皆さん, こんにちは! Minasan, konnichiwa! Hello everyone! 🌸
A few days ago I finally ticked another point off my list of "Things I want to experience": a visit to a Sento, a public bathhouse.
I wanted to make that experience, after all, Sentos are an interesting part of Japanese culture. But I have to admit that I was also a little nervous, because I had a lot of questions: How do you behave, what do you have to consider and how does it work? But I was in good hands with my colleague Tomoko. If you are the same as me and are troubled by a few questions, I will now tell you how it works, because you should definitely take part in a visit to a Sento if you get the chance! So let's go: First of all, you should know what to bring. You need: a towel, shampoo and soap. Do not worry if you should have forgotten something: You can also buy all of this on site. You do not need to bring swimwear, as this is not permitted in a Sento.
Before you enter the bathhouse, you must take off your shoes. You can lock them in at the entrance, in the lockers provided. In a room that is separate from the actual bathroom, you take off your clothes and lock them in a locker. Important: You need the soap, the shampoo and the towel, so they should not end up in the locker.
Now you can enter the bathroom, but before using the pool, you must clean yourself thoroughly. This is necessary so that the bathing water is not contaminated, after all the pools are used by everyone. The bathing pools themselves are used for relaxation and for cleaning you use the designated cleaning areas. Here you will find: a stool and a bowl (if these are not available, just ask at the entrance) and various taps. The cleaning is done while sitting or crouching and not while standing. There are two taps on the floor. From one comes cold water and from the other comes hot water. With this you fill the bowl that you use to get wet. You use the faucet at head level to wash your hair. After washing your hair and soaping, you should make sure to rinse off the foam well, because it should not get into the basin. After you have cleaned yourself, you should also leave the place clean, so: Rinse everything again with water (the stool, the bowl and the floor).
Now you are ready for the bath. There are usually different pools. For example, we had a deep and a flat bath with hot water (approx. 40 ° C), a deep bath with cold water and a deep bath with mint aroma and bubbles. On the website you can see a few pictures of the Sento that I visited: http://www.cestlavieym.club/article/451913425.html
You can try out the different pools as you like. Sometimes there is also a sauna, which you can also use. When you are finished and want to leave the bathroom, you should rinse off again at the cleaning stations. If you then leave the bathroom, you should dry yourself briefly so that you do not wet the entire floor. When you're dry, you can get your clothes out of the lockers and get dressed again. You can use a hairdryer to dry your hair (usually you have to pay a little money, in our case 20 yen for 2 minutes). When you are done, you can enjoy a cold drink before leaving the bathhouse. I hope this little guide will help you enjoy a visit to a Sento. I definitely enjoyed it, even if it took some time to get used to it, but I'm glad that I experienced it! After my visit to a Sento, I still have to visit an onsen, which means hot spring. I'll tell you about that as well.
次回まで! Jikai made! See you next time! 💕