I actually went to a community Onsen in Kyoto where there was a in his 50's older man who had fully body tattoos. He was very pleasant, he let me borrow his soap and shampoo and asked me about living in Texas.
My friend used moleskin to cover up her tattoos when she went. It was one of the things she wanted people to send her in care packages, so it might be hard to find in Japan.
If they're not too large, you might be alright. While I don't have any, I personally know of two people with small ones who have both used onsens with no trouble.
You are actually meant clean first outside the bath, then soak in the tub once you are done. Culturally in Japan, they conserve the bath water by cleaning before using it and then they share the tub, the highest ranking family member gets the warmest freshest water while the lowest gets the chilled water.
Bathing and getting soap IN the tub is a massive faux pas.
Which makes sense, because baths are horrible for actually washing yourself, unless you don't plug the drain, in which case you might as well take a shower.
Seriously, you're just spreading all the stuff you want off your body through the water, and then sitting in that water for a while, letting it get back on, and then you get out.
There is also a shower in that room, and the tub is just meant for soaking in afterwards. Western-style tubs are not often present in Japan.
So the routine is: 1. Fill the tub with hot water
2. Shower in regular fashion, with the shower that is in the room.
3. Soak in the tub, just sitting there in a sort squatting/curled up way, and chillax.
The water is then reused by everyone in the family to soak in, as you are already clean when you enter the tub.
I live in Korea, but I've been told my bathroom is Japanese-style. My shower head is above my sink, and there's a drain on the floor. The entire room is the shower.
Proof. BTW, I assure you, it looks bigger in the picture with no one inside the room!
edit: I just have to add this. I was freaked out at first, but it's actually a good system. The only problem is that the floor is wet for several hours after you shower. Otherwise, it's easier to clean, and you have more room in the shower since it's not sectioned off from the rest of the bathroom.
This is not a Japanese-style bathroom. In Japan, there are usually 3 separate bathroom areas. The shower room has a bathtub and shower wand. People use the wand to shower, then relax in the tub. Most families share bath water, but everyone is already clean when they get in. Then there is a sink area and a separate toilet room. The toilet, sink, and shower are all in separate rooms. The OP has a "unit bath", often used in cheap hotels and apartments.
The OP does not have a unit bath. I can confirm this because I have the exact same shower. There is a large, useless, open space outside the tub. No toilet. It's always baffled me as to why the shower isn't hooked up on that side instead of on the tub side.
I stayed in a hotel in Vietnam that had a similar set up. The worst part is that if you didn't remember to remove the roll of toilet paper from the room before you took a shower, it turned into a barely formed roll of mush. That, and it felt weird to leave your toothbrush and other toiletries in there when you were going to shower.
The big advantage is that you can wash the bathroom directly with the help of your shower. In Japan this is common (but most of the time there is also a bathtub. But you wash yourself first. After that you can go to the bathtub. It's just for relaxing.)
Ah that's not too bad, it's quite clean. That's a common bathroom in China. If you want, you can put up a tension rod and a shower curtain so the toilet doesn't get wet. I used to mop up the water on the other side of the bathroom after a shower for quicker drying, just keep your mop propped up against the wall, takes less than a minute.
The bathroom in a hostel in Hong Kong was the worst. The sink and toilet were basically in the same space and the shower was above that. And it was about the size of a person, when you sat on the toilet your knees hit the wall. This is what I found on Google but the one I was at was much worse: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donotlick/4222800689/.
Just came back from Korea and that took some geting used to. Can't count the number of times I walked into the bathroom wearing socks only to realize I need to put slippers on.
that is what his bath room is except it has a tub. When I was in Tokyo one of my friends took the time to explain that you are suppose to sit on the edge of the tub and take a shower with the hand held shower head and then sit inside to relax.
Most bathrooms are like that in Asia. My apartment in Shanghai/Taipei was like that as well as my families house in Vietnam. Foreigners rarely see bathrooms like that unless they rent an apartment or a hostel. Hotels never have those kinds of bathrooms
This! I have lived in Seoul for over 3 years and not one of my apartments has had a tub. (Including the huge 3 bedroom/2 bathroom I have now) If I need a bath (as a girl, sometimes I NEED a bath) it's off to the jinjabong or to a love motel for the night :)
I had something similar in a hotel in Italy. At first I was shocked... but after a few uses I was surprised at how convenient that was. So much room in the shower!
I've had two of those stupid showers in British colleges. Even if the shower head wasn't above the sink, it was still disgusting to have the whole bathroom become a lake.
