Japanese baths
“Japanese-only public baths to pay damages” is the headline from one news article on the subject. While it is true that one Japanese bath was successfully sued for 3,000,000¥ the article alludes that racism is common practice in many establishments. It is not, not in Tokyo of outside. I lived in Kyoto for a year and a half before Tokyo so I’m not being idealistic. The cash reward is equivalent to $25,000 at today’s rate. Some baths are wary about foreigners using their bath, maybe even racist but on the whole I don’t think that’s the case. It is mostly due to fact that Japanese baths follow a certain etiquette that a foreigner may not be aware of.
Important things to remember if you every have the pleasure to enjoy a Japanese bath: wash your self before you enter the bath. That might sound strange to a westerner but Japanese baths are not for bathing, they’re for relaxing. No splashing or any king of horseplay and be respectful of others. If you’re not wanted at the establishment then don’t go there, there are plenty of other places that will offer you the services you want. A more common refusal for a bath is for people with tattoos, Japanese or Western (remember criminals have tattoos). I have a tattoo and I’ve never been refused, your mileage may vary. Because of my MS hot water is not a good thing, makes me very weak after the bath. I’ll gladly put up with it for a bath.
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Things like this are most American’s first taste of discrimination.