About Me

My husband, Sid, and I both teach history in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Sid was awarded a Fulbright lectureship in Japan for the 2010-2011 academic year and so we are moving to Japan with our two (reluctant) boys. :)

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Bath House

Sorry, folks, no pictures, but I can tell you about Sid and Sam's latest adventure. In our neighborhood is a traditional Japanese bath house.  Ours is sort of small (it does not, for instance, have the bath with the electricity running through it, the mud bath, or the cold bath--it is simply a warm bath with temperature about 120 degrees F), but popular as the latest fad here is to jog around the imperial palace (an odd fad given the record high temperatures this summer).  The runner then heads to the bath house.

Basically you go to the bathhouse where you first shower (to get all the gross stuff off of you) and then you go get into the bath.  The bath is a communal and naked affair.  (Ours is segregated by sex, but the mineral spring baths all around are mixed).

So, Sid and Sam went to the bath--without a towel!  So they were sitting in the bath when the bath house lady beckoned Sid, indicating that he should get out and come over to her.  So, naked Sid got out while the Japanese men snickered and went over to the bath house lady who gave him a tiny towel to share with Sam.

Sid said it was not a very refreshing experience given that it is so hot everywhere and the bath is hot.  Sam, however, really liked going and thought it very funny that his daddy had to go naked to the bath house lady!

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