs and the brown pleasant but slighltly funky mixture made me fill
like
I was part of a soup. Also there was a sauna. I spent my time jumping
from tub to tub, getting a buzz when I would plunge into the cold. For
the
Japanese men though, the real purpose of the baths was not so much to
enjoy
the waters as to get clean. I now have a new apprectiation of the word
clean.
I went to another sento in another neighborhood yesterday and barely
escaped with my life. This was a much nicer one. THere were many
different
rooms and kinds of tubs. THey had a bubble tub that shot out streams of
bubbles and water into your back or wherever you chose to aim it. They
also
had a tub that was outside in a little japanese garden. THe most
surprising
one though was the electric tub. I`m not sure how it works but this tub
they shoot an electric current through the water. When you go in you feel
a
shock. Its a strange feeling. It makes you muscles contract
involuntarily.
And it hurts. I was able to get my legs in there with great difficulty,
and
my arms one at a time. I tried to submerge my body in it but it was too
painful. THe Japanese men were all laughing at me. I watched many of them
calmly come over and submerge themselves into the electric bath.
Did I mention that I nearly escaped death? Well maybe I was
exaggerating
a bit. SInce there were so many rooms to this sauna I was walking,
exploring. THere was a door with fogged and glazed plastic. I opened the
door and walked in expecting to see a new kind of bath. WHat I saw was a
lot of naked women. I quickly covered myself with my little hand towel
and
backed out of the room. I guess there was a sign in Japanese saying
"don`t
enter" but of course I couldn`t read it. I had gone into the women`s half
of the sento by mistake (really it was a mistake). Luckily the women that
I
saw naked didn`t see me (or pretended that they didn`t) I don`t know what
would have happened it they had seen me. Maybe they would have judo`d me
to
death. Or maybe they would have arrested me or banned me form going into
any public bath in Japan for life. I can imagine posters all over Japan
with
my picture on it saying ,"Danger: do not let this foreigner into your
public
bath." But probably what they would have done is held me in that electric
bath until I was toasted golden brown and then eaten me with soy
sauce,seaweed, and tofu. Luckily they didn`t see me.
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