News Man arrested after draining public bath at Saga onsen

Police in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture, have arrested a 46-year-old unemployed man from Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, on suspicion of disrupting business operations after he allegedly pulled the drain plug from a large communal bath at a hot spring resort. Police said Masaki Ono removed the plug shortly after 5:30 p.m. on 2 July while the bath was full of hot spring water. The water quickly drained away, forcing the bath to close, Saga TV reported.

The facility had previously suffered similar incidents where bath plugs were pulled, each time when Ono was a guest. On June 30, the management consulted the police, reporting that Ono had made a reservation for July 2 to use the facility again. The water level started falling while Ono was in the bath and he was later arrested. Police said Ono has admitted to pulling the plug but has so far given no motive.

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When I first visited Japan in 1998, the family I was staying with honoured me by letting me take the evening bath first. At the time, I knew nothing about Japanese bathing customs, so when I finished, I pulled the plug and drained the tub. I'll never forget the look on their faces when they discovered what I'd done. The idea that the whole family shared the same bathwater was completely foreign to me.

That happened to me -- the part about taking the bath first. Now that you mention it, I don't know how I knew not to pull the drain plug. I must have read up on the topic. Culture Shock! Japan was first published about that time. I might have read it before my first trip.