Japanese Changing Rooms
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Japanese Changing Rooms
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Tatami mats are thick, woven straw mats that measure about one by two meters in size. Originally a luxury that only the wealthy could afford, tatami gradually became more common and can now be found in virtually all traditional Japanese homes. Tatami mats have been so integral to Japanese homes, that the size of rooms in Japan is commonly measured by the number of mats that would fit it, e.g. an 8-mat room. Note that footwear - even slippers - should be removed before stepping onto tatami.
Fusuma are sliding doors made up of wooden frames covered in thick, opaque paper. The doors are typically used between adjoining rooms akin to large removable walls, allowing one to partition off areas or open up space as needed. Historically, fusuma have been the canvases of famous painters, and some elaborately painted examples can be seen at temples and palaces. Fusuma in regular homes and ryokan tend to be more simply adorned.
Another type of sliding door or partition are shoji, which are made up of wooden lattices covered in translucent paper. Shoji are typically found along the perimeter of the building, allowing light to filter in. Some shoji doors incorporate sliding panels that move up and down like small windows to allow more light or air to enter the room. Occasionally shoji may have a sheet of glass covering one side of the door.
Ranma are wooden transoms that are typically found above fusuma in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They may be intricately designed and carved, and serve to allow air and light to move between rooms.
Tokonoma are recessed alcoves and are typically decorated by a hanging scroll in addition to a vase or flower arrangement . The decorations are typically changed to reflect the season. Traditionally, the most important guest is seated in front of the tokonoma.
There are a variety of ceiling types in traditional Japanese-style rooms. In regular rooms the ceiling tends to be flat and simple. But in rooms of importance, such as a lord's grand reception hall or a temple's worship hall, the ceilings may be raised, coffered and decorated with paintings, as shown on the image.
Chigaidana are built-in, staggered wall shelving typically found beside the alcove and used for displaying decorations like vases and incense burners.
Tsukeshoin are study desks that are typically built into one side of the room below a window. The amount of light filtering in is usually adjusted with the use of shoji.
Byobu (shown on the image) are portable folding partitions that are arranged in a zigzag fashion for the panels to stand without extra support. Another type of free-standing partition, called tsuitate, are single panels supported by legs. Both types of partitions are available in varying sizes to divide up a room, enhance privacy or block drafts of wind. Partitions come in various designs from simple ones to highly priced collector items that adorn celebrated paintings.
Low tables are used in traditional Japanese rooms, as sitting on the floor is common practice there. During the colder months of the year, heatable low tables (kotatsu) are popular. They are covered by a blanket and heated underneath.
Large cushions are used for sitting on the floor in tatami rooms. In some cases, the cushions are put onto low chairs without legs (zaisu, see photo), which provide some support for the back. Note that it is considered impolite to step on cushions other than your own.
Futon are traditional Japanese mattresses that are laid directly on the tatami flooring. They are kept folded in the closet during the day and set out in the evening after dinner. Visitors can experience sleeping on a futon at accommodations like ryokan and minshuku .
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Traditional Japanese-style rooms (ๅๅฎค, washitsu) come with a unique interior design that includes tatami mats as flooring. Consequently, they are also known as tatami rooms. Their style dates back to the Muromachi Period when they originally served as study rooms for the wealthy before gradually becoming more commonplace as reception and living quarters.
Today, traditional Japanese-style rooms are still very prevalent around Japan. Tourists have the opportunity to overnight in one by staying at a ryokan , minshuku or temple lodging . Alternatively, you can view a variety of beautifully preserved historic tatami rooms at sites such as temples , villas and tea houses.
In the early days, tatami was only used by the nobility who would sit on a single, stand-alone mat placed on the floor. Tatami became more widespread during the Muromachi Period ; however, it was still common to use stand-alone mats as only the wealthy could afford to cover entire rooms by tatami. In the following centuries, tatami mats became increasingly more common, and they were found at virtually all Japanese homes until modern, wooden and carpeted floors started to replace them in recent decades.
The traditional Japanese rooms that can be seen today mostly come in two basic styles: shoin and sukiya. Shoin-style rooms originally served as study rooms in temples and typically incorporated a built-in desk , an alcove and built-in shelves . Shoin-style rooms became popular in Muromachi Period residences where their function was extended to receiving and entertaining guests. Additional characteristics that developed in shoin rooms of the time included floors covered entirely with tatami mats, fusuma sliding doors and shoji doors .
The sukiya-style is a variation of the shoin-style with subtle artistic differences. The sukiya-style was heavily influenced by the tea ceremony and is commonly seen in tea rooms. Sukiya-style rooms tend to be more rustic and understated compared to the formal shoin rooms to better reflect the way of tea . Characteristics elements include unadorned clay walls, woven straw or bamboo ceilings, undecorated fusuma and unfinished wood.
Mark Buckton, CNN โข Updated 17th July 2017
(CNN) โ Does the thought of getting nude with other people in your local sento, or public bath, raise a smile or make you cringe? Whatever your personal take, the process of bathing in true Japanese form has long been a communal, often social, activity.
Even so, it's still one part of traditional life that can put some visitors, and nowadays Japanese too, on edge. Still, if you're not too far on the shy side, we recommend you swallow your pride, understanding that your own bits and pieces are of little interest to anyone else and take off the towel.
As we tour the city's top sites, locals share what makes Tokyo one of the greatest cities in the world. Video by Black Buddha
To most Japanese, sento are a thing of the past, born of an era when houses did not have their own bathrooms in the decades and centuries up to around 1970.
Records show that on the morning of September 1, 1923, there were an estimated 2,800 sento in Tokyo alone. Just two days later, following the biggest quake to hit the city in living memory, that number was down to around 400, with the rest having gone up in flames.
