Do you have to travel to Japan to swim?
At first glance, a light, relaxing topic. At second glance, there is much more to it
Bathing culture in Japan
Hot water offers relaxation for body, mind and soul. In Japan, bathing culture is taken seriously. This applies to all areas: The simple communal bath you go to after work, right up to the finest luxury resort in one of Japan’s many onsen areas.
In an onsen bath, the water is fed from natural hot springs. Depending on the geological composition of the area in which the water is located, the water contains numerous minerals or noble gases such as radon.
What is the difference?
Radon baths, some readers may object, can also be found in Bad Brambach in Saxony or in Bad Gastein in Austria. What is the difference to the bathing culture in Japan?
Meiji-era bathhouse Hoshi no yu, Chojukan, Hoshi Onsen, Japan © Skye Hohmann, Alamy Stock Photo
Body cleansing
In a Japanese bathhouse, thorough cleaning beforehand is extremely important. So important, in fact, that all the other bathers leave the water in horror if the new bather or bathers have not cleaned themselves thoroughly beforehand.
Careful cleaning with soap or other cleaning agents, with a shower or traditionally with a bucket full of water, the contents of which you empty over yourself, is part of this.
Careful really does mean careful. Cat washing does not apply.
Only when you are thoroughly cleansed do you enter the warm bath water. Everyone else stays relaxed and you can enjoy the relaxation yourself.
Community
Cleaning in advance and bathing usually take place in the community. With the exception of exclusive private onsen bathing facilities, which are also available. In the communal baths, there are usually separate areas for women and men.
Discretion is also perfect in the shared bathroom. People watch without looking or even staring. Conversations are held as quietly as the rippling water and everyone’s need for peace and relaxation is respected. Everyone can feel at ease.
Yukata kimono, Chiba, Japan © Gary Conner, Alamy Stock Photo
Philosophy
In Japan, bathing is not a pragmatic matter that you quickly get over with or a lot of fun with slides, noise and loudspeakers, but a philosophy and world view.
The high value that is placed on the community in Japan, in which everyone should feel comfortable, as we previously reported, is also reflected in the bathing culture.
These are the reasons why we can’t wait to enjoy the bath in Japan again, because our experiences in Europe are different:
In the wonderful hotel near the Baltic Sea, large Hanseatic families parade around dressed in the finest cashmere and seemingly from the most exclusive lifestyle catalog, with the conviction that they are style icons themselves. The next morning you see them sleepy and unshowered, wrapped only in their bathrobes, jumping happily into the pool. Unmoved, everyone else turns away in horror.
In the Roman baths in Baden-Baden, relaxation rooms are used to talk loudly about completely irrelevant matters.
On Menorca, the French couple think they have to comment on the shower with “typical German” and jump straight into the pool (well oiled and completely sweaty).
We don’t have any more words and we can imagine that some people might consider these to be luxury problems. And they are right when we look at Israel and Ukraine. But are they really just luxury problems or worrying symptoms of the development of values in our society?
Cover photo: Onsen Lake Aomori, Japan © Zoonar, Alamy Stock Photo
