Bath Houses

During my time on Okinawa, I was a regular patron of the bath houses.

Yes, I know...eveyone regarded the bath houses as "bordello-lite," and the female bath attendants did enhance their income by offering to the US customers a sexual service that they could just as well perform themselves. I did not partake of that service myself because it was the relaxation of the bath and massage that I enjoyed. The massage was not really all that fantastic--unless you wanted that "special massage" I discussed earlier, the remainder seemed to be hastily delivered and with none of the reknown expertise attributed to bath attendants in the books and movies.

But the bath...I have never felt so clean in all of my life as I did from the Okinawa baths. And I miss being scrubbed scupulously clean, rinsed thoroughly, and then boiled like a lobster in steaming water.

Has anyone else ever had that experience? Do you miss it too?

PS: I still gave the bath attendants the extra coin as a "tip" since I did not want their income to suffer because of my Puritan attitudes. It was only an additional five or ten bucks (in yen, of course). N(o)B(ig)D(eal).

Shooter452 said:

...being scrubbed scrupulously clean, rinsed thoroughly, and then boiled like a lobster in steaming water.

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This reminds me of the story of the frog, the crab, and the lobster thrown into hot water.
At first they don't know it; just a little strange tingling sensation, even peasurable and soothing....eventually all worries are forgotten! [pong] :44: :44:[/pong] I was meaning to ask you this, what is the typical phrase of pleasure that a Japanese would utter to express his/her satisfaction upon entering the extremely hot hot-tub?

An American might say, "Ooooh, (this is) soothing!"
What is Japanese for this? :?

Bears in the Onsen?

Sorry about the lame joke, Shooter452.

I've never been to Japan for more than two days, so I wouldn't know anything from personal experience. But I do have an interesting story from a Japanese customer that I've come to befriend.

I asked him; is it true that men and women share the same tubs and pools in public baths? And what he told me was quite surprising, and I don't think he was making it up, either.

1. Men and women do share the tub; and it is not a big issue there. People just come and go as he or she pleases, without minding a fellower bather's sexuality.

2. On top of men and women sharing the same pools, the wild bears also like to join in. The gentleman did not mean any humor, but only gave a gentle smile when he saw my amazement. :44: :72: :44:

I am still dying to know if this is true about the bear. Has anyone gone to an outdoor onsen and shared a warm bath with the wild bear? What did it say, grunt, grunt?

Shooter452 said:

the female bath attendants did enhance their income by offering to the US customers a sexual service that they could just as well perform themselves.

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Soapy handjob, huh... not very exciting.

It Was A Great Way To Relax After A Night On The Town!

I loved the massage where she would pull my toes and fingers and make a big popping sound. The hot soak was a great way to relax and get ready for going back to base and bed. I went with a buddy once who was way over weight(got discharged for it). As soon as he got undressed, the little Japanese girl threw up and ran out crying. Guess all that white blubber and hairy body would have that affect?

Frank

I thought you were talking about a public bath called "sentou", where you have to do everything by youself, and there is no massage or no little Japanse girl performing in front of you, but just an old lady or old man sitting at the counter to take money.

Taking a bath is very relaxing and feels like your muscles melt in hot water. Even if I got so used to just a shower, I still soak in a bath when I get really tired.

Japanese people say "A~, ii yudana~!" (means: Oh, good bath.) or old people say "A~, gokuraku gokuraku." (means: Oh, I'm in heaven.)

misa.j said:

I thought you were talking about a public bath called "sentou", where you have to do everything by youself, and there is no massage or no little Japanse girl performing in front of you, but just an old lady or old man sitting at the counter to take money.

Taking a bath is very relaxing and feels like your muscles melt in hot water. Even if I got so used to just a shower, I still soak in a bath when I get really tired.

Japanese people say "A~, ii yudana~!" (means: Oh, good bath.) or old people say "A~, gokuraku gokuraku." (means: Oh, I'm in heaven.)

