Culture Special
Bathing Culture A nice hot bath is universally enjoyed and communal bathing has been a cultural element in various times and places in history. People have enjoyed bathing together in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire,from the Middle East to Scandinavia, from Britain to Russia and Japan and so on. Times and cultures are changing, but public bathing culture in Japan is
still alive and kicking and sticking closely to some of its longer standing traditions. Nowadays in Japan, communal bathing is mainly divided into three categories: onsen, sento and super sento bath, the last being something in between the first two. Sento are an integral element of city life. We explored its history and its modern appeal in the Tokyo of today.
The History of Sento A lot of people from various cultures have felt that bathing cleans more than just their bodies; there is also a feeling of cleansing your mind and soul. This is no coincidence, since bathing rituals in various shapes are present in many religions – from Christian baptisms to ritual baths in the Ganges river. In Japan as well, the origins of bathing are both ritual and Religious coming from Buddhism practices, but water is also a common purifier in Shinto myths. In time, the idea of bathing spread with Teikoku-Yu Š_ s t e p h a n i e m e l a n i e _
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WAttention Los Angeles
noblemen constructing private baths in their homes during