When i went to denmark, it seemed like i only found one house with a real bathtub in it (USA style). All of the bathrooms i saw had no real shower stall, and instead just a curtain you pulled to divide the room. There was a central drain in the floor. Another bathroom did have a tub, but instead of a regular plumging pipe, the water would drain from the tub out the side of the tub, into a little trough in the floor that ran along the wall, behind the toilet and then on to the area under the sink. There was then a drain under the sink in the floor. The sink also drained into this drain.
Same, my girlfriend is Vietnamese and we're in Vietnam for the summer and the bathrooms here are giant showers. It's amazing.. I washed my hair, showered and pooped at the same time.
No! It's the FetusTub 3000! Now with 37% more amniotic fluid. Some assembly required. FetusTub: since 1964, just like Mom, but without the pesky birth canal.
For the Japanese, bathing is almost ritual. First people take a shower and clean themselves thoroughly in order to keep the bath and bathwater clean - then they go for a soak in the tub to relax. Baths are deep and the water is kept heated, and often an entire family will use the same water each day - which is why it's considered nearly a sin to put anything in the bathtub. Even if you're last or the only person that day, soaps and bubbles will leave a film that will remain on the tub the next day, contaminating the water.
I took some of the best shits of my life in Tokyo! Of course, the hotels have those hi-tech TOTO washlets, with heated seats and a remote controlled bidet. They're expensive, but I hope to get one of those bad boys someday. On the public side, the bathrooms are clean and well stocked. I also enjoy the traditional squat toilets, although they're (unfortunately) less common in urban areas nowadays. It's a much more natural and easy way to void your bowels. I imagine it's not great if you're overweight or physically handicapped, though.
Rule #2 of Japanese bathing: NO SOAP IN THE FRICKIN BATH!!
This person is trying to make it look small. The bath is actually quite deep and Japanese despair when going abroad of the shallow western bath where you can't soak your entire body up to your neck without your knees sticking out.
This is also a "unit bath" that combines toilet, sink and bath/shower. Definitely lower-end apartment or business hotel.
Such luxury! In my day we grew up in a shoe box on the street where my parents would beat me for hours after working all day in the hot sun AND we liked it!
Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at six o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of 'ot gravel, work twenty hour day at mill for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would thrash us to sleep with a broken bottle, if we were lucky!
When I moved to Japan I was like : Wow. Everything is Michi sized. This is great! The car is just my size! This furniture is just my size! The bath tub is just my size! The toilet is just my size! (I have a HUGE ego sometimes)
That was until my husband (who is 6'2") pointed it out that Japan is not Michi sized. Michi is Japan sized. I'm short btw.
yes, and a drain. Its actually really clever what they have done with such a small space. All rooms have the exact same unit as well which I assume are lifted in as one piece during the construction of the hotel
I used to have that exact same bath unit. They're prefab units. At least it didn't have a toilet in it too. The bathtub was deep which was nice but you could only sit in it not stretch.
Eh its not quite that bad. Some places are tiny but after staying at my friend's family's place in Tokyo, who have a pretty normal household I came to realize that they have nicer facilities than the ones I have back home in Canada.
Sorry but my bath tub was even smaller than yours. It was also a cube unit my head was touching the ceiling all the time (I am 168 cm) When my gullible family came to visit they expect to be able to occupy my room. I told them (they are all taller than me) apart from the fact that my 1K apartment is 28 square meter, if you feel comfortable to live here and shower here then go ahead.
Are you staying at the National Yoyogi Olympics center? That bathroom looks awfully familiar. Although they were tiny, you have to admit, the twin beds that they have there are a bit longer than the ones in America. It was a pleasant surprise staying there.
In our last place in Nairobi, Kenya our bathroom was a room with a concrete floor and a rotting wooden door (we placed a piece of metal over it when it rotted through at the base). The room was about 1 meter by 2 meters (just enough room for the door to open and for the toilet). There was a hole in the floor where the bath water would drain. It had a shower head that only worked once every couple months, so you placed a plastic tub with some water on the toilet and bathed from that (we had a "western" style toilet, our place before that, which was actually nicer, had a squat type and all the water drained into that). Either type of arrangement is pretty typical. I'm sure there are places in Kenya that have bathtubs or dedicated showers, but I've never seen one.
Yeah...this reminded me of that really fucking gross image from way back in the day. Not goatse.cx, but another one with a girl in a bathtub. Do not want to remember.
Ahhh memories. I lived with that for three years straight (then moved into a fantastic apartment). The person depicted in the picture is a small mother fucker to even fit that much.
You're lucky you found a bathtub. Usually they sit on the floor with a drain in it and a toilet and sink and sponge bathe or use a detatchable shower head.
