Tokyo bathhouse offering ‘naked school’
Print Edition
A Tokyo bathhouse is offering classes on topics ranging from comedy to gaming in hopes of luring younger bathers and reversing Japan’s dying tradition of communal baths.
During one recent session of the “naked school” at the Hinodeyu bathhouse, nine men sat around the bath, listening to an expert on the ancient board game Go. In April, bathers learned about comedy, March was the public bath industry, while June is how to deal with stray cats.
Yuichi Tamura, manager of the Hinodeyu, operated by his family since 1939, said many young people had never been to a communal bath but wants to boost the local tradition.
“I wanted to give them a reason to visit us by offering an odd event like this naked school,” Tamura said.
In its heyday, more than 500 people bathed daily at Hinodeyu near Tokyo’s Asakusa district. Today the number is around 100. In the 1960s, there were over 2,660 traditional bathhouses, known as sento, but they have gradually declined over the years.
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