Japanese Baths

   This post will mainly be for those who have never studied Japanese (language and/or culture). I apologize to those who have. However, the topic of Japanese bathing customs is always interesting when compared to the typical American bathing experience.
   In America, most people choose between a shower and bath. A bath generally with a more leisurely connotation, but they both follow a similar pattern. Person gets into their preferred method, wet themselves down, soap up, and then rinse. However, the traditional Japanese bath is a little different.
   I recently was able to experience a traditional Japanese bath in Osaka. This particular one was in a business hotel. First off, there was only one bathing room, so there were different times for men and women to bath. Upon entering the bathing area, there is a small changing room with lockers, hair brushes, and hair driers. Once you take off your clothes, you enter the actual bathing room. A line of stools, buckets, and shower heads line the wall. Like so:

   Before even entering the warm, hot-tub like bath, you must wash yourself. You sit on the stool, and wash yourself off as if you are taking a shower. Make sure that you rinse completely. After you are clean, you can go and sit in the tub and relax/soak in the heat.
   In Osaka, this was really relaxing. Of course, this was just a business hotel bath, and at Onsen resorts, there are whole complexes with different water temperatures, different herbs, etc. I hope to go to an onsen while I'm here in Japan. However, there is only about a month and a half left, so we shall see what I have time for. Stay tuned for my next entry! I will probably write about my trip to Kyoto.