Today, the number is back up to 1,200 or so in the immediate Tokyo area, with nationwide numbers estimated at anywhere up to 7,000, depending on who you ask. Clearly, then, there's still a call for the old local bathhouse.
So, what's the best way to get yourself clean, enjoy the experience and then leave a sento without causing offense? Get naked. Do it, don't think about it, and don't worry; nobody is looking.
Note: Only do this once inside the correct changing room. All public baths are segregated by gender (just in case you were wondering).
Armed with a small hand towel for modesty's sake, as well as your toiletries, head into the main bath area and deposit yourself on a plastic stool in front of one of the personal washing spaces.
There is usually a mirror on the wall, a shower nozzle and hot and cold taps. Rinse off any dirt and grime with water at a temperature you feel comfortable with. Use body soap, shampoo and rinse off every single last sud on your body or in your hair. Repeat at will but make sure the suds are gone once you've finished.
Head to your bath of choice and get in slowly. Make sure the towel does not enter the bath. Balancing it on the edge of the bath is fine, as is on the top of your head. When ready, get out, rinse and try a different bath. Nothing to it.
The noren split curtain lets you know you're in for an old-school scrub.
Yen. You won't need a lot . Prices are regulated by the Tokyo Sento Association and the standard charge in almost all sento for anyone over the age of 12 was $4.12 (ยฅ460) in 2017, $1.60 (ยฅ180) for kids over six and $0.70 (ยฅ80) for the mites.
Post-dip, all sento have vending machines or refrigerators with soft drinks and beer. Bet your bathroom and home can't match that. As for towels and toiletries, it's best to take your own toiletries to the sento in a bag, otherwise you'll have to lay out a few more yen for shampoo and soap as well as towel rental.
You may see off-color water. Many older sento in the Tokyo area use water pumped up from deep below the surface, whose color is naturally yellow or black depending on the area. Some sento even have water with a reddish tinge and small black flecks in the water. It's all quite natural and the result of mineral deposits.
There are no set rules governing days off, but most sento are closed one day a week -- it'll be posted, along with operating hours, outside the main door.
Now you know what you're doing, in theory, it's time to head to your first sento. Our best baths follow, with no apologies for six of the seven being on the east side of the city -- the working-class, so-called "downtown" area, still alive, well and packed with sento:
Towels can be safely stowed on your head.
A lovely sento in the backstreets of Senju, near the Arakawa River, Takara-yu, like others in the area, has a carving of the Seven Lucky Gods of Buddhism above its main entrance and an ever-present ready-to-fire bow and arrow dangling off to the left. Herb and radium baths are available and on the men's aide a small Japanese garden with resident koi carp can be viewed while cooling down after bathing.
Senju Motomachi 27-1, Adachi-ku, + 81 (0) 3 3882 2660; open 3 p.m.-midnight, closed Friday.
Cloudy, colored water isn't unusual.
Daikoku-yu is a regular on Japanese television shows and is one of the more striking sento in Tokyo.
Its street-facing facade looks like it could have been removed from a temple, and paneled scenes from Japanese history adorn the ceilings of the changing rooms. Perhaps the highlight is the wooden indoor and outdoor tubs that always surprise and delight first-time bathers.
Senju Kotobuki-cho 32-6, Adachi-ku, + 81 (0) 3 3881-3001; open 3 p.m.-midnight, closed Monday.
Once the bathhouse of choice for late-19th-century novelist and poet Mori Ogai, Rokuryu is round the back of Ueno Park, not far from the nation's first zoo.
The waters here are amber in color and are said to be particularly good for skin issues. In the evening Rokuryu is used as a changing and bathing facilities by the area's many joggers, so can get busy.
Ikenohata 3-4-20, Taito-ku, +81 (0) 3 3821 3826; open 3:30 p.m.-11 p.m., closed Monday.
The early bird gets the bath at Tsubame-yu.
Unusually -- Japan traditionally bathes at night -- this bath is open from early morning, making it the perfect pit stop before a day out in Ueno or heading to the airport.
Tsubame-yu has its own rock garden next to the baths and a large painting of Mount Fuji looking down on all. In case you hadn't guessed, if you tour more than a few sento, you'll come to feel something's missing when a bath doesn't feature a glowing pink or white Fuji.
Ueno 3-14-5, Taito-ku, + 81 (0) 3 3831 7305; open 6 a.m.-8 p.m., closed Monday; www.tsubameyu.com
Saito-yu in its present, second-generation, form dates back to just 1960, but is one of very few nowadays offering a nagashi service. That's the rather charming deal where a bath attendant will scrub your back and give you a seated massage after. If that's not enough, there are also radium and ultrasonic jet baths.
Higashi Nippori 6-59-2, Arakawa-ku, no telephone; open 4 p.m.-midnight, closed Friday; saito-yu.com
Perhaps technically an onsen, but out in west Tokyo in the hills of Okutama, Moegi-no-yu makes for the perfect end to a day hiking in the surrounding mountains.
A large indoor bath and an outdoor wooden bath with views of the valley can be enjoyed by all, as can a free footbath outside for those still on the go. There's a great selection of post-hike food and drink in a relaxation area above the baths too.
Okutama-cho, Hikawa 119-1, +81 (0) 428 82 7770; open 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., closed Monday; okutamas.co.jp
Found in the Asakusa area, along with around 30 other sento, Jakotsu-yu is a great spot to head to after the nearby firework display every summer while a million other folk try and fit on the first train leaving the area. A huge image of Mount Fuji dominates, with mosaics of pines and cherry blossoms on other walls. Vending machines issue tickets and are multilingual in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.
Asakusa 1-11-11, Taito-ku, +81 (0) 3 3841-8645; open 1 p.m.-midnight, closed Tuesday; jakotsuyu.co.jp
Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2012. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.
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