Imagine leaving all your clothing in a locker and walking into a large open room with several different, large bath tubs. There are several middle-aged and older women (or men, if you go to the men's side), also naked, and you don't speak the same language. You don't know the rules of behavior. They stare at you when you walk in because you are may be the first and only foreigner they've seen in their local neighborhood sento.
Since I couldn't really just ask, I tried to observe some sento etiquette. First, you must sit at one of the faucets and scrub yourself with soap and a wash cloth for a very long time. No one was shaving or doing anything other than scrubbing, so I followed suit. Then after you are really clean, you can enter one of the many different baths. It seemed that women would alternate between a bath and rinsing off. There were two plain baths - one cold, one hot. There was a "relax-bath" like a jacuzzi. There was a separate room with a "lavender" bath. There was even an electrified bath - which I found out about by surprise after entering the water and experiencing shocks all over my body. I freaked out and got out, thinking I wasn't supposed to be in the water if it was electrified - I couldn't figure out why you would want to bathe in electrified water. It seemed to go against every hair-dryer warning label I have ever seen. But after observing for a little while more, I noticed other women going in for an electrified dip.
It seems like unless they know each other, women don't really talk much in the sento. Unless someone joins you in a small communal bath area, which was the case in the lavender bath. A very skinny 70-something woman with pixie-short hair joined me and said something in quick, colloquial Japanese. All I could catch was the word "ofuro," - "bath." So I made a noise of general agreement. I had no idea how to carry on the conversation, so I smiled, said the water was very hot, and left.
The entrance of the sento from the street. The symbol on the sign means it is a public bath house.
The entrance inside the sento - make sure you go in the right side! The symbol on the right (red) is for women.Historically, peoples' houses did not have baths, so everyone always went to sento to bathe. Nowadays almost all houses have baths, so the sento is more of a social activity. It is a unique and relaxing way to spend a couple of hours.