After arriving in Kyoto last week we decided to visit a Japanese bathhouse. The Hakusan-yu (www.hakusanyu.com) is a bathhouse directly in the middle of downtown. It took some hunting to find since it was down a narrow side street, but it was well worth the time. Now, this is a true public bathhouse so it was not fancy. You remove you shoes and place them in a locker with a wooden peg you remove to "lock" your shoes up. You enter in the small lobby and an old Japanese woman takes your payment (I think it was 300yen) and rents you towel (200yen). Then you enter either the "female" or "male" side. Naturally I head for the male side and upon entering there were old guys smoking and watching sports. I removed my clothes and went into the actual bath area. The area is comprised of about 20 individual sitting areas where you wash-up. Now, this is where I made an ass of myself. At each sitting area was a stool and a hot/cold faucet, a hose and some bottles of generic shampoo/conditioner. There were also some bowls for rinsing at some of the areas and other soap products. I sat down at a stool, found some soap, and began lathering up my washcloth. About 30 seconds in, I had guy approach and inform me that I was sitting at his area and using his soap!!! I was so embarrassed. I apologized profusely and found another area to finish washing up at. He just smiled, collected his stuff, and left. Washing your body in Japan is very ritualistic. You must lather and cleanse as much and has hard as possible - this shows everyone that your body is clean enough to soak in the tubs with them. There was a hot tub with jets, an electric current, a medicinal tub with purple water, a cold water plunge, soaking tubs, and a sauna. I tested them all. I was the only Westerner in the there, but everyone was pretty cool. I'm sure they were all wondering how I found their bathhouse in the middle of Kyoto down a narrow side street with a simple neon sign indicating what the place was. I just thought to myself that a little research, perseverance, and a great deal of walking can get you far in Japan. Now the onzen at Tanzen-no-yu was a much different and unique experience in its own right...but, that's another story!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Japanese Bath
After arriving in Kyoto last week we decided to visit a Japanese bathhouse. The Hakusan-yu (www.hakusanyu.com) is a bathhouse directly in the middle of downtown. It took some hunting to find since it was down a narrow side street, but it was well worth the time. Now, this is a true public bathhouse so it was not fancy. You remove you shoes and place them in a locker with a wooden peg you remove to "lock" your shoes up. You enter in the small lobby and an old Japanese woman takes your payment (I think it was 300yen) and rents you towel (200yen). Then you enter either the "female" or "male" side. Naturally I head for the male side and upon entering there were old guys smoking and watching sports. I removed my clothes and went into the actual bath area. The area is comprised of about 20 individual sitting areas where you wash-up. Now, this is where I made an ass of myself. At each sitting area was a stool and a hot/cold faucet, a hose and some bottles of generic shampoo/conditioner. There were also some bowls for rinsing at some of the areas and other soap products. I sat down at a stool, found some soap, and began lathering up my washcloth. About 30 seconds in, I had guy approach and inform me that I was sitting at his area and using his soap!!! I was so embarrassed. I apologized profusely and found another area to finish washing up at. He just smiled, collected his stuff, and left. Washing your body in Japan is very ritualistic. You must lather and cleanse as much and has hard as possible - this shows everyone that your body is clean enough to soak in the tubs with them. There was a hot tub with jets, an electric current, a medicinal tub with purple water, a cold water plunge, soaking tubs, and a sauna. I tested them all. I was the only Westerner in the there, but everyone was pretty cool. I'm sure they were all wondering how I found their bathhouse in the middle of Kyoto down a narrow side street with a simple neon sign indicating what the place was. I just thought to myself that a little research, perseverance, and a great deal of walking can get you far in Japan. Now the onzen at Tanzen-no-yu was a much different and unique experience in its own right...but, that's another story!
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