You never know who you’ll run into at the public bath
Your local tattooed thugs, the old woman who is just a little bit too much in your business, who else will you meet at the neighborhood bathhouse?
Dipping into Hakone's more unusual hot spas
"I love red wine, it's my favorite thing!" These are perhaps not the words that a mother particularly likes to hear from her young daughter — especially when she is only 4 years old. But this was precisely what my daughter told me when we ...
Last splash: How long with immodest Japanese tradition of mixed bathing continue?
The main reason that mixed baths have endured for so long is that communities have still supported them. When an onsen stops being a gathering place for locals, there's less to stop it slipping into disrepute.
Washed up? Tokyo's iconic communal bath houses face an uncertain future
Walking around Tokyo, you may have noticed a number of tall, narrow chimneys rising above the skyline every so often. Such stacks are a good indication that you've stumbled across a sento, or communal bath house. Long-time residents, however, will perhaps have noted that such ...
How about a hot bath ... in sawdust?
Bathing in sawdust joins a long menu of possible salon treatments available in Japan.
