My Experiene in an Sento, aka Japanes Bathhouse
There was a recent discussion on SW about pubic hair and whether or not to remove it, shape ir or leave it alone. I will not continue that debate, but one of the posters heard that I had an interesting experience in Japan and thought I should post it, so here goes.
In 2019, before covid hit, my adult daughter was schedule to give a talk in Kyoto. I have always had a visit to Japan on mt bucket list, so I decided I would accompany her. Now, no snide remarks, we did not share any rooms and do not have that sort of a relationship at all. We had a misfire, and I couldn’t fly over with her, and had to meet her in Tokyo on the second day of our 7 day rapid tour of essential sites in the country.
I screwed up making reservations in Kyoto itself, and we ended up staying in the Marriott Hotel in Lake Biwa, which I was told was just a short train ride from the center of town. That turned out not at all to be the case, and we ended up hiring a car to transport us to and from the city. It turned out a mixed blessing, because it actually is a resort right near the lake and we had access to use their bikes, to explore the area, and the hotel had its own sento as part of its spa. My daughter’s room also had its own onsen, but that is a different story.
A Japanese bath house, or sentō, is a communal bathing facility where people pay to enter and enjoy a shared bath. I had read about there being mixed facilities, and although I have no problem with being nude on a nude beach, etc., being nude with my daughter made me more than just a bit nervous. She used the sento the first night and remarked how wonderful it was and that it was not coed, in fact, traditionally, they feature separate bathing areas for men and women, with rows of faucets for washing and a large communal bath. Modern sentō can include saunas, jet baths, and open-air baths (rotenburo). Onsen are similar but specifically refer to baths using mineral-rich geothermal spring water.
I did find this on a google search so had some idea of what was ahead.
Visiting a Japanese Bathhouse:
• Separate Sections: Sento and onsen have separate bathing areas for men and women.
• Nudity: Bathing is typically done nude, and swimwear is not allowed.
• Washing: Before entering the communal bath, you are expected to wash yourself thoroughly at the provided faucets.
• Tattoos: Some onsen and sento may not allow people with tattoos, or may require them to be covered.
• Etiquette: There are specific etiquette guidelines for using public baths, such as tying up long hair and not bringing towels into the bath.
The following night, I decided if she could do it, so could I.
The spa had a protocol for how to enter the sento. Most people dressed in some form of swimming wear of something and wore the hotel provided bathrobes to go from their room to the spa. Some just wore the robe and were nude underneath. I had my underpants on. Once you get to the spa, you enter the first locker room, where you exchange your footwear for special footwear, and leave the robe and whatever clothing you wore into the locker iand put on a towel around you.
Then you proceed into the onsen, which has two compartments, a pre bath area, I am really not sure what that is besides a area to relieve yourself in a cubicle, if needed, and you are provided with a small hand towel, to use to wash yourself, and maybe as some modesty provider.
The next room, which has only a partition wall separating it, has the actual hot tubs, in this case 3 of them, and along the wall a few water spigots coming out of the walls, and small seats to sit on in front of them. Everyman is expected to soap up and be clean at that area before getting into the tubs. You are clearly seen by all the other men in the bath area. I do not know if that is a way to be sure you are fully clean. When I used the Blue lagoon in Iceland, a person in the shower room actually examined everyone to be sure you were adequately cleaned. Once clean you have then to walk across the room to the three tubs. When I was there, it was clear that I was the only non-Asian there. I seemed to attract a great deal of attention, perhaps because they didn’t expect a non-Asian to use the onsen, or because they may not have had a lot of experience with a blond non-Asian man. They were clearly staring at my nakedness. No one volunteered to help me understand what to do and I did feel just a bit awkward with probably 15-20 men in a tub starring at me.
I spent a period of time in the first tub, then moved to the middled one, all alone at this time in those tubs. Most of the men were leaving the last tub from time to time, and by the time I was there, there were only about 5 other men.
I took me a while to realize there was a very large difference between my “package” and theirs. Most men probably have compared themselves to others in locker rooms, etc, but this was the first time the difference was so obvious. I was considerably older than most of the other men, and with age comes a shift in body so that the penis does appear smaller. I am not exception. But more striking was that they all had long, dark black pubic hair, plentifully surrounding their penis and covering their scrotum. In my case, my hair is very light and very curly, thus my package is much more exposed. I think their staring at me was related to that unusual appearance.
As an amateur photographer, I do have selfies I took of myself over a period of over 40 years, ;looking back on the early ones, which were taken with black and white film so really not a good way to compare, but my pubic hair was longer and darker at the time. Some of the lightness and curliness is probably a sign of age, but it really attracted, or seemed to, a lot of attention.
