Saunas are found in nearly every major city, and many are located within walking distance of the main train station. Their drawbacks are: that only men are admitted; that the all night rate may begin only after 11 p.m. (with an added surcharge after eight the next morning); and they offer everything imaginable except privacy. Saunas do provide a good place to crash after the disco closes or when arriving without reservations, and they are a good place to stay--especially if you have a sleeping bag and earplugs. And certainly no better environment could be found to practice or learn Japanese!
Saunas are geared towards businessmen who are in town and not on an expense account and towards those who have had one too many and missed the last train home. It is as if one section of society had been drawn into a vacuum tube and hermetically isolated. Saunas are living examples of two calling cards of "unique" Japanese society: cultural homogenity and danson johi ("men-noble, women-base"), the predominance of men over women.
To stay at a sauna is to experience both of these maxims first hand. One can't imagine a sauna functioning in a nation like the United States simply because the cramped conditions would cause cultural friction. As for the manifestations of danson johi or, in plain English, "sexism," it might be best to continue by visiting a not atypical sauna.
Sauna Plaza is located near Hakata Station in Fukuoka, a city which is the center of commerce for the island of Kyushu. Its entrance is marked by a bright neon sign. Entering, one passes the automatic shoeshine machine (´100) on the left and pays the receptionist the ´1800 cost of a night's sojurn. If you have any clothes that you'd like to have cleaned by morning, just hand them to the receptionist. Every patron gets his own locker. A yellow braided nylon cord, to be worn at all times, has a yellow plastic tag--with the locker number etched in black--attached to it. It pulls back to reveal the locker key.
Out in the lobby, framed, painted portraits of scantily clad women adorn the walls. The semi-soft porn "Eleven P.M." show is on the tube with Japanese buxom beauties beatifically baring their bosoms. Naming the area, an illuminated "Sauna Plaza Locker Room" sign hangs high above the carpeted floor. Shirts, shorts, and jewelery are sold inside glass cases, and a pay telephone, encased in a glass booth, is equipped with a pen, note pad, and directories. The adjoining toilet room provides a sterilizer unit containing combs and brushes, hairdryers, prepackaged disposable toothbrushes mysteriously labeled "sun hope," and an assortment of toiletries, including cologne, creams, and lotions.
The naturalistic pop synth of Kitaro provides background muzak for the bathing area. Inside, to the left, ladies clad in red terry cloth uniforms (tops and shorts) massage, soap up, and rub down naked executives with sagging bellies. Further to the left is a row of lukewarm tubs; each compartment comes equipped with a spouting water geyser. Next to these stands a forelorn bath containing cold water. A fount in a glass-encased steam shower room pours droplets onto patrons. A small swimming pool is for exercise. Next to the pool is another bath rendered red by packages of mineral salts. There's also a shower, a place for soaping up with plastic buckets, a holder for eyeglasses, and a cabinet containing ice cold face towels. From the bath area separate doors lead to each of the two saunas (high and low heat); each has padded seats facing television sets placed behind glass and surrounded by potted plants.
Two padded spiral staircases lead up to the next level. In one room--labeled "training room" in katakana scripts, more terrycloth ladies--in teams this time--offer massages to patrons covered only by by blue towels. The adjoining main room, with its reclining lounge chairs, resembles the interior of a very wide-bodied aircraft with a large television set standing in for a cockpit. Framed paintings of potted flowers hang from shoji to the right. To the left, a small restaurant counter offers a wide range of comestibles: from oden to yakitori to sake. A row of keep bottles is for steady patrons. A push of neighboring plastic green dispensers releases cold green and barley tea into waiting glasses. Next to these, a glass cabinet, labeled "Budwiser," dispenses Bud, Heineken, and a variety of fruit.
To the rear of the "cockpit" men lie on contoured, narrow blue foam mattresses while snoozing or perusing newspapers or comic books. Another man watches a coin operated laser disk television console. Dorm beds, in a room to the rear, are supplied for another ´700; blankets are ´400 yen additional, while long towels are ´300.
Coffee is supplied the next morning for ´200. At the reception desk, patrons are handed back their shoes after paying any additional charges for food and service, and they stumble out into the streets. Back to another busy day and "reality."
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last updated: Sun., Jan 28, 1996