The framing of totonou as either individual physical rejuvenation or communal social connection cuts straight to the heart of modern urban atomization. What stood out to me is how the pricing model itself enforces social stratification, where ¥19,000 saunas become escapesfor those already grinding through the burnout-rejuvenate cycle. The story about the bathhouse owner checking on the elderley woman shows exactly why these commons matter beyond their stated function.
Redevelopment, gentrification, elitist consumerism, replacing old neighborhoods with high-rise condos and mix-use glass-and-concrete monsters... I hope this is not the end of Tokyo.
I enjoy small local suburbs’ sento with saunas. Great community feel. Thanks for supporting “sento” movement. Guess one day someone will create Sen’tou. Where tou is political party 党(:
I'm right with you on the value of being "dividual", Sam. Great word. I believe that in this hyper-individualistic age people inwardly crave real connection with place and people. Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution have made us this way, and no amount of digital "friendship" will change that. That sauna description is frightening in its embrace of the dark side as a natural corollary to its services, and its vision of both work and rejuvenation as solitary. I hope the very young ones who come to Inari-yu will keep the communal bathhouse experience in their neural pathways as a kind of vaccine for their future.
This is a wonderful insightful post, but so sad that the young couple perished in a sauna due to negligence. I’m reminded of the sauna in Yanaka that became an art gallery.
The framing of totonou as either individual physical rejuvenation or communal social connection cuts straight to the heart of modern urban atomization. What stood out to me is how the pricing model itself enforces social stratification, where ¥19,000 saunas become escapesfor those already grinding through the burnout-rejuvenate cycle. The story about the bathhouse owner checking on the elderley woman shows exactly why these commons matter beyond their stated function.
Redevelopment, gentrification, elitist consumerism, replacing old neighborhoods with high-rise condos and mix-use glass-and-concrete monsters... I hope this is not the end of Tokyo.
I enjoy small local suburbs’ sento with saunas. Great community feel. Thanks for supporting “sento” movement. Guess one day someone will create Sen’tou. Where tou is political party 党(:
I'm right with you on the value of being "dividual", Sam. Great word. I believe that in this hyper-individualistic age people inwardly crave real connection with place and people. Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution have made us this way, and no amount of digital "friendship" will change that. That sauna description is frightening in its embrace of the dark side as a natural corollary to its services, and its vision of both work and rejuvenation as solitary. I hope the very young ones who come to Inari-yu will keep the communal bathhouse experience in their neural pathways as a kind of vaccine for their future.
This is a wonderful insightful post, but so sad that the young couple perished in a sauna due to negligence. I’m reminded of the sauna in Yanaka that became an art gallery.