The Japanese bath (or Sentō) has long been an crucial part of Japanese culture. Traditionally, Japanese baths were used a lot more out of necessity than out of pleasure as a lot of people didn’t have access to a bath in their home.
At that time every neighbourhood in all of Japan had a public batch where the residents could go to bathe, socialize and in lots of cases, do their laundry.
Since the end of the 20th century, these public baths have been rapidly closing due to high running costs and fewer customers. One thing that could help them to stay open would be if a lot more tourists would visit and express interest in this special and fascinating part of local culture.
The issue for lots of is that these baths, while separated by sex, are nude by requirement so lots of westerners who aren’t used to bathing naked with strangers are immediately put off by the thought of a Japanese bath.
But for the traveller who sheds the institutionalized timidity of nudity and enters a Japanese bath with the locals, there is a terrific opportunity to dive one level deeper into the complex nature of culture in Japan. See what it’s all about in our video here, and continue reading below.
On our recent trip to Tokyo, we checked out 3 separate Japanese baths. We were invited by the Tokyo Sento association to experience these popular, tourist-friendly sentōs and share them with our readers and viewers. We checked out the bathhouses with a man who has been to over 500 different Japanese baths around the country and whose mission is to see every single sentō in Japan.
Cuprins
The two main types of Japanese Bath
History Of The Japanese Bath
The cost To enter a Japanese Bath
How To enter a Japanese Bath
Japanese bath Do’s & Don’ts
Can You enter a Sentō With Tattoos?
The 3 Sentōs We checked out in Tokyo
My final thoughts about Japanese Baths
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In this post, I’ll share with you the do’s and don’ts of checking out a Japanese bath in an attempt to demystify the sentō. Hopefully, the next time you visit Tokyo, checking out a sentō will be on your list.
The two main types of Japanese Bath
A lot of people who visit Japan plan to head to an onsen, this is one of the top things to experience in Japan and is a great way to meet people and take pleasure in the natural thermally heated water. but this is not the only type of place you can bath in Japan and the one that I’m mostly focusing on in this post is the sentō.
The Onsen
The Japanese onsen is a traditional, geothermically-heated hot spring where lots of people, both foreigners and locals, choose to bathe. There are thousands of onsens around the country and these facilities can be found in hotels and spas as well.
Onsens are also separated by gender and you’ll still be expected to take off all of your clothes and bathe with nothing a lot more than a face towel as per standard Japanese bath etiquette.
The word onsen in Japanese indicates “hot + source” so to officially be labelled an onsen the water need to be at least 25°C at the source. The facility need to also meet strict criteria relating to the mineral content of the water including the levels of metaboric acid and hydrogen ion.
The Sentō
The sentō is a bath consisting of regular tap water that is heated by flame or electricity. While there are some sentōs around Tokyo and the rest of Japan that include a bath with geothermically heated water, it is not a requirement.
This indicates that, while lots of onsens are restricted to rural areas that have direct access to the volcanically heated source, sentōs are typically found in densely populated areas, neighbourhoods and suburbs as they only need to have a water heating system to run.
History Of The Japanese Bath
In the Nara period from around 710 AD, Japanese baths were referred to as yūya or holy baths and were typically built inside of temples. It wasn’t until the Kamakura period in 1185 – 1333 ad when people who fell ill started to see the medicinal benefits of the Japanese baths and were slowly approved access to the temples to soak in the healing water.
Soon after the ill were permitted entrance into these holy temples, so too were affluent businessmen and merchants and over time, this gave way to the first public bathhouses which began opening at the beginning of the 13th century.
By the Edo period in 1603–1867, Japanese public bathhouses had spread across the country and the act of bathing naked with others was firmly woven into the social and cultural fabric of society.
From that time until the end of the 20th century, public bathhouses were the norm and people would visit them multiple times throughout the week. After WWII, lots of houses were damaged and a lot more and a lot more people started counting on public baths. Their popularity peaked in the 1970s before they started seeing an increasingly steep decline.
Just 30 years ago there were likely a lot more than 2,000 Japanese bathhouses operating in Tokyo alone, while today there are fewer than 600 open for business.
This is generally due to the fact that lots of newer Japanese homes are built equipped with western style private bathrooms. these days sentō owners can barely afford to keep the services running, which in lots of cases have been passed down in the family for generations.
Don’t miss Our other Tokyo travel Articles
What To do in Tokyo – A list of The Best
Cost Of Living in Tokyo – A guide For digital Nomads
The cost To enter a Japanese Bath
The cost of entering a sentō will vary between ¥350 and ¥470 depending on the prefecture it is located in.
As of 2019 all sentōs in Tokyo charge ¥470 ($4.30) for basic entrance, while lots of have additional treatments like hot stone and sauna at an additional charge. You can also normally rent towels and get bathing toiletries in the main lobby of the sentōs.
How To enter a Japanese Bath
Okay, so you’ve finally made a decision that you’re going to leave behind your concern of being nude around strangers and you’re going to go and have the special and fascinating experience of a Japanese bath.
But, what do you do when you get there? Nu vă faceți griji! E simplu.
Here are the 5 steps that you’ll take when entering any sentō in Tokyo or around the country.
Step 1: Take Off Your shoes At The Door
Before entering the lobby of the bathhouse you’ll see an area with lots of lockers. This first set of lockers is for your shoes only.
Remove your shoes in the designated area and place them in the locker while taking a key. In a lot of cases, you’ll have to put a ¥100 coin into the locker to lock it and retrieve the key. This ¥100 will be returned to you when you are finished using the locker. The shoe lockers are still in the lobby, so keep your clothes on until you reach the change rooms.