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Misa, these girls--actually "ladies" would be a better lable, since they were not exactly youngsters--worked in an establishment that was definately commercial, and (as I said before) not a public bath. The facilities were individual, and included a steam bath box that I negelected to mention.

By the time she got done popping your fingers and walking on your back, you were cleaner than a hound's tooth!

In my town...

There is a really nice cento that I frequent. It's a great place, almost all of the local families go there. Besides having a great outdoor bath, an indoor bath, and multiple tubs, its also got a small restaurant attached, a comfy TV lounge, and a non-sexual massage parlor.

Great Place! Nothing like a hot bath after a long day at work!

I don't think I've ever seen the kind of bathhouse Shooter-san and Frank are talking about...:?

I know the kind of sento that Misa-san's talking about--the traditional public bathhouse. I used to go there with a neighbor's family when I was a kid. Never gotten used to the hot water!

I think Mad P is talking about the "super-sento." A new type of public bathhouse with upgraded and extended facilities adding entertainment and relaxation. These are sprouting all over today as a means to survival of the business, since most homes have their own private baths. I've been to this one:
http://yuasobi.do.pia.co.jp/shousai.html?fid=11

I think Mad P is talking about the "super-sento." A new type of public bathhouse with upgraded and extended facilities adding entertainment and relaxation.

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Pretty much right on, I think. As I am in a small town, it's the only cento! And, although it has been around for a long time, the lounge and restaurant are both recent additions. It's a bit different from the smaller, more local centos you'll come across in cities like Osaka, and more like a wannabie onsen.

Yes Shooter452, there is nothing more relaxing than a steaming hot Japanese bath, whether it be at a sento, onsen, or in the house. The Japanese bath is one of the few luxuries one gets to experience in Japan.

During our yearly trips to Japan we always make it a point to go to an Onsen in Hakone or Atami where I will "take a bath" at least four times throughout the day and night. It is particularly relaxful during the winter months when you use the outside bath. Sitting in a hot steaming bath while the temperatures hover around freezing, feeling the cold breeze and looking up at the moon and stars is a feeling beyond explaination.

Shooter452 said:

...the female bath attendants did enhance their income by offering to the US customers a sexual service that they could just as well perform themselves.

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The only time I ever experienced this was while in the military in the mid '70's. There was a place in Yokohama, I think at Negishi-Heights, where there was a bath house on military grounds. The women were employed by the military and they did perform the "service" you mentioned for an extra $5. I guess that it helped reduce the "randyness" of the servicemen before they went out on the town.

However, even though some of them were middle-age, it was still a great feeling to be bathed, washed, and massaged by them, even if you didn't partake in the "special massage" afterwards.

Pachipro said:

It is particularly relaxful during the winter months when you use the outside bath. Sitting in a hot steaming bath while the temperatures hover around freezing, feeling the cold breeze and looking up at the moon and stars is a feeling beyond explaination.

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I know exactly what you are talking about. That brings me back many memories; I grew up in Gumma prefecture where Kusatsu (famous Onsen town) was an hour drive, used to go there with my family every year.
One time when we were driving, my father found a natural hot spring in the woods, and all of us jumped right in.


Anyways, I wonder those bathhouses that Shooter452 wrote about still exist?

My Guess Is........

Anyways, I wonder those bathhouses that Shooter452 wrote about still exist?[/QUOTE]

any town near one of our military bases will always have such entertainment.

Frank

hahahah nice bathhouses "Special treathment" XD

Baths (cont.)

I rather doubt that the Okinawa bath houses still do exist. The authorities were in the process of scaling back the rather extensive prostitution services that had been available out Gate Two and BeeCee Streets near Kadena AFB even while I was there in '70-'80. The bath houses, as I stated earlier, were looked upon as "bordello-lite" by those authorities and more-or-less winked at by US military leaders, so if the baths survived the rather puritanical attitudes of the Japanese authorities I would be surprised.

