The JStories workers, coming from various backgrounds, explored the streets of the town to seize scenes that felt uniquely Japanese or revealed contemporary, revolutionary concepts. Some have been traditions which have lengthy been a part of each day life, whereas others have been fleeting snapshots of September 2025. In these on a regular basis scenes, we discovered sparks of innovation from Japan that would encourage options to world challenges.
JStories ー Tokyo’s public bathhouses, often known as “sento,” have lengthy been extra than simply locations to clean. They’re neighborhood hubs, the place individuals loosen up, ease their fatigue, and join with others.
However this custom is beneath strain. In the course of the final century, Tokyo had greater than 2,600 sento. By the top of 2024, solely about 430 remained — lower than one-sixth of their peak. Customer numbers have additionally dropped: round 23 million individuals used sento yearly till 2020, however this fell to about 20 million after the pandemic and has but to get better. The unfold of personal baths, getting old amenities, and the superior age of many operators have solely deepened the disaster.
Many bathhouses are making efforts to adapt. Saunas, widespread amongst youthful generations, have been launched, whereas native traditions proceed to be valued. But with Japan’s shrinking youth inhabitants, many now see overseas residents and vacationers as important for the survival of sento.
However sento might be intimidating to overseas guests. A June 2025 survey discovered that 15.3% of overseas vacationers averted public baths because of discomfort with nudity or unfamiliar bathing etiquette. Language is one other barrier: in a 2024 Japan Tourism Company survey, 15.2% of respondents reported issue speaking with workers in English.
On Aug. 28, I joined a media tour for the WELCOME! SENTO marketing campaign at Kotobuki-yu in Ueno, one of many licensed “inbound-friendly” public bathhouses. Handouts from the tour included impressions from foreigners who had visited a public tub for the primary time throughout final 12 months’s marketing campaign. One traveler from Canada wrote, “The sento not solely eased my bodily ache but in addition deepened my bond with my pals.”
That comment reaffirmed to me that sento will not be merely locations to alleviate fatigue — they’re cultural gateways the place individuals can naturally join. Stuffed with curiosity and anticipation, I started my tour.
The realm round Ueno Station is at all times bustling, but only a step right into a aspect alley, Kotobuki-yu stands quietly, its palace-style roof and picket façade hinting at historical past. The bathhouse first opened in 1952, and in 1959 administration was taken over by a household of native bathhouse operators. Since then, it has been handed down by means of three generations.
Inside, I used to be welcomed by a nostalgic environment. The tiled partitions, picket pillars, and beams all bear the marks of time, but the area inside is shiny, clear, and effectively maintained. The outside preserves its basic attraction, however the constructing has additionally undergone trendy renovations, together with earthquake-resistant development. Kotobuki-yu affords spacious bathe rooms, a refreshing cold-water tank, and an inviting open-air tub. The interaction between the heat of steam and the coolness of water creates a soothing rhythm all through the power.
This jogged my memory of the general public bathhouses in my hometown in China. I remembered the steam-filled rooms, the sound of water, and my mom’s light smile throughout our quiet conversations. Chinese language bathhouses typically carry a vigorous, social environment, whereas Japanese sento provide quiet, tranquil areas the place courtesy and privateness are rigorously revered.
The murals of Mount Fuji, seasonal decorations, and easy hand towels all linger in my reminiscence. In such an area, the nostalgia of residence blends with Japan’s distinctive calm, making a deep sense of safety — one which transcends borders.
Kotobuki-yu boasts Tokyo’s largest males’s open-air tub, subsequent to a ladies’s tub, providing a liberating sense of openness beneath the evening sky. The fusion of conventional structure and trendy consolation — the place nostalgia and innovation harmonize — is the bathhouse’s true attraction. For a fleeting second, it felt as if scenes from many years previous have been unfolding earlier than me: individuals exchanging greetings, glances, and quiet dialog.
Whereas soaking at Kotobuki-yu, I used to be reminded of a motif from the favored Japanese TV drama “Physician X.” After every profitable surgical procedure, the protagonist, Michiko Daimon, and her mentor, Akira Kanbara, would every take a shower individually as a part of a convention to mark the success. In that quiet ritual, they exchanged methods and concepts, constructing belief. Watching the steam curl across the bathers right here, I might really feel an analogous sense of connection forming naturally — with out formality or pretense — between everybody sharing the area.
The tour additionally included representatives from the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities, who have been there to elucidate the broader significance of the marketing campaign. Amongst them was Mr. Tsutomu Kosaka, the director of Tokyo authorities’s shopper security division within the Bureau of Residents and Cultural Affairs, who remarked: “It’s superb that individuals meet and may chat casually on the public tub. It’s an necessary social gathering place for native residents.
Kotobuki-yu preserves custom whereas additionally breaking down cultural and linguistic boundaries, changing into a crossroads the place individuals from various backgrounds can join naturally. When bathhouses like this take root in neighborhoods, city landscapes turn out to be softer, hotter, and extra inviting.
Mr. Kosaka added, “We wish to proceed this custom and supply a protected, comfy sento expertise for individuals each domestically and internationally.”
Stepping by means of Kotobuki-yu’s “noren” curtain, I felt the evening breeze brush towards my cheeks. At that second, the Canadian traveler’s phrases got here again to me: “The sento deepened my friendship with my companion.” Areas like these, wrapped in steam, are greater than locations to ease fatigue — they gently shut the gap between individuals, providing heat invites that transcend cultural boundaries.
I hope initiatives like WELCOME! SENTO will appeal to extra guests to Japan whereas additionally encouraging Japanese individuals to rediscover the culturally vital quiet attraction of sento. With sustainable administration, these bathhouses can proceed not solely as locations that heal physique and thoughts but in addition as residing cultural areas, including heat to the city panorama.
Translated by Anita De Michele | JStories
Edited by Mark Goldsmith
Prime picture: © Welcome! SENTO Marketing campaign
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