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Japanese Bath
Bathing under the aids such as a shower will be obviously different from the bathing techniques followed in the past. It is exciting g to know how the people used to take bath in ancient times. Japan, a country of rich culture background had its own style of bathing.
Taking a bath has always been an integral part of Japanese life. In the past, Japanese people enjoyed the daily ritual with their friends and neighbors in a public bath in a hot spring bath.
What is Japanese Bath?
The Japanese bath means much more that just getting oneself clean. Having shed one's clothes and daily concerns, then lathered, scrubbed and rinsed oneself thoroughly, one steps into the private bath and sinks slowly into the deep, pure and clean hot water. Soaking, submerged to the chin, it is a time for relaxation and contemplation, a sensual pleasure and a feeling of well being and harmony with the natural surroundings, perhaps the garden or landscape beyond.
Role of bath:
The baths play an important role as a social leveller in a country where other aspects of life, such as work, are regimented and hierarchical: everyone is equal and clothe-less in a sento. Japanese people often use the expression "hadaka no tsukiai", literally meaning "naked relationship", to express deep friendship. If you take a bath with someone that means you are already buddies.
How does it look?
The typical Japanese bathroom consists of two rooms, an entrance room where you undress and which is equipped with a sink, and the actual bathroom that is equipped with a shower and a deep bathtub. The toilet is almost always located in a completely separate room.
How to have it?
When bathing Japanese style, you are supposed to first rinse your body outside the bathtub with some water from the tub, using a washbowl. Afterwards, you enter the tub, which is used for soaking only. After soaking for a while, leave the tub and clean your body with soap. Make sure that no soap gets into the bathing water. Once you finished cleaning yourself and rinsed all the soap off your body, enter the bathtub once more for some more soaking.
Benefits:
- Ofuro (hot spring) bath powders and liquids enhance the enjoyment as well as the therapeutic effects of bathing and let you experience this timeless Japanese Traditional in your own tub.
- Tension and Fatigue simply melt away as the long-lasting fragrances and vibrant colors invigorate your mind while mineral salts and herbal extracts treat your body.
Now Japanese bathrooms contain some of the most hi-tech gadgets in the world; there are the famed heated toilet seats and the electronic toilets that play music to mask embarrassing sounds. It was during the middle of this century ,the provision of a water supply made it possible for most people to have a private bath, although the public bath remain popular for many Japanese people.