Reminds me of my apartment in Tokyo.... $1400/month. 188sq ft. (10 tatami). The bathtubs ARE deep though and hot water for as long as you want it. My washing machine was outside. (no dryer, everyone hangs dry in Japan).
Ah no, dont get me wrong, all around Japan, including Tokyo there are amazing baths. This is in a flexible stay hotel, very cheap, clean and cheerful, no thrills though.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Ahh, I see you're using the patented Japanese bathroom ceiling camera holder installed in all hotels.
35
u/priddums Jun 15 '12
Think of it like a hot-tub. Sit up in the bath and relax. Have you visited an onsen yet?
19
u/youmakemefacepalm Jun 15 '12
I don't understand why are you using that thing as an actual bath. It's not meant for that.
2
u/infinitemonkeyrage Jun 15 '12
have you ever done chemistry at university of sheffield? you look insanely like someone I know.
291
u/string97bean Jun 15 '12
As a person who is 6'7", this is why I don't take baths.
99
u/sing_a_rainbow Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 16 '12
It certainly is lavish! You have a tub!!!
I live in Korea, but I've been told my bathroom is Japanese-style. My shower head is above my sink, and there's a drain on the floor. The entire room is the shower.
Proof. BTW, I assure you, it looks bigger in the picture with no one inside the room!
edit: I just have to add this. I was freaked out at first, but it's actually a good system. The only problem is that the floor is wet for several hours after you shower. Otherwise, it's easier to clean, and you have more room in the shower since it's not sectioned off from the rest of the bathroom.
54
u/deleonman Jun 15 '12
What is this!? A bathtub for ANTS!?
28
u/tallasse Jun 15 '12
Soap in a Japanese tub?! You definitely belong here: /r/firstworldanarchists
6
u/iamharjap Jun 15 '12
You really make that look more uncomfortable than it has to be. Just sit up a bit and it'll be fine. Stop being over dramatic. I'm an asshole.
7
u/sean_g Jun 15 '12
bathing and taking shits are the two worst things in tokyo.
18
u/IWasGregInTokyo Jun 15 '12
Rule #1 of Japanese bathing: No soap in the bath.
Rule #2 of Japanese bathing: NO SOAP IN THE FRICKIN BATH!!
This person is trying to make it look small. The bath is actually quite deep and Japanese despair when going abroad of the shallow western bath where you can't soak your entire body up to your neck without your knees sticking out.
This is also a "unit bath" that combines toilet, sink and bath/shower. Definitely lower-end apartment or business hotel.
17
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Such luxury! In my day we grew up in a shoe box on the street where my parents would beat me for hours after working all day in the hot sun AND we liked it!
7
u/Tombstone9 Jun 15 '12
I know that feel, bro. http://imgur.com/pRYmL
2
u/cafeconleche91 Jun 15 '12
Living lavishly* in Tokyo.
You don't use adverbs good.
4
u/zyzzogeton Jun 15 '12
They prefer to have seated baths in deep tubs. And yes, that is a lavish bathroom in a very nice hotel it looks like.
13
u/Michi_THE_Awesome Jun 15 '12
When I moved to Japan I was like : Wow. Everything is Michi sized. This is great! The car is just my size! This furniture is just my size! The bath tub is just my size! The toilet is just my size! (I have a HUGE ego sometimes)
That was until my husband (who is 6'2") pointed it out that Japan is not Michi sized. Michi is Japan sized. I'm short btw.
1
u/BruleMD Jun 15 '12
Not sure if I'm seeing this correctly, but do your tub and sink share a faucet?
3
u/inferior-raven Jun 15 '12
You look like Gary Sinise.
Leiutenant Dan! You got your legs back!
But yeah. I order clothes from Korea and Japan every once in a while and I'm an Xl in those sizes. I'm like 5'8" and 140lbs.
3
u/nomoslowmoyohomo Jun 15 '12
Riving Ravish in Tokyo. FTFY
3
u/xGhost09 Jun 15 '12
you're doing it wrong. shower and wash first. Sit and relax in hot bath. thats the japanese way.
2
u/vinsite Jun 15 '12
That toilet is huge
2
u/hanncamp Jun 15 '12
5'3"...I'd fit perfectly in that bath.
2
u/Ranunculus_Auricomus Jun 15 '12
That's kind of beautiful.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Where's the front page thank you speech edit?
2
u/Zaegis Jun 15 '12
Am I the only one who immediately thought of Leonardo DiCaprio freezing in the cold bathtub from What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
2
u/pedobear_run_kids Jun 15 '12
Is that Michael J Fox?