Step 2: Pay The Fee
Next, you’ll enter into the main lobby and waiting area of the sentō. You may see a lot of people sitting around and drinking milk. That’s because they have already finished a bath and Japanese people typically take pleasure in milk as their beverage of choice after a long soak.
In this lobby area, you’ll see a reception area and/or a vending maker where you can pay to enter. The fee for entering a sentō in Japan is regulated by the prefecture you’re in, so in Tokyo for example, all sentōs will cost you ¥470 (around $4.30 USD).
In a lot of cases, you can also rent towels from reception and get shampoo and soap if needed, but a lot of Japanese people bring their own.
Step 3: enter The changing Room, remove Your clothes & place Them In a Locker
There will always be two sets of change rooms in a Japanese bath, one for men and one for women. In a lot of cases, there will be an illustration near the entrance to tell you which room is for which sex, but often there are only Japanese Kanji characters (男 is Men, 女 for women). If you’re ever confused, simply ask reception or another customer where to go.
Once in the proper change room, remove all of your clothes (including your underwear) and lock them in the lockers provided. In very rare cases there will be no lockable area, in which case you will place your things in a basket and there will be a designated person there to enjoy over them.
Step 4: enter & shower Off
With your bathing items like soap, shampoo and (if you chose) a small hand towel, enter into the bath and head straight to the showers.
Here you will wash off before entering into the sentō. As pointed out earlier, it’s a good idea to completely clean yourself here before entering into the baths. remember to sit down on the stools supplied while showering. If you don’t see standard western showers, look for a bucket shower.
Step 5: pick a bath and Relax
In a lot of sentōs around Tokyo and the rest of the country, there will be a few different options for bathing. In the baths we visited, there were black water baths, hot spring baths, clear water baths, nano-bubble baths, saunas, jet tubs and more. It’s not uncommon to soak in all of the different tubs during a single visit to a sentō. Don’t be too alarmed if Japanese people std across the country and the act of bathing naked with others was firmly woven into the social and cultural fabric of society.
From that time until the end of the 20th century, public bathhouses were the norm and people would visit them multiple times throughout the week. After WWII, lots of houses were damaged and a lot more and a lot more people started counting on public baths. Their popularity peaked in the 1970s before they started seeing an increasingly steep decline.
Just 30 years ago there were likely a lot more than 2,000 Japanese bathhouses operating in Tokyo alone, while today there are fewer than 600 open for business.
This is generally due to the fact that lots of newer Japanese homes are built equipped with western style private bathrooms. these days sentō owners can barely afford to keep the services running, which in lots of cases have been passed down in the family for generations.
Don’t miss Our other Tokyo travel Articles
What To do in Tokyo – A list of The Best
Cost Of Living in Tokyo – A guide For digital Nomads
The cost To enter a Japanese Bath
The cost of entering a sentō will vary between ¥350 and ¥470 depending on the prefecture it is located in.
As of 2019 all sentōs in Tokyo charge ¥470 ($4.30) for basic entrance, while lots of have additional treatments like hot stone and sauna at an additional charge. You can also normally rent towels and get bathing toiletries in the main lobby of the sentōs.
How To enter a Japanese Bath
Okay, so you’ve finally made a decision that you’re going to leave behind your concern of being nude around strangers and you’re going to go and have the special and fascinating experience of a Japanese bath.
But, what do you do when you get there? Nu vă faceți griji! E simplu.
Here are the 5 steps that you’ll take when entering any sentō in Tokyo or around the country.
Step 1: Take Off Your shoes At The Door
Before entering the lobby of the bathhouse you’ll see an area with lots of lockers. This first set of lockers is for your shoes only.
Remove your shoes in the designated area and place them in the locker while taking a key. In a lot of cases, you’ll have to put a ¥100 coin into the locker to lock it and retrieve the key. This ¥100 will be returned to you when you are finished using the locker. The shoe lockers are still in the lobby, so keep your clothes on until you reach the change rooms.
Step 2: Pay The Fee
Next, you’ll enter into the main lobby and waiting area of the sentō. You may see a lot of people sitting around and drinking milk. That’s because they have already finished a bath and Japanese people typically take pleasure in milk as their beverage of choice after a long soak.
In this lobby area, you’ll see a reception area and/or a vending maker where you can pay to enter. The fee for entering a sentō in Japan is regulated by the prefecture you’re in, so in Tokyo for example, all sentōs will cost you ¥470 (around $4.30 USD).
In a lot of cases, you can also rent towels from reception and get shampoo and soap if needed, but a lot of Japanese people bring their own.
Step 3: enter The changing Room, remove Your clothes & place Them In a Locker
There will always be two sets of change rooms in a Japanese bath, one for men and one for women. In a lot of cases, there will be an illustration near the entrance to tell you which room is for which sex, but often there are only Japanese Kanji characters (男 is Men, 女 for women). If you’re ever confused, simply ask reception or another customer where to go.
Once in the proper change room, remove all of your clothes (including your underwear) and lock them in the lockers provided. In very rare cases there will be no lockable area, in which case you will place your things in a basket and there will be a designated person there to enjoy over them.
Step 4: enter & shower Off
With your bathing items like soap, shampoo and (if you chose) a small hand towel, enter into the bath and head straight to the showers.
Here you will wash off before entering into the sentō. As pointed out earlier, it’s a good idea to completely clean yourself here before entering into the baths. remember to sit down on the stools supplied while showering. If you don’t see standard western showers, look for a bucket shower.
Step 5: pick a bath and Relax
In a lot of sentōs around Tokyo and the rest of the country, there will be a few different options for bathing. In the baths we visited, there were black water baths, hot spring baths, clear water baths, nano-bubble baths, saunas, jet tubs and more. It’s not uncommon to soak in all of the different tubs during a single visit to a sentō. Don’t be too alarmed if Japanese people st