A Japanese bath has never been just a bath. Japan is the perfect region for baths, as it has over one thousand natural hot and cold mineral springs, There are three types of Japanese baths: onsen, sento, and furo. Onsen are the public, thermal, hot spring baths. Sento are the public baths not from a hot spring, often used as more of a social gathering, and furo are the personal baths in the bathrooms of almost all modern Japanese families. Japanese baths all fall under the same theme: they are used more so for cleansing spiritually, for relaxing, than they are for cleaning. The bath is a process in Japan, a ritual that is quite different compared to other cultures. The bath has been an integral part of Japanese history, religion, mythology, and social structure for centuries. With time, business, and tourism, the baths have changed significantly in the last century, but the practice of Japanese bathing remains integrated into daily living.
The History of the Japanese Bath
The traceable history of Japanese baths started with the hot springs where Japanese would go to enjoy the minerals and the warm water. Some accounts say that bathing culture began as early as 700BC in Japan; the oldest hot spring, Dōgo, is some 3,000 years old. The springs are located in southwestern, northeastern, and central Japan.The recorded history has always noted a strong religious or spiritual context for the baths.
“As early as the beginning of the sixth century, the act of bathing was intimately tied to rituals associated with communal purifications via water,”[1]By the 6th century, Buddhist monks began gathering in large tubs to rinse away not just the physical dirt, but also the spiritual grime that had accumulated. Temples were built around hot water sources, and practitioners would come for the cleanse. Other texts and oral traditions connected the baths not just to religious or spiritual sects, but to mythological miracles. The bath water wasn’t just cleansing; it was also physically healing.
One myth from the 6th century about Arima, one of the more popular hot springs, claims that the spring was discovered when two gods, Onamuchi no Mikoto and Sankuna Hikona no Mikoto found three crows curing their wounds in the warm pools; they were looking for curative herbs and upon seeing the crows, knew that the spring was powerful. Another myth, about the Dōgo hot spring, claims that an injured white heron found Dōgo and flew there, to the springs, every day until its leg was completely cured. Onlookers watched in amazement, and determined the waters of the spring to be magical, curative. There are other myths of similar hot springs that incorporate various Japanese gods or injured animals into a creation story of how the hot springs rose in popularity. [2]
As Japanese society progressed, the baths became more incorporated not only into daily practice, but also into social and political structures. In the 8th century for example, Empress Kōmyō, consort to Emperor Shōmu (724-748), created the notion of the “charity bath.” She promised to wash the bodies of 1,000 beggars by hand. By this point, baths were often owned by wealthy merchants or religious groups; the hot springs were not always open to everyone. When the Empress created the notion of a charity bath, it was a breaking point in the practice of bathing. Suddenly, more wealthy merchants and groups were sponsoring baths of the poorer social classes. The bath became an equalizer. It also evolved into a practice of reverence, bathing in honor of the deceased. For centuries, the large hot spring baths, the onsen, were utilized as the main form of cleansing. But with time, they became more commercialized and personalized.
Sento baths, a bath house made with water from the tap, rather than from a natural hot spring, can be traced back to the 1300s. Sento baths were an evolution of the onsen; the sento bath became a popular area for bathers to come, dine, and enjoy. These baths were for mixed genders, breaking more of the social norms in the rigid Japanese society. The baths were housed within large, monolithic buildings. Throughout the 1500s into the early 1600s, in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, various neighborhoods in Kyoto and Tokyo became known as “bath neighborhoods” for the sento bathhouse as it became significantly more popularized. The Edo period of Japanese history, from the early 1600s to the mid-1800s, also brought about small but important changes to the ritual of bathing in Japan.
Various types of tubs and bathing rituals became more popular during the Edo period, until the mid-1800s. Initially, the act of the thermal bath was separated into two concepts: “yu” and “bath.” The “yu” was a way of saying the modern bath that we use today, soaking the body completely, whereas the “bath” was more of a steam, like a sauna or steam room. The “bath” was used to cleanse the body before entering the “yu.” Following soaking in the “yu,” the bathers would use a small washcloth, a kind of wrapping cloth, that is still used to this day in many Japanese baths.
Modern Japanese Bath
In the more recent history, as stories circulated of the healing waters of sento as well as onsen baths, more Japanese and foreign travelers came to view the bath as an integral part of the Japanese experience. The bath houses, both the hot springs (oshen) and the public bathhouses (sento) became more commercialized. In the last few hundred years, many Japanese built their own baths, furo, at home. Continuing with the same emphasis on the bath as an experience, rather than a method of cleansing, the furo, also known as ofuro is a hot tub that most Japanese enter after showering or rinsing. The furo is a deep bath, deep enough for the bather to sit in hot water up to his/her neck. Historically, the furo was made out of aromatic hinoki, a Japanese cyprus. This wood is considered sacred by the Japanese. The unvarnished tub would smooth over time. This traditional bath was heated by a wood-burning stove placed underneath the tub. [3]
In the decades leading up to the 21st century, this traditional model of bath evolved. The Meiji era (1868-1912), the Taisho era (1912-1926) and the Shōwaera (1926-1989) all saw changes in the furo, ways to make it more modern. In the postwar period of rapid economic growth, many new apartment buildings included furos. Most are made from plastic, acrylic, or stainless steel. They’re still built in a more rectangular shape, rather than with sloped walls. For example, there may be a plastic tub, covered with a plastic top, that helps maintain the hot temperature. The most modern iterations are even digital, programming water temperature exactly.
Along with the beauties of the modern bath, many companies sell products to improve the experiences. Salts, perfumes, and various pillows and aromatherapies can be purchased to improve the bathing experience, making it reminiscent of the thermal hot springs that are still located throughout the country. There is also a bathroom heating dryer that incorporates the notion of 'Utasuyu,’ a common feature of the hot springs and public baths. Utasuyu is when hot water falls from above against the body of a person below; this waterfall gives the effect of massage.
The bath has been a part of Japanese culture for centuries. With time, changes, and new social structures, the Japanese traditions have grown to reflect a more individualist prioritization of the bathing ritual. Though public bath houses are still common, and can actually be found around the world, the emphasis on the private experience of a cleansing furo is something that almost all Japanese experience to this day.
[1]http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1593&context=cmc_theses
[2]http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1593&context=cmc_theses
[3]https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/fodors/top/features/travel/destinations/asia/japan/tokyo/fdrs_feat_156_10.html?n=Top%25252FFeatures%25252FTravel%25252FDestinations%25252FAsia%25252FJapan%25252FTokyo
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