BLOG

In today's article about dwelling in a Japanese house, we will take a look at the special room which contains a bathtub and shower fittings. The bathtub, or O-FURO (お風呂), is deep enough to allow you to comfortably sit in it, with the water up to around your chin level. There is a wide, waterproofed, tiled space next to the bath, which is called a "wash & rinse" area, or ARAI-BA (洗い場). The ARAI-BA is generally equipped with a faucet, and a hand-held or hose-type shower system, and Japanese will normally sit on a small plastic shower stool and thoroughly wash themselves before getting into the O-FURO. The special point about the O-FURO bathtub is that it is not used for cleaning-off dirt and grime, but instead, it is used for soaking (and relaxing) in heated water. Also, once the O-FURO has been filled-up, all members of a family can use it in-turn, thereby saving on overall water consumption. The history of bathing in Japan goes back over 1,500 years and has roots in old Buddhist purification rituals. A good Japanese-style bath was believed to not only wash the body, but also cleanse the spirit and improve one's health. Until the advent of large modern houses, most Japanese went to public baths, or SENTO (銭湯), and SENTO can still be found nowadays in older traditional neighborhoods. One final point about your house's bathing room is that it is physically separated from the toilet room, and we will take a close look at why that is, in a future article. We hope you will enjoy living in Japan!

written by Goodfield