As Oct. 10 marked sento public bathhouse day, I decided to explore how bathhouses have lately been working to promote themselves. Despite there being fewer sento public bathhouses across the nation, they seem to be recently gaining popularity among young people.
Occupational therapist Maki Nakazawa, 32, has been living in an apartment without a bath in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, since the spring of 2019. Her monthly rent for one room plus a dining-kitchen area is 51,000 yen (484 dollars).
"I like this [apartment] because of the accessibility to Shibuya Station by bicycle, the affordable rent and the fact there's a sento nearby," said Nakazawa.
Nakazawa used to take a shower at a gym, but she began going to a local sento because she wanted to enjoy a larger bath. At the sento, she chats with older, regular customers. She also made friends with a man who works in the sento's reception area -- they went out for a drink -- and with people around her own age who go to the bathhouse.
"I had no ties to this area, but I've grown attached to this town," Nakazawa said.
Nakazawa found the apartment on "Tokyo Sento Fudosan" (Tokyo sento real estate), a website that introduces properties without baths in Tokyo and bathhouses nearby. The website is operated by Natsuko Kashima, 35, a company employee who loves sento and launched the website in 2018 to promote them.
Many places without a bath are old, and the rent for such housing is lower than for those with a bath.
Kashima has been holding guided tours of properties without a bath and their neighboring sento to promote the merits of the bathhouses.
"You can find a place to call home wherever you choose to live," she said.
Although the tours have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, she is considering resuming them.
Living spaces without a bath account for 1.4% of all housing in Japan, with such properties accounting for 2.2% of the housing in Tokyo, according to the 2008 housing and land survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
"Many of them are old places with one room plus a dining-kitchen area," said Kashima. "The rent is 20,000 yen to 30,000 yen cheaper than the market price of a studio room with a bath.
"Even if you buy sento tickets for a month, the cost of a place without a bath should be cheaper than one with a bath."
Kashima has received about 100 inquiries over the two years since the launch of the website, and about 20% of them have resulted in a rental contract.
The majority of those who signed up for such properties are in their 20s and 30s, and they vary from minimalists to people who want to save money on rent to pursue their dreams, Kashima said.
The proliferation of baths in homes led to a decline in bathouses. There were 2,069 sento nationwide as of April, down from 10,158 three decades ago, 6,596 two decades ago and 3,848 a decade ago, according to the national association of public bathhouses.
Some people are working to promote sento however they can.
"Young people don't know about sento," said Sanjiro Minato, 30 and head of Yutonami-sha, a sento operator in Kyoto and other cities. "That's why they don't go there."
He began posting videos of sento on social media and a video-sharing website in 2015. About four times as many people visited his Umeyu bathhouse in Kyoto last year compared to five years ago. He has received great feedback about the bathhouse as well, including comments such as, "I like the nostalgic atmosphere."
Now, 60% of Umeyu customers are in their 20s or 30s.
Shotaro Hino, 36, a designer who has been a regular customer at sento since he was in his 20s, launched a website called "Tokyo Sento" in 2015. He promotes sento such as by posting photos of female idols at bathhouses. To have people enjoy a public bathhouse in an unconventional way, Hino took up the management of BathHaus, a bathhouse that has a cafe and bar section in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, in February. Customers can enjoy craft beer and food after bathing.
"I want to update people's notions about sento," Hino said.
A sento club was organized mainly by young employees at Tokyo-based bath salt producer Bathclin Corp. in 2015. The group is officially recognized by the company, and members often go to sento after work.
"Thanks to taking a bath with members, now I feel more comfortable seeking advice about work," said Ayumu Komatsu, the 33-year-old leader of the group.
In Nagoya, some women who have been promoting sento on their blogs and social media jointly launched a group called Nagoya sento joshibu (Women's club for sento lovers in Nagoya). The group is holding tours of bathhouses in the city.
"Young people seem to be discovering that interacting with other customers at sento is both new and interesting," said Shinobu Machida, a director of the Japan sento culture association.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