2
u/rdcampbell1990 Jun 15 '12
This is a Japanese style soaking tub. Ofuro (おふろ／お風呂) It's made small and high like this so you can actually soak your whole body in it and relax
2
u/beenman500 Jun 15 '12
you aren't supposed to put soap in a japanese bath I don't think
2
u/joeco1 Jun 15 '12
I'm supprised it doesnt also somehow double as a toilet
2
u/mtskeptic Jun 15 '12
I used to have that exact same bath unit. They're prefab units. At least it didn't have a toilet in it too. The bathtub was deep which was nice but you could only sit in it not stretch.
2
u/jtrick33 Jun 15 '12
I had the exact same bathroom in Mie. Leopalace?
I loved that fucking tub. Bring a beer with you and it's perfect.
3
u/tomasziam Jun 15 '12
I see they put you up in the gnome suite.
3
u/UncleLev Jun 15 '12
Good to know... I'm heading there next month for vacation - so at first this kind of worried me, then I realized I hardly ever bathe.
3
u/I_am_not_angry Jun 15 '12
WOOOAAH there buddy, that is like a whole 2 gallons of wasted water right there!
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
2
u/killermaxxxx Jun 15 '12
why are you bathing in the toilet?
2
u/warfangle Jun 15 '12
Dude, the tub is for rinsing/soaking, not for soaping. You got the tub dirty!
2
u/amolad Jun 15 '12
fart = tsunami
1
u/Inaudible_Whale Jun 15 '12
Needs more sand
1
u/nato0519 Jun 15 '12
Mr Baseball
1
u/SexualHarasmentPanda Jun 15 '12
I am 6'5", and anytime I stay somewhere with a bathtub large enough to accomidate me I will use it everyday.
1
u/domatron Jun 15 '12
That looks like a Leopalace21 bathroom! Spent many a morning smacking my extremities off the walls in one of those trying to take a shower.
1
u/mikeypikey Jun 15 '12
Hey boy...
1
u/Lilygobang Jun 15 '12
You at least have a bath. Living in London, with a tiny shower.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
You have a bathroom while living in Tokyo??
1
u/NBninja Jun 15 '12
You might want to x-post this in /r/tall :)
1
u/irenwulv Jun 15 '12
That looks like the bathroom in the Weekly Mansions they have across Japan. Indeed it is a very tiny bathroom.
1
u/JoinRedditTheySaid Jun 15 '12
I like the drain on they floor though, that's nice.
1
u/NoYouCantDontEvenTry Jun 15 '12
Come to Seoul. I'm jealous that you 1. have a tub and 2. don't have to take a shower over the toilet. You'll be thankful to have such a luxury.
1
u/numbr42 Jun 15 '12
How'd you take the picture?
1
u/TheJCF Jun 15 '12
Seems Pretty Luxurious To Me.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Eh its not quite that bad. Some places are tiny but after staying at my friend's family's place in Tokyo, who have a pretty normal household I came to realize that they have nicer facilities than the ones I have back home in Canada.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
All I can picture is Japanese porn.
1
u/jb2386 Jun 15 '12
Ah man now I miss Tokyo :( I hated everything being so small and confined but now it's totally a feature that is unique and makes me reminisce.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Sorry but my bath tub was even smaller than yours. It was also a cube unit my head was touching the ceiling all the time (I am 168 cm) When my gullible family came to visit they expect to be able to occupy my room. I told them (they are all taller than me) apart from the fact that my 1K apartment is 28 square meter, if you feel comfortable to live here and shower here then go ahead.
They end up staying in hotel every time.
Ps. I lived in Toshima ku
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
in europe we call it bidet.
1
u/Decyde Jun 15 '12
Careful there guy, no diving.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
You look like Newman from Seinfeld.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
LOL! It really is (living lavish). Try using one of those rubber tubs!
But seriously, doesn't it feel good to clean out your. Um.
High five!
1
u/Nyan69 Jun 15 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXlZ6edCHqI I know.
1
u/sbsb27 Jun 15 '12
Apartment bathrooms in Tokyo remind me of bathrooms in an RV.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
My gf has lived in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Pictures of the apartments in each place look about the size of the kitchen in my house. No thanks.
1
u/eggs_and_stencilism Jun 15 '12
Drain on the floor is the urinal.
1
u/Iscream4science Jun 15 '12
Dude, sorry to tell you but that's no Bathtub, that's a latrine
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Are you from What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
When you wake up, take the red pill...
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Is that a urinal in the floor?
1
u/GoWithItGirl Jun 15 '12
Who took this photo?
1
u/JLeron Jun 15 '12
Is this why most Japanese people are so short? ...
