japanese temple interior design
welcome to one of tokyo's many public bathhouses called "sentou" they're usually very distinctive looking buildings around neighborhoods with high chimneys we're going to get naked and show you what makes tokyo's bath houses worth a visit tokyo sentoh all have the same price, but they're certainly all different than unique as the industry changes from the past to the future, it's an exciting time right now to take a bath in tokyo welcome to takara-yu, this is one of tokyo's most famous sentoh, sentoh being a public bathhouse takara-yu is famous for kind of maintaining that retro style that they have decades and decades ago but that's not the only attraction, of course, there the baths and to help me explain it all he is a sentou's master, machida-san i think he has just arrived
this isn'st the first visit here for you? of course not. i've visited here so far, nearly 300 times oh, great! by the way, when this building has been constructed? about 80 years old it's characterized by its japanesse traditional style that's right. very traditional japanese looking what's kind of attraction is there in this sentoh? this sentoh highly appeals to
its high ceiling there is also a very beautiful and spacious garden and the traditional painting this is a vast area you can't enjoy in your house-bath and a lot of tradition lives here so the purposes of japanese bathing are half washing a body clean and half relaxing so takara-yu has a lot of attractions to it of course every sentoh in tokyo has an attraction something that makes it special takara-yu it's the building itself and the garden not many sentoh have space for real nature in the city and then there's the building external appearance, it resemble a temple
if you're wondering why? because here is the paradise! it's the paradise!! let's go! takata-yu is a pretty typical japanese bath house under its roof the showers with faucets under to fill the buckets for bathing rather than mount fuji takata-yu highlights the other side of japan the painting done by machida-san himself wait a moment! oh, we haven't changed yet ! it's time to change this is much better
yeah, so now that we changed you're ready for the bath this bath room - the ceiling is pretty high this is one characteristic of tokyo sentoh the roof is high to let the steam out on the outside where the waterfall is made of the rocks from mt.fuji machida-san is telling me that a piece of mount fuji exists outside that window it's not obvious at first but fujisan is there sort of you see outside that window, there's a big boulder that was actually brought to the bath from mount fuji do you see it, it's hard not to feel the power of mount fuji here
every sentoh in tokyo pays homage to mount fuji in one way or another but it's still a sentoh, and we still have to get into the bath wash your body before getting in the quick rinse is usually enough bathers must be completely naked when entering the bath, but for this video. we're wearing towels sentoh aren't typically hot springs the water is heated before entering the bath machida-san and i went into the back to see a demonstration on how they used to heat the sentoh baths in the past they did it with wood and fire this heater is the last of its kind in tokyo and now takara-yu uses gas and electricity to heat the baths the heater produces a lot of heat and a lot of smoke
there really is a lot of smoke that smoke is why sentoh have those high chimneys. they're no longer necessary but many keep them up because it's easy to see the center from far away chimneys are also a symbol of the bathhouse you can see that the wood generates a great deal of smoke the sentoh has changed a lot over the years japan is rich in water and has high temperature and high humidity so that is why sentoh grew in numbers also japan has a lot of onsen so people are used to getting into baths
tokyo used to have about 2,000 sentoh more than 2,000 sentoh over the last 15 years or so the number has been declining now there's about 600 remaining in tokyo people have baths in their houses they're also much busier have busy escapees sentoh bathers have changed a lot over the years but fewer bathers these days sentohs have made more space between the showers how long does stay in the bath it depends on a person, but they stay in for 30 minutes or so 30 minutes? some people even longer
so how is the price of the sentoh decided? from way back, it has been the same as one bowl of soba right about 400 yen in current currency same since the edo period (1603-1868) so a simple bowl of soba noodles decided the price when bowls got more expensive, so did the entrance fee in tokyo it's now 460 yen takara-yu's garden is also a big draw you can watch the carp swim by the building is also an attraction constructed in the 1930s the outside maintains pretty much as it was back then the bath is family-run and the owner showed me some of the history of the bath
this is around 1937 or 1938 this picture shows the ceremony for putting the ridge-timber in place of this bath-house a bunch of the carpenter specializing in temple, shrine etc. construction are lining up you haven't used the second floor at all, haven't you? timber construction no machnines or cranes were used. by only "ningen (human) power" this is a picture of the well to bring the water up manually water was brought up by wells to fill the baths a labor-intensive job
this is my uncle's family sentoh almost always family-run businesses going back generations. there's a love for the community it brings in ceremony of the day the sentoh opened this was the day that takara-yu sentoh opened the neighborhood may have changed around it, but takara-yu has stood strong throughout the years the sentoh is more than a public bath these days. it's also a community spot for events like music performances and art exhibits that's sort of the place i want to make here this is not just a bath, it's a different kind of place there's a connection between bathing and drinking milk, coffee milk is machida-san's recommendation