However, that seedier side of the bath house was of no concern to me. I was married--albiet without dependants--and my wife expected me to remain chaste while I was serving on "the Rock." I enjoyed the bath.

I have been thinking about it lately, and I think that the reason was not just the fact that I was steeped in waters that were hotter than I would find in the barracks "rain room" as much as the fact that I was being bathed with assistance. Not only my was back scrubbed in ways I found difficult to reach, but my whole body was scrubbed in the same manner. I was being bathed in a luxurious manner that few have known outside Japan. Oddly, the only European experience that I could equate to this luxury was that of patrician Romans during the Republic and the Empire to follow.

The Romans had a mania for hygene that was almost Japanese. No portions of the Empire, for example, were denied baths and the lowliest serving legionary was allowed to experience the same luxury in Gaul or Iberia that Senatorial families were permitted in Rome or Italy.

The difference was, IMHO, assistance...someone to concentrate on washing the bather. The Romans had slaves, who worked hard to scrub up their masters. I had the bath house girls who did the same thing.

I can still soak in a hot tub, but there is no one to wash my back. Even when she was alive, my wife seldom honored me with that assistance. Since, well, no one is left. So I think back to the Okinawan baths with nostalgia. The attendants at the bath house I patronized came to know me--the crazy gaijin who never wanted the "special massage" and they were all the more attentive in bathing me in order to get the tip I always paid. It was wonderful, and it was an experience--like my tours of duty on Okinawa themselves--that I will likely never know again.

*pout*

I wish things were different, but there it is.

Absit invidia

Of course...

There are new breeds of the same old thing on the rise.

"SoapLand" - The name implies it all. Told to me by old college buddies (Japanese) in Osaka. Looks like a bathhouse or massage parlor, but for extra dough you get the "full body" treatment.

Oy Vey.....

If locals in Osaka are getting away with it, then I'm sure there has got to be a few still floating around the bases.

mad pierrot said:

There are new breeds of the same old thing on the rise.

"SoapLand" - The name implies it all. Told to me by old college buddies (Japanese) in Osaka. Looks like a bathhouse or massage parlor, but for extra dough you get the "full body" treatment.

Oy Vey.....

If locals in Osaka are getting away with it, then I'm sure there has got to be a few still floating around the bases.

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Gee, it kinda gives me hope!

mad pierrot said:

There are new breeds of the same old thing on the rise.

"SoapLand" - The name implies it all. Told to me by old college buddies (Japanese) in Osaka. Looks like a bathhouse or massage parlor, but for extra dough you get the "full body" treatment.

Oy Vey.....

If locals in Osaka are getting away with it, then I'm sure there has got to be a few still floating around the bases.

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Yes, "soapland" is the general name for brothel in Japanese but it also refers to the typical service which the women provide of washing and covering guys on an air mattress with suds, before going all the way.

Sounds clean, eh? ;-)

ArmandV said:

Yes, "soapland" is the general name for brothel in Japanese but it also refers to the typical service which the women provide of washing and covering guys on an air mattress with suds, before going all the way.

Sounds clean, eh? ;-)

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This is not just in Japan, but many places in Asia such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Phillipines, China...just about anywhere you go!

@ shooter...yes they still exist in Okinawa. (I haven't personally been to one here in Okinawa, but all of the "newbies" try to find one when they get here! Very few actually succeed!)

CC1 said:

@ shooter...yes they still exist in Okinawa. (I haven't personally been to one here in Okinawa, but all of the "newbies" try to find one when they get here! Very few actually succeed!)

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I am glad, Cee-Cee. It would be "uncivilized" if there were no baths for the gaijin to enjoy. I would love to experience one of the centos if they were available--I am not as afflicted with "body consciousness" as are many other foreigners--but it is unlikely.

I miss Okinawa. When I first came there in '67, on my way to the SEAsia War Games, I did not think much of the Rock, but it grows on you. Now, I regard it as one of the most beautiful places on earth.

And where else can you find a hotel room where they charge by the hour?