How to Use a Sento, a Japanese Public Bath
A sento is a public bath in Japan. Local people go there to wash and relax. You do not need your own bathroom to visit a sento. First, get ready before you go. Bring a small towel, a bigger towel, soap, and shampoo. Some sento sell these things, but it is cheaper to bring your own. Put your things in a plastic bag. Bring cash, because many sento do not take cards. The entrance fee is usually about 550 to 600 yen for an adult. A few 100-yen coins are also useful for lockers and hair dryers.
When you arrive, take off your shoes at the door. Put them in a small locker and take the key. Walk to the front desk and pay the entrance fee. Then go into the changing room and find an empty locker. Put your clothes and your bag inside. Lock it and keep the key with you. Some sento put the key on a plastic bracelet. Wear this on your wrist so you do not lose it.
Now go into the bathing room. This is the most important rule: wash your whole body before you get into the bath. Sit on a small stool at a washing station. Use the shower or a bowl of hot water to rinse your body. Wash with soap and shampoo, then rinse again. Never put soap or shampoo in the bath water. The bath is for soaking, not for washing. Take your small towel with you, but keep it out of the water. Most people put it on their head or leave it beside the bath.
There are a few more rules everyone follows. Do not swim or splash in the bath. Speak quietly, because a sento is a place to relax. Tie up long hair so it does not touch the water. Hot spring hotels and big bath centres often do not allow visible tattoos. Small local sento are usually more relaxed about this, but rules are different at each place, so check before you go, or ask at the front desk. When you finish soaking, dry yourself a little with your small towel before you leave the bathing room. This keeps the changing room floor dry for other people. Get dressed, return your locker key, and put on your shoes. Now you are ready to enjoy the rest of your day, clean and relaxed.
Vocabulary
- locker
- a small cupboard with a door and a lock, used to store things safely — She kept her sports bag in a locker at the gym.
- entrance fee
- the money you pay to enter a place — The entrance fee for the museum was five dollars.
- front desk
- the desk near the entrance of a building where staff greet visitors or take payments — Ask for your room key at the front desk.
- changing room
- a room where people take off their clothes and put on different clothes — He left his shoes in the changing room before swimming.
- bracelet
- a small band or chain worn around the wrist — She wore a silver bracelet on her arm.
- wrist
- the part of the body between the hand and the arm — He hurt his wrist while playing tennis.
- stool
- a small seat with no back and no arms — He sat on a stool at the kitchen counter.
- rinse
- to wash something quickly with clean water to remove soap or dirt — Please rinse the plates before you put them away.
- soaking
- to stay in water for a long time, often to relax or feel warm — After the hike, I love soaking in a hot bath.
- splash
- to make water move around quickly and noisily — The children liked to splash each other in the pool.
- tie up
- to fasten something, such as hair, so that it cannot move freely — She tied up her long hair before the swimming lesson.
- visible
- able to be seen — The scar on his arm was still visible.
- tattoos
- permanent pictures or patterns made on someone's skin using ink — He has three tattoos on his left arm.
- sento
- a public bathhouse in Japan where people wash and relax in hot water together — My neighbor goes to the local sento every evening after work.
- hot spring
- a place where hot water comes up naturally from under the ground — We stayed at a small hotel next to a hot spring in the mountains.
- hair dryers
- machines that blow hot air to make wet hair dry — The hotel room has two hair dryers in the bathroom.