from way back, kids came to the sentoh for coffee milk when you get into the bath, you get dehydrated and you want something sweet in old days, they only sold normal milk but since kids came, they started to have this kids think coffee something adults drink so when they drink it, they feel mature all kids want to be adults and adults love the nostalgia delicious! totally satisfied
what a incredible feeling! felt great, didn't you we are totally refreshed! this is just one experience one tokyo sentoh there are hundreds more to explore as i said each one is special and another sentoh master was waiting for me across town right away, you can see that the building is modern almost looks like a museum this is hisamatsu-yu and it's been remodeled to fit today's style since everyone has a bathtub in their house these days bathers look for an enhanced experience you pay and get your key, which is a card in this case welcome to the 21st century it's used for the locker
oh, this is shimokitazawa-san, you can tell from his t-shirt that when it comes to bathing he means business change into your birthday suit and make your way to the baths the showers are the lazy man's way to rinse yourself be careful not to splash your neighbor shimokitazawa- san prefers the tap and bucket method shimokitazawa-san invites me to try it out everything looks fine another relaxing bath until things go totally wrong pulsing in the water is an electrical current. it's like he planned the whole thing after a few minutes he convinces me that it's good for my health and to give it another go of course, i'm skeptical about the whole thing, but maybe i didn't give it a fair chance yep, it's still shocking and still rather funny to my friend
the current runs between these two bars, so now you know hisamatsu-yu, also has an outdoor hot spring bath that bubbles i think you really need to have this open air when you're in a real onsen because that the cold air and the hot water really penetrates your soul like it gives you energy doesn't good for your health. yeah, very good for your health! everyday, everyday, everyday! do you go to sentoh everyday? of course, everyday. besides good health what's the attraction for him? it's very interesting because it's quite different in places,
with the exterior, interior and the water itself and the people as well people coming are so different in every sentoh hisamatsu-yu was also an incredible sentoh experience and i'm starting to see why bath tourism is popular with japanese each one is like entering a new world shimokitazawa-san knows about my final destination daikoku-yu, but while i'm travelling there let's take a look at some other sentoh in tokyo as i said before the industry is changing to meet the times this is the newly remodeled sakae-yu, the new style is modern giving bathers a totally different experience beautiful white walls of the changing room as you can see lighting is important to set the mood here it looks like a scene from the future a bath from the year 2050 and
the sound on has incredible art on the ceiling bathing has gotten a lot more exciting at sakae-yu another style shift is to go back in history to another era hasunuma-onsen is newly remodeled as well, but in the 1920s taisho era look the mount fuji mural usually over the bath is now in the lobby so people can take photos of it the ceiling is high surrounded by stained glass and antique looking lights the bath has painted tile making it seem like a theme park the main bath pays homage to japan's oldest bathhouse dogo-onsen and matsuyama where i was unclear this episode
this is a hot spring water with natural minerals coming from deep underground japan's four seasons painted above the showers going back in time is just as fun as going to the future but there is one modern touch here the carp swimming under the floor. it's digital welcome to daikoku-yu and oshiage near the tokyo skytree come on in it's an inviting place for locals and tourists alike leave your shoes in the locker and get a ticket from the vending machine like everywhere else it's 460 yen bring your own towel or pay a little extra to rent one. you'll also get a key for your locker the setup is a little similar to takata-yu
there's my good friend fujisan on the wall above grab a bucket in a stool rinse yourself up then pick a bath superjet body massage the sitting bath the waterfall the medicinal bath the walking bath this one's daikoku-yu has wow many different varieties including
and onsen, daikoku-yu pumps up water from the ground to bring it onsen experience to the bathers something unique that's not in people's homes you can also go upstairs to a lounge to cool off and relax at 643 metres high the tokyo skytree looks over the neighborhood there's also a sauna here but my favorite place in this sentoh is the retro hairdryer no instruction manual needed plonk your head under the hood pay 20 yen, or 15 cents and enjoy a three-minute blow feels like you're inside an airplane turbine
the feeling is better than a double espresso people with body art will be happy to know that tokyo sentoh are increasingly becoming tattoo friendly the sentoh is open to all and it's just 460 yen you can take your first step to be a sentoh master, it's not just a bath. it's a relaxing experience that's good for your health part of the culture and history and one of those experiences that is certainly only in japan enjoy your soak if you liked it hit that subscribe button and check out another one of our shows don't miss my second live streaming channel only in japan go and check out location photos on instagram matane