My apartment in the school dorm has its own bathroom, a 9x9 foot room containing only a plastic, aqua tub, freestanding on the floor. (The first time I pulled the plug and the water ran out on the floor, I freaked out. But it's supposed to do that...it just runs down the drain in the floor in the middle of the room.)
We only have cold running water in the apartment. We fill the tub up with cold water, and then filter the water through a gas recirculating heater (like a hot tub) to warm the water up. To bathe, we scoop water out of the tub, pour it over ourselves, then wash up. After we're clean, we jump in the tub for a nice long soak. I like the tub, but wish we also had a shower. The only downside is when it's cold. The bathroom isn't heated (none of the house is) and, to vent the steam, there is a small open window with no pane--which means it's just as cold inside the bathroom as it is outside.
The dorm has its own onsen (hot spring bath). It is behind the dorm building in a separate, little, concrete building with a corrugated tin roof. The building itself is not particularly attractive. It's divided into two rooms, a changing room and the bath. The bath is lined with tile and, again, there are small window vents open to the cold. But once immersed in the bath it is absolutely heavenly. It's wide enough for two people to lie in stretched out and deep enough to sink in up to your neck. There are two faucets, the big one opens to the hot spring water, and the small one is cold water to let you adjust the water to the best temperature.
We don't get to use the onsen as much as I'd like. Like everything else, it has a schedule and we are scheduled to use it very late at night...too late for us early-to-bed types. (Maybe someone thought we didn't know how to use a Japanese bath and so wanted to make sure we used it last.) The best time to use it is during school vacations when the students are gone. Of course, in the winter, it seems like a long, cold hike down to the bath in our yukata.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
November 11, 2002
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Immersed in our dorm's hot spring bath.