In 2019, before covid hit, my adult daughter was schedule to give a talk in Kyoto. I have always had a visit to Japan on mt bucket list, so I decided I would accompany her. Now, no snide remarks, we did not share any rooms and do not have that sort of a relationship at all. We had a misfire, and I couldn’t fly over with her, and had to meet her in Tokyo on the second day of our 7 day rapid tour of essential sites in the country.
I screwed up making reservations in Kyoto itself, and we ended up staying in the Marriott Hotel in Lake Biwa, which I was told was just a short train ride from the center of town. That turned out not at all to be the case, and we ended up hiring a car to transport us to and from the city. It turned out a mixed blessing, because it actually is a resort right near the lake and we had access to use their bikes, to explore the area, and the hotel had its own sento as part of its spa. My daughter’s room also had its own onsen, but that is a different story.
A Japanese bath house, or sentō, is a communal bathing facility where people pay to enter and enjoy a shared bath. I had read about there being mixed facilities, and although I have no problem with being nude on a nude beach, etc., being nude with my daughter made me more than just a bit nervous. She used the sento the first night and remarked how wonderful it was and that it was not coed, in fact, traditionally, they feature separate bathing areas for men and women, with rows of faucets for washing and a large communal bath. Modern sentō can include saunas, jet baths, and open-air baths (rotenburo). Onsen are similar but specifically refer to baths using mineral-rich geothermal spring water.
I did find this on a google search so had some idea of what was ahead.
Visiting a Japanese Bathhouse:
• Separate Sections: Sento and onsen have separate bathing areas for men and women.
• Nudity: Bathing is typically done nude, and swimwear is not allowed.
• Washing: Before entering the communal bath, you are expected to wash yourself thoroughly at the provided faucets.
• Tattoos: Some onsen and sento may not allow people with tattoos, or may require them to be covered.
• Etiquette: There are specific etiquette guidelines for using public baths, such as tying up long hair and not bringing towels into the bath.
The following night, I decided if she could do it, so could I.
The spa had a protocol for how to enter the sento. Most people dressed in some form of swimming wear of something and wore the hotel provided bathrobes to go from their room to the spa. Some just wore the robe and were nude underneath. I had my underpants on. Once you get to the spa, you enter the first locker room, where you exchange your footwear for special footwear, and leave the robe and whatever clothing you wore into the locker iand put on a towel around you.
Then you proceed into the onsen, which has two compartments, a pre bath area, I am really not sure what that is besides a area to relieve yourself in a cubicle, if needed, and you are provided with a small hand towel, to use to wash yourself, and maybe as some modesty provider.
The next room, which has only a partition wall separating it, has the actual hot tubs, in this case 3 of them, and along the wall a few water spigots coming out of the walls, and small seats to sit on in front of them. Everyman is expected to soap up and be clean at that area before getting into the tubs. You are clearly seen by all the other men in the bath area. I do not know if that is a way to be sure you are fully clean. When I used the Blue lagoon in Iceland, a person in the shower room actually examined everyone to be sure you were adequately cleaned. Once clean you have then to walk across the room to the three tubs. When I was there, it was clear that I was the only non-Asian there. I seemed to attract a great deal of attention, perhaps because they didn’t expect a non-Asian to use the onsen, or because they may not have had a lot of experience with a blond non-Asian man. They were clearly staring at my nakedness. No one volunteered to help me understand what to do and I did feel just a bit awkward with probably 15-20 men in a tub starring at me.
I spent a period of time in the first tub, then moved to the middled one, all alone at this time in those tubs. Most of the men were leaving the last tub from time to time, and by the time I was there, there were only about 5 other men.
I took me a while to realize there was a very large difference between my “package” and theirs. Most men probably have compared themselves to others in locker rooms, etc, but this was the first time the difference was so obvious. I was considerably older than most of the other men, and with age comes a shift in body so that the penis does appear smaller. I am not exception. But more striking was that they all had long, dark black pubic hair, plentifully surrounding their penis and covering their scrotum. In my case, my hair is very light and very curly, thus my package is much more exposed. I think their staring at me was related to that unusual appearance.
As an amateur photographer, I do have selfies I took of myself over a period of over 40 years, ;looking back on the early ones, which were taken with black and white film so really not a good way to compare, but my pubic hair was longer and darker at the time. Some of the lightness and curliness is probably a sign of age, but it really attracted, or seemed to, a lot of attention.
80-89, M
