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O Furo ni haitte yo

Today I felt like having a nice bath, but not the way you imagine with soap and bubbles. A Japanese bath, ofuro.

It has been a loooong time since I last took one. I have felt so good after that, and it also remembered me of my life in Japan. I would like to introduce you to Japanes Ofuro, bath.

In a Japanese bath, an extra-deep tub is filled to the top with very hot water, in which you sit submerged up to the neck. Most people spend about half an hour in the bath every night. Most children take their baths with their father or mother until they are in the upper grades of elementary school. The family tub is an important place for parent-child communication.
Why did Japan develop its particular style of bathing? One answer might be the climate. Japan's summers are hot and humid, and its witeres are cold. Hot baths wash the body's sweat off in the summer and warm the body up in the winter. Another answer might be Japan's volcanoes. Japan is famous for its number of volcanoes, many of which are still active. In many places, hot water bubbles up from underground. These hot springs, and the presence of many fast flowing rivers with clean water, have influenced the development of Japan's bath culture.
Japanese use their baths not only to get clean but to maintain their health by warming themselves up and stimulating their circulation. Because the body is washed outside the bath, the bath water stays clean and deeply refreshing. In the hot springs or the public bath, everybody bathes in the same water, creating an unclothed companionship that facilitates amiable communication. In a bath, you can relax, recover from exhaustion, rid yourself of stress. No wonder Japanese love their baths.

Bath Etiquette
Here we introduce the standard approach to taking a Japanese bath. In the Japanese "bathroom," a separate room from the toilet, the tub is sunk halfway into the floor. Because the bath water is only used for soaking (not for washing), all members of the family take turns using it. You wash in the area outside of the tub; do not enter the bath unrinsed or wash yourself in the bath water. Towels in the bath are also a no-no.

(1) Rinse your body off outside the tub. Use a washbowl to scoop hot water out of the tub to rinse yourself with.

(2) Get in the bath. The water temperature should be between 38°C and 42°C, and the water should be deep enough that an adult can sit submerged up to the neck. Fifty years ago, tubs were made of wood, but nowadays they are made of tile, plastic, or stainless steel.

(3) Get out of the bath, sit down ( on the low stool provided or on your knee(s) -- not, in other words, with your bottom directly on the floor ), and wash yourself thoroughly. You can wash your hair now, too. Use the shower or water from the bath to clean any remaining soap or shampoo from the floor; the floor, which is usually made of tile or plastic, is fitted with a drain, so you may use as much water as you like.

(4) Get back into the bath and warm yourself up thoroughly. When you get out, don't pull the plug. Replace the cover over the bath so that the water does not get cold for the next person.

Now a little bit of Japanese...

Yukata ( Bathing Clothes )
A summer kimono made of cotton. In the Heian period ( 794-1185 ), it was used as an after-bath robe, but by the Edo period it became summer casual wear. Today, yukata are worn both at summer festivals or for fireworks displays and at inns and hotels in place of pajamas.

Hadaka no Tsukiai ( Naked Companionship )
A friendship in which nothing is hidden, as when people take a bath naked together.

Furoshiki ( Bath Spread )
A 70- to 220-square cm piece of silk or cotton cloth. In the Edo period, people would wrap their washbowls in these clothes to take to the public bath; when they changed clothes they would stand on one of these spread on the floor and then wrap their clothes in the cloth. That's how the furoshiki got its name. This multipuepose cloth can be used to wrap and carry anything of any shape, from vegetables to a jar. Nowadays, the furoshiki has been replaced as a way of carrying things by bags.

Yumizu ( Hot and Cold Water )
Something that is everywhere. Example : He uses money like hot and cold water ( in English : as if it grew on trees; as if it were water).

Original text : The Japan Forum Newsletter No.6 "A day in The Life"