A SHORT ESSAY ON THE O'FURO, THE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE BATH By Robert L. Huffstutter
The most important issue to keep in mind when contemplating the o'furo is that it is not a hot tub to jump into and wash up. No, on the contrary, the sudsing, scrubbing and cleansing takes place prior to the entry into the very warm and sometimes a tad too hot, bath. Many of the baths are ceramic and tiled; the older ones are wooden, aged throughout the years dating back sometimes a century or more.
This is a time for the short bathing-style kimonos or bath jackets, often made with a cheesecloth or linen. One rule of ettiquette was to leave the sake back in one's room, but it's a rule that's flexible.
Many of the smaller hotels in Japan had the traditional ofuro, but it was bery basic and without adequate plumbing to fill and refill water buckets without going into a utility area.
Nevertheless, there was something unique about the bath in that one could truly feel the warmth of an age-old tradition.
If one had a guest, the guest was welcome to bathe as part of the accomdations. If one preferred, the hotel staff would fetch and carry the initial wash water and the subsequent tubs of warm, rinse water.
With or without company, the o'furo was a unique experience for most all who had never experience the fascination of the Orient. For this youth, it was especially memorable, having been accustomed to showers.
Posted 7 hours ago.
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