Japan’s hot springs heating up again

The deeply held tradition of bathing in public hot spring baths is slowly coming alive again as movement restrictions are lifted in Japan. — AFP

MASAZUMI Kato sighs deeply as he lowers himself into a tub at a public bathhouse in a Tokyo suburb, enjoying a return to a Japanese tradition largely off-limits during the city’s coronavirus lockdown. With the lifting of a nationwide state of emergency over the virus, Japan’s onsen – large bathhouses where patrons bathe in a series of warm pools and tubs – are gradually reopening.And fans like 52-year-old Kato have few qualms about returning: “I believe they are taking anti-virus measures, like chlorine,” he says, as he soaks in an outdoor tub.

“I trust them and I like to use this place,” says Kato, a frequent patron of the five-storey Yumominosato facility in Yokohama, outside Tokyo.