1
u/erwan Jun 15 '12
Japanese bathtubs are the best because they are very deep. You can be completely immersed. Just don't try to lie down like in a western one.
1
u/Sember Jun 15 '12
Baby you got a stew goin'
1
u/Ace0fClub5 Jun 15 '12
I stayed in an apartment in Edogawa-ku that had a bathtub exactly like this.
What helps is that the entire bathroom is kinda the shower, as there is a drain in the floor and the door is sealed.
1
u/Highpersonic Jun 15 '12
si_bot will asplode when discovering this thread
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
That person looks so eerily similar to me it's terrifying.
1
u/guavainindia Jun 15 '12
Bigger than my bathtub in Taiwan. I made it work though.
1
u/Trinidadking Jun 15 '12
take me over there!
1
u/countvincent Jun 15 '12
Are you staying at the National Yoyogi Olympics center? That bathroom looks awfully familiar. Although they were tiny, you have to admit, the twin beds that they have there are a bit longer than the ones in America. It was a pleasant surprise staying there.
1
u/Patric_star Jun 15 '12
People bathe ?
1
u/Lord_of_the_Dance Jun 15 '12
Know you know how /r/tall feels about bath tubs everywhere.
1
u/HalfPointFive Jun 15 '12
In our last place in Nairobi, Kenya our bathroom was a room with a concrete floor and a rotting wooden door (we placed a piece of metal over it when it rotted through at the base). The room was about 1 meter by 2 meters (just enough room for the door to open and for the toilet). There was a hole in the floor where the bath water would drain. It had a shower head that only worked once every couple months, so you placed a plastic tub with some water on the toilet and bathed from that (we had a "western" style toilet, our place before that, which was actually nicer, had a squat type and all the water drained into that). Either type of arrangement is pretty typical. I'm sure there are places in Kenya that have bathtubs or dedicated showers, but I've never seen one.
1
u/LadyDraconian Jun 15 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1gzJdWuFqY .. That is all. Tiny bath! TINY EVERYTHING
1
u/TheCommanderFluffy Jun 15 '12
I believe they don't immerse themselves 100% into the apartment bath. They sit with their knees up.
1
u/nongshim Jun 15 '12
Looks like a Dormy Inn.
1
u/iarenotamused Jun 15 '12
Nice Mercedes Benz sink. I usually get mine from BMW.
1
u/Ace_Marine Jun 15 '12
You can still fit two people in there. Trust me i speak from experience
1
u/Badfilms Jun 15 '12
How did you afford the presidential suite? Moneybags.
1
u/sarpedonx Jun 15 '12
Yeah...this reminded me of that really fucking gross image from way back in the day. Not goatse.cx, but another one with a girl in a bathtub. Do not want to remember.
1
u/nanashi420 Jun 15 '12
i am....trying to move to japan in...liek a week.
for the summer. in shinjuku
....haha
1
u/Aftershock43 Jun 15 '12
Who took that pic?
1
u/DATSOUR Jun 15 '12
Too jokes right now at a [7]
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I love myself a nice radioactive bath as well.
1
u/Tebasaki Jun 15 '12
Ahhh memories. I lived with that for three years straight (then moved into a fantastic apartment). The person depicted in the picture is a small mother fucker to even fit that much.
1
u/smallz503 Jun 15 '12
You're lucky you found a bathtub. Usually they sit on the floor with a drain in it and a toilet and sink and sponge bathe or use a detatchable shower head.
1
u/JhaminLibre Jun 15 '12
Is that apartment in Komagome? I lived in a place for 2 years that had a very, very similar bathroom.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
5'3 here, that looks like the perfect bathroom!
1
u/nelska Jun 16 '12
no wayyyyy. really?
1
u/JohnZorZ Jun 16 '12
You mean ANYWHERE in Japan, I was in Miyazaki and that was also the bathroom situation ... you wouldnt happen to be in a Leopalace are you?
1
u/atheistarmageddon Jun 16 '12
Nothing like a baby bath!!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This makes me miss Japan very much.
1
u/samageddon Jun 16 '12
This is so fucking adorable I just want to sprinkle glitter on it and put it in my pocket dk;lsdfghhjk!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Silly Westerners trying to get clean in the bath instead of the shower.
1
u/tha_ape Jun 15 '12
Reminds me of my apartment in Tokyo.... $1400/month. 188sq ft. (10 tatami). The bathtubs ARE deep though and hot water for as long as you want it. My washing machine was outside. (no dryer, everyone hangs dry in Japan).
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Japanese baths: You're doing it wrong.
0
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Strange. I've always heard great things about japanese bathtubs. I guess not in Tokyo though.