This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
Bathing in Japan is very much a part of the social fabric here. It is something that people often do together. Going to a public bathhouse, or a hot spring with your friends, your family, or your coworkers is a very common way of spending time together in Japan. And bathing at home is also given serious attention.
The nighttime bath in Japan is how many, if not all, Japanese people end their days. It is much looked forward to as a way to relax and wash the stresses of the day away. Knowing the way that bathing is valued in Japan, it is not surprising to see that a common feature of modern Japanese houses and apartments is a digital water heater and bathtub control panel.
In a typical house, you will find a control panel like this in the shower room itself and another one in the kitchen. In smaller apartments, you may only find one of these control panels. If so, that control panel will most likely be in the shower room. These control panels are amazing, and I’m really surprised that they haven’t been adopted all over the world. One thing they do is allow you to choose how hot your water will be. With these control panels, you don’t have to spend time mixing hot and cold water trying to find the perfect temperature for your shower. You don’t have to worry about suddenly being scolded by temperature spikes in the water. You don’t have to worry about your children playing with the hot water and getting accidental burns because the water will never be hotter than the temperature it is set to be.
In addition, this control panel allows you to choose the depth of the water in your bathtub. If you like deep baths, you can choose to have a lot of water put in your bathtub. If you have children and are worried about the water being over their heads, you can choose to have a shallow bath. Fifteen to twenty minutes before you are ready to take a bath, just push a button and your bathtub will fill up to the depth of your choice with water that is the temperature of your choice. The water heater will then continue to maintain the temperature of the bath water until you turn it off.
Bathing in Japan follows a different order than that which I grew up with. In America, when I took a bath, I filled the tub with water, soaked in it, and washed myself afterward. In Japan, you clean yourself prior to entering the bath. In this way, many people can share the same water as you, and the water can be used for more than one day. I think it is common in Japan to use the water of one bath for two days. Because of this, these control centers also have a reheat option. When you push this button, the cold water from your bathtub will be siphoned through a heater and reheated to the temperature of your choice. Also because of this, houses and apartments are designed to have a space for a washing machine that is located in a room next to the bathing room. Japanese washing machines have a bathtub water option and a hose that allows you to siphon the old bath water from your bathtub and reuse it to wash your clothes.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting daily updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
Nice explanation of Japanese bathing customs. Even after living here for years, I still find myself intimidated by the bathtub control panel. It looks like a gizmo that belongs more on a spaceship with all those buttons and status indicators. I managed to figure out the basic temperature and water level controls, but an icy lance of fear goes through me whenever it starts randomly beeping or flashing some indecipherable error number. There is such a thing as overengineering what should be a simple daily ritual...
The call button it has cracks me up. My wife likes to set up shop in the bath and often uses the iPad-like cover as a desk to keep her ice cream and her ever-present phone resting on. When she needs something, she doesn't hesitate to push that button. I'll be in another room and suddenly hear this, Be-beep, Be-beep, Be-beep, and I'll know that something is needed.
Now that's the way to get some service! Eating ice cream in the bath though... wouldn't it melt too fast and dribble all over everything?
I think the ice cream just reaches that sweet soft spot faster. Plus, the portion sizes over here are small enough that I think the ice cream can be eaten before it drips all over everything. I'm not sure, though. I'm not much of a bathtub ice cream eater. I've used the call button to get a beer before, though, and that was pretty nice.
This is Japan...
cooool=)))
I think so, too.
I honestly believe running baths and showers in good for the body and mind. upvoted.
Thanks for the vote!
I lived there for 4 years and never realized this. Amazing! We can all learn so much from each other.
It's easy to miss unless someone tells you about it. You have to buy the hose separately and choose bath water when setting the amount of water that will go into the washer. It's a nice option to have when you live with a few people.
Cool! I'm all about sustainability. Whitewhater reuse, greywater reclamation, etc.
When I first found out about this feature, it really blew me away to realize that the whole bathroom and laundry layout in houses and apartments had been designed in such a way to support the bath culture they have here and get as much use out of the bath water as possible.
True!
I was happy enough that the toilet was in a different room.
I love this article, it reminds me of my host family's house that I stayed in Kunitachi!
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the support. Kunitachi is a part of Tokyo I've never heard of before. I had to look it up. Hopefully you enjoyed your stay there.