2/14/2007
Bathing..
In Japan people usually bathe at night. I have always been a shower in the morning person and no matter how hard I try, I find it impossible to do things the Japanese way because by lunchtime the following day, I am feeling horrible and greasy and like I need to wash my hair. Yesterday I was thinking what a curious phenomenon this is. If you think about it, if I bathe every evening 24 hours passes between showers. When I shower in the morning, it is the same but when I wake up to shower in the morning, I don`t feel nearly as disgusting and desperate for a shower as I do if I shower at night and wait until the following night to shower again. Why is this? Am I just a total weirdo?? Either way, I have discovered another part of Japanese culture that I will never be able to get used to, joining the ranks of natto and squat toilets!!! What about everyone else? Are you a bathing at night or in the morning kind of person??
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10 comments:
I don't mind taking a bath at night- it's quite relaxing. Actually, I haven been doing it a lot lately because it makes my aching back/pelvis feel better. I have all the time in the world during the day but only do it at night so if I get stuck in the tub Ryu can rescue me!
That being said- doesn't matter if I bathe the night before or not, I have to shower in the morning. I don't like to have sleep on my body!
I'm the same...as relaxing and nice as a bath at night is, I absolutely MUST take a shower in the morning otherwise I don't feel like I've truly woken up. I also start to feel greasy and slimy in the afternoon even if I've just bathed the night before. Amazing how habits from childhood can stay with a person forever!
One of the things that I have come to really love about Japan is the ofuro. I remember getting so frustrated at what seemed like luke warm water in my parents' tub in the states last time we visited them! However, while I don't miss/need a morning shower my hair always has to be wetted and restlyed. I just have really fine, thin hair and if I don't wet it and restyle it when I get up I look like a bed head all day. I think that is one problem that the majority of Japanese don't have to deal with. My older daughter who has very thick coarse hair has no problems--she wakes up and her hair looks fab. My younger daughter however, who has fine thin hair like mine. . .just this morning I had to whip out a wet comb and try to tame it down and pat the wierd little bits that were just standing up because they could back into place.
Ohhh I love this post Midori!!!!
I grew up in the US, and in our family we showered every morning. Even when I go back home to visit, I find myself falling into that routine very easily. It's second nature.
However having said that. I really really love taking nightly baths in Japan. I find them really relaxing. It's like a tiny reward at the end of my very long and busy day. I wash up the kids and then I wash myself and I just sit in the tub forever. Because in Japan the tubs don't ever get cold. Our tub, we set to a certain temp for example and it actually will stay that actual degrees for the entire bath, it's almost like a soak in a hot tub. Sounds nerdy to say but, for me, taking baths in America have never been the same for me since. The water gets cold after a few minutes and then I just sit around in lukewarm water, blech! I look forward to my nightly baths to wash off the grime from the day. And relax. So i enjoy my night time bath.
But on the other hand, please forgive me I am a bit of a chatter box this morning, lol. In the summer, I shower every morning and I show every night. I usually don't bathe very much at all in the summer. And in the winter, a nightly shower and bath is all I need.
So long story short, winter time for me, shower and night bath at night time only. But summer, shower day and night, so both times a day. But if I go to America for a family visit I can do that way too.
LOL, sorry for the long winded comment! : )
LOL at Medea stuck in the tub...not long now M.
I`m like Gina. I take the hot baths at night in the winter and shower (night and day) in the summer. It`s just too flippin` hot down here to not rinse off a couple of times a day.
Hi Midori,
I need my showers in the morning to wake me up and I have that fine/thin hair problem that needs fixing too. However, if I can squeeze in a shower at night (a bath would be nice but being a working mum with 2 young kids, I don't have that luxury), that would be great. In summer though, it is almost mandatory for me - 2 showers a day!
I think the Japanese bathe at night because most houses only have 1 shower/bath area. It would be mayhem in the morning with Dad and the kids all wanting to bathe at about the same time.
Also, about the 24hours thingey, that's cos we actually perspire a lot at night. We don't realise it but it happens. And I think that's why there are some very stale smelling people on the trains in the morning (I can't help smelling them when I am right up against them!).
Cheers!
I like the idea of a bat at night, very relaxing, but I generally shower in the morning cos it makes shaving so much easier when the hair has been wettened and softened.
But I s'pose most of the readers of this blog have other reasons for making their choice :D
G
Interesting about the bathing at night thing. I used to love taking a long hot bath at night ... now i am so not into it ... I have to shower every morning ... my curls after a sleep are wild!
I should have added that my personal preference in showering at night and in the morning but my DH whinges about me wasting water if I do that during the winter because we fill up the bath and while I can see the waste (although we do use the water for the washing as well) I end up being super cranky most of the day if I don`t shower in the morning as well! I have taken to having "secret" showers after he has gone out in the mornings!!!
In the summer we all shower as often as we need to, it is only in the winter that we seem to butt heads!!!
Thanks for all your comments, it is good to know I am not a total weirdo!!!
I used to be a bath person but only after work or on weekends. Now that I'm married, we have one of those newfangled baths that never cool down. Hubby has it set way way too hot for me so I never take one. The only time I take baths these days is when I go to a hotel!
I'm a morning shower person all the way. Like your commenter Heidi, I have fine hair and if I don't wash it in the morning it looks terriible!
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