Covid accelerated a decline but a new breed of bathhouse is reimagining a Japanese tradition

It is a Japanese ritual that stretches back centuries: stripping off in the company of friends and neighbours before stretching out in the recuperative waters of a public bathhouse.

But almost half a millennia after the first sento opened in Tokyo, Japan’s modern-day bathhouses face an existential threat – and are fighting back by redefining the meaning of communal bathing.

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Adam Kay: ‘We should talk to kids about sex and alcohol. Everything goes wrong when people close up’

The comedian, whose diaries of his years as a junior doctor became…

In homage to Harry Styles, I tried to knit a grungy cloak of homemade smugness | Rebecca Nicholson

I wanted to learn a skill that would come in handy after…

Former Tory MP in row over appointment as head of Office for Students

Labour calls appointment of James Wharton ‘another example of cronyism’ The head…