Quote Japan
Interesting, odd, outrageous or informative quotes about JapanBaths- quotes about Japanese onsen, ofuro, sento etc.
“[Hot springs are] the closest thing the normally stoic Japanese have to socially sanctioned hedonism” Getting Wet pg 115
“the Japanese are very Calvinistic. To be acceptable, the cultivation of pleasure must involve a deeper purpose, it must be couched, for example, in the pursuit of a philosophy, of a deeper understanding of life. Or of the cure to an ill. Because the baths have that curative element, bathers need not feel guilty that they are just frivolously eating, drinking, and being merry. They are working on their health situation. It’s a self-improvement thing.” Getting Wet pg 117
“about the time that mixed bathing was banned- making it officially naughty- it became sexy. And it was about that time that Japan truly joined the ranks of the civilised.” Getting Wet pg 134
“There is a school of thought that half-seriously explains the very small number of psychiatrists in Japan as the result of the Japanese bath” From Bonsai to Levis, George Fields
“The… Goemon bath… required considerable skill to use; since the bottom of the cauldron, directly attacked by the flames, was a great deal hotter than the water one could get a nasty burn.” Another conveniently forgotten working class Japanese tradition, Ronald P. Dore
