Japanese Bath Culture (1) ~ Home Bathing

What is Japanese Bath Culture?

What do Japanese people who live outside of Japan miss the most? Must admit I've never seen a survey like that but I would guess bathing must be in the top three. Whether it's a home bath or public bath, for Japanese people bathing is not only about getting cleaned up. It is a favorite
pastime and simply a big part of Japanese culture.

Private Bathing at Home

A main difference between a private Japanese bath and and the typical Western bath is depth of the tub, and separation of the tub and the washing area. We sit inside of the bath tub, soak and get warm. Of course Japanese have adapted to the Western style of bathtubs as well, and Western style bathrooms can be found in Japan. But in a modern Japanese bathroom, we do not wash body inside of the tub. The bathroom has a separate section to wash, usually with a shower, outside of the tub.

We have hot water in the bathtub, and it's there for the whole family. Each family member takes a bath individually (and kids bathe with parents or all together). Depending on the size of the bathroom and the members of the family, it can be a real total family experience. Everyone shares the tub water. Westerners may not understand that, and might wonder why it's okay to share dirty bath water. But a Japanese feels dirty with washing body inside the tub and soak in the water. Just a different custom, I think. Japanese tend not to get into the tub without briefly washing first. That's the basic manner kids learn from their parents.

The Japanese Way of Taking a Bath

When you have entered the bathroom, the first thing you do is take a shower or briefly wash off outside of the tub. Then you get into the tub. You soak in the hot water for a while and then get out, step over to the washing area, and wash your body. Then you go back again to the tub, get out once again, and wash your hair. Then it's back into the tub... You repeat as often as necessary, and according to time allowed. Lots of people nowadays don't use the tub like this all the time, deciding instead to just take a shower to clean up, especially during the summer.

When I take a Japanese style home bath in Japan, I miss the opportunity to read in the bathtub. It is quite hard in a Japanese bathroom because it's deep and everything is wet so you can't put the book anywhere while you are washing. But I miss taking a Japanese bath because I can't go back in to soak after the cleaning work is done. Of course you can read in a Japanese bathtub if you can reserve a dry spot for your book but it's pretty unmanageable if you don't live alone.

Another big difference in bathroom styles is that the Japanese bathroom is separate from the toilet. Also, the sink where we wash our face and brush our teeth is outside of either room. You'd be amazed to see how most Japanese manage to fit all of these areas into a standard tiny apartment in Tokyo.

Have a look at the video below.

In-house Private Bath

This is from a hotel. It shows the inside of the triple room layout. Notice how the bathroom, toilet and the sink are all separated.

Keep in mind this hotel room is pretty big. Most apartments in big cities are quite small. Lots of apartments don't even have a private home bath. People with that type of accommodation go to a public bath every day. Sometimes people who do have a private bathroom at home still go to the public bath.