In the West, a bath is a place one goes to cleanse the body. In Japan, one goes there to cleanse the soul. Bathing in Japan is about much more than cleanliness:

Beyond the scope of typical travel books on Japan, Getting Wet is a personal exploration of bathing culture, drawing on trips and encounters everywhere from sec

An intoxicating, illustrated guide to Japan's ritual of hot-tub bathing.

A study of the significance of bathing in Japanese mythology and the historical development of communal bathing.