Forum - View topicCulture Shock [Chobits question re bathhouses]
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lady_rin
 Posts: 20 Location: The American Desert Southwest |
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I'm glad I found a place dealing with anime news and such. Is this also a place where I can find out about the culture as well?
My question is; In Chobits when Hideki and Chi go to the bath house for the first time Hideki says to Chi to put a towel(?) on her head and to "put your hand on your hip and drink a glass of fruit flavored milk" I have also seen the cloth on the head in several other series. Lady Rin [edit: topic edited to reflect post -b] |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7550 Location: Maine |
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I'm pretty sure they do the cloth on the head to catch sweat, the rest of that is just getting her to go through the motions.
Emerje |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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The cloth, tiny as it is, is in fact a towel. It's all part of the elaborate etiquette that surrounds communal bathing in Japan.
It goes like this: Arriving at a public bath (銭湯, sento), you first enter the section appropriate to your gender. To do this, it is vital to know the proper kanji: 男 otoko - "men" 女 onna - "women" Usually, the men's section has a blue noren curtain, while the women's section has a red curtain. They don't usually lynch foreigners for mistakenly entering the wrong section, but the loud screams of "Chikan!" (pervert, molester) are very embarassing. Not that I speak from personal experience, or anything, but I've heard stories... 
Anyway, once you're in the proper section (remember to take off all footwear, even slippers), you undress completely, putting your clothes in one of the little baskets provided. There will usually be lockers for valuables. Next, take one of the tiny towels, and sit on one of the tiny stools. Wash yourself quite carefully, using soap and shampoo and being very meticulous about it. You're about to get in a communal bath, and you're supposed to be squeaky clean beforehand, so as not to sully the water. It's a social event, not just a bath. Now, pay careful attention: don't skip on the washing beforehand. Don't. The Japanese will forgive a lot of things from a foreigner - but entering a public bath without cleaning oneself beforehand is not among them. Fold the towel and put it on your head. This will keep it handy for a number of uses. Primarily, it will allow you to soak sweat from your head, so that you can sweat some more. Sweat cools the body by evaporation, you see - and it doesn't really evaporate in a bathhouse, because it is hot and humid. So you need to clean off the sweat, lest you overheat. Another handy use for the little towel is to discreetly cover involuntary erections when getting out of the bath. When you get in the water, be prepared. It is not warm. It is not hot. It is damn near scalding, by American/European standards. The temperature varies, depending on where in the country you are - the Tokyoites are legendary for their affection for near-boiling temperatures, I understand - but it is always very, very hot. While you're bathing, pay careful attention to your body. Water this hot can cause you to faint from heat prostration. Dry sweat from your head frequently. Pretend you're in a very humid sauna - in fact, that is an excellent comparison. If you feel faint, get out. In any case, remember to drink plenty of fluids before and after. You will have lost far more fluids than you realise, and it is not uncommon for people to keel over in a dead faint after having spent too long in a bath. When you're cooked, get out of the bath and wash yourself again, the same way you did before getting in. Rinsing yourself with cold water can be very nice. In any case, you can now reverse the process, getting your clothes from your basket and your valuables from your locker. Find a vending machine or a lounge (some bathhouses have them) where you can get something to drink. Lounges often serve beer - but if this is your first time in a bath, go easy on the alcoholic beverages. I repeat, you will not have realised how much fluids you've lost, so drink the non-alcoholic stuff first. You can get drunk on one beer. That's a very brief intro to public baths in Japan. There's a lot I haven't mentioned, but I should also mention the 温泉, onsen, the holy grail of Japanese baths. These volcanic springs are just about the perfect way to enjoy Japanese bathing culture, and there are literally thousands of them, all over the country (one writer compared the Japanese islands to a giant sponge, soaked with hot water). - abunai |
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frostedsaiyan
 Posts: 637 Location: Maryland |
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Wow, abunai! That is very interesting. The Japanese culture has some interesting aspects. This would be fun to do if I were visiting Japan. I'm actually going to start saving up when I get my first job in a couple of days, so later on I can go to Japan for a pretty long period of time. Who knew that taking a bath could be so fun and complicated. Here in America we just wake up and Jump in the shower for a good 10-30 minutes and then get out.
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Same here, in Denmark - though I would hope that you don't run the shower for 30 minutes. That would be wasteful. The Japanese take Western-style showers, too. The best Western comparison for the Japanese communal bath isn't a bath, but a sauna. - abunai |
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lady_rin
Posts: 20 Location: The American Desert Southwest |
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Thank you very much. I am aware of bathing customs in many countries including Japan. But I didn't know about the towel. I can also understand about having milk or other drinks but not alcohol (I live in the desert and what you drink has a big effect on your health). But I still don't understand about the hand on the hip unless it is a parody or satire.
As for a 30 min shower it's better to sit in the pool. Wasting that much water for a shower is considered bad manners in the desert where water is so precious. Lady Rin |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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*scratches back of head to indicate perplexedness* さあ、知りません. I suppose it's some sort of inside joke - but I'm afraid I don't get it myself, so I can't explain it. Or maybe it's an error in translation. I've seen that episode, but I don't recall the joke, so I can't say what the original Japanese was.
Oh, I'd say that it's bad manners anywhere. Considering the amount of effort that is put into creating a reliable supply of uncontaminated water, whether it be in the desert or in the city, it's just plain inexcusable to squander such a resource. On the subject of the Japanese sento - I looked around a bit on the 'net, and found this travelogue which details a visit to a sento, with some very nice pictures. For a more detailed description of customs and history of the communal bath in Japan, see this excellent page. - abunai |
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