Style & Design | ON: FASHION Nov 15, 2020
Japanese fashion tackles the issues of the moment
by Samuel Thomas
From practical masks and saving sento culture to provocative commentary on gender, brands and designers find their moment.
Lifestyle Oct 27, 2019
Rare views of Mount Fuji: Japan's last sentō artists
by Alex K.T. Martin
A dying craft, sentō (public bathhouse) painting now has just three artisans continuing the art form. Can interest in Japanese culture, sparked by the 2020 Olympics, help renew an appreciation for the stunning murals?
Travel | BACKSTREET STORIES Oct 4, 2019
Good, clean dining in the alleyways of Shiba
by Kit Nagamura
Minutes from Tamachi Station, the area of Shiba, is a maze of weathered watering holes, chain restaurants, karaoke joints and gritty izakaya (Japanese pubs), like an east Tokyo version of Shinjuku's Golden Gai.
Business Feb 6, 2018
Young operators turn to social media to revive Tokyo's sento neighborhood bathhouses
Younger operators of sento (public bathhouses) in Tokyo are breathing new life into the facilities, which have long helped residents in communities feel refreshed and relaxed. There are fewer sento these days because more people have baths at home. But some operators have achieved a ...
People | 20 QUESTIONS Jan 13, 2018
Mural painter can't relax in bathhouses
by Ayako Nakano
Name: Mizuki Tanaka Age: 35 Nationality: Japanese Occupation: Sento (public bathhouse) mural painter Likes: Reading, art, movies Dislikes: Headaches 1. When did you first go to a public bathhouse and how did you like it? I went in my second year of university when I started to consider writing a ...
National Jun 2, 2017
Bathhouse offers 'Naked School' classes to lure younger bathers
A Tokyo bathhouse is offering classes on topics ranging from comedy to gaming in hopes of luring younger patrons and reviving the dying tradition of communal baths. During one recent session of the "Naked School" at the Hinodeyu bathhouse, nine men sat around the bath, ...
Lifestyle Nov 5, 2016
Washed up? Tokyo's iconic communal bath houses face an uncertain future
by Mark Jarnes
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 ...
Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Oct 7, 2016
Sarasa Nishijin: A curious cafe in the bones of an old bathhouse
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Sarasa Nishijin is a sentō (bathhouse) — well, it used to be. But using the past tense here belies how much of its old spirit still lives on. The waters may have drained away — replaced by sofas, tables, chairs and people lounging about ...
National Jul 20, 2016
Creator of 'sento' website bathing in early success
by Anna Masui
A website providing information about sento public bathhouses in parts of Japan is proving popular despite the decline in such communal baths, which have been a major part of Japanese culture. Tokyo Sento, launched in 2015, now attracts about 100,000 views a month, mainly from ...
National | AT A GLANCE Jan 5, 2016
Japan's public baths hope foreign tourists will help keep the taps running
by Satoko Kawasaki
Japan's public baths, known as sento, represent an institution with hundreds of years of history. They provided an important public service in the days before homes had their own hot-water bathtubs. The entrance of the Inariyu sento in Tokyo's Kita Ward is designed like that ...
National / History | THE LIVING PAST Oct 17, 2015
True Edo spirit can be found while soaking in a public bath
by Michael Hoffman
"Public baths are the shortest route there is to moral and spiritual enlightenment. Careful reflection shows this." It does — comic novelist Shikitei Sanba (1776-1822) is quite right — and it's a theme worth developing. First, however, a digression. "The lord of Iyo (in Shikoku) lost ...
National Sep 8, 2014
'Sento' attract modern clientele but tradition isn't circling the drain
by Takuro Kishimoto
"Sento" in Tokyo that try to stand out are drawing new customers even as the popularity of communal bathhouses continues to decline from the days when most Japanese homes lacked baths. Shimizu-Yu in Minami-Aoyama, a fashionable part of Minato Ward, now looks like a cafe ...