Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-20
BATHING IN JAPAN.
Far In Advance Of America From q
Standpoint of Cleanliness.
LIKE THEIR WATER VERY HOT.
Communism in the Tub That the Foreigner
Can Hardly Condona
PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF THE CUSTOM
WRITTEN FOR THE DIspArcB.1

H.1
The Japanese, being nation of agnostics,
could hardly be expected to sympathize
with the old Hebrew doctrine which places
cleanliness next to godliness Yet they
make cleanliness the first of all virtues, and
the daily bath the first of all duties. While
New York has had to wait until the year
1891 before project was started for supply
ing the great unwashed with baths at
reasonable rate, the metropolis of Japan
has offered such opportunities as far back
as the records go. Toxic has to-day about
300 public baths, in which 100000 persons,
or almost third of the population, bathe
every day, at cost of cent for each hot
bath; and besides this, every family, except
some of the very poorest, has its private
bathroom in the house, or at least a tub and
plenty of hot water.
We are so accustomed to regarding
Oriental races as barbarous or semi-civilized
that it is wholesome check to our vanity
to dwell occasionally on those things in
which We are the barbarians and the
Asatics civilized. Everybody knows that
the English pay more attention to personal
cleanliness than any other European nation
and America is perhaps even ahead of Eng
land in this respect
What Physical Examinations Show.
Yet DR.. J. Y. Shoemaker, professor of
diseases of the skin in the Medico- -Chirurgi-
cal College, of Philadelphia, remarks, in his
recent valuable work on heredity, health
and personal beauty, that no one who is
called upon to make physical examination
of applicants for enlistment in the military
service, and many others rendered neces-
sary by accident or sudden illness, 'can con-
scientiously say that more than fraction
of the cases so presenting themselves evince
due regard for the social and hygienic de-
mands Of extreme nicely of person. He
knows that examinations for enlistment are
generally followed by grateful ventilations
of the rooms where they have been held"
It is especially in the country that the
bath is neglected, and Prof Shoemaker re-
members in his experience but one veritable
farmhouse where bathing facilities existed.
To which must be, added that American
hotels, except in the largest cities, are as a
rule, shamefully deficient in such facilities,
and those that have them charge almost
prohibitive prices for their use. How much
side of the Pacific!
Ono Hot Bath Every Day.
In Japan if you stop at the humblest vii
lage inn for lunch basin of water is
brought to wash the feet in; and if you stay
for the night, hardly has room been
assigned to you when smiling young at
tendant appears to conduct you to the bath,
for the use of which no charge is made.
Nothing surprises them more than for
eigner who refuses to take at least one hot
bath day. They themselves are more
likely to take two or three; and the conse-
quence is that the Japanese are the clean
est people in the world.
You may be hemmed in by the densest
crowd in Toxic on sultry summer day, or
stand among busy workmen whose scant
clothing is as wet as if they had just
emerged from river, and never will your
nostrils be offended by that disagreeable
summer odor of humanity which would be
so noticeable in other countries under SINH
lar circumstances; and this suggests the i'm
portant query whether American negroes
might not, by adopting Japanese habits, be
able gradually to overcome the general OBJ
lection to their presence in cars, restaurants
and hotels, both as guests and walters
There is great deal Of social philosophy in
this query, however much some over
squeamish persons may dislike to discuss
such subject
Original With the Japanese.
According to Prof Chamberlain, Of the
University of Toxic, "cleanliness is one of
the few original items OF Japanese civiliza-
tion. Almost all other things Japanese
have their root in China, but not tubs"
The Chinese wear clean clothes, but they do
not wash their bodies daily like the
Japanese; nor can the latter bave adopted
this custom from the aboriginal inhabitants
of their islands, for these-the Amos
never bathe at all
The question obtrudes Itself, what led to
this universal devotion to the tub in Japan?
Was it q natural love for cleanliness-a
superior instinct which the Japanese share
with birds and cats and most other animals,
as compared with pigs and the foul crowds
in the slums of our great cities? Certainly
the Japanese have cleaner streets than we
have, and their floor mats are cleaner than
our carpets, because no one ever walks on
them without first taking off his shoes. On
the other hand they have no sheets between
their wadded quilts, nor do they wear linen,
or regularly change their clothes and send |
them to the laundry; and this has led some
Christian writers, who Go not like to see q |
heather nation ahead of us in any respect,
to declare Japanese cleanliness
A Nero Illusion and Sham.
Miss Bird, for example asserts, that bath |
ing is mot for publication, but for the en- |
joyment of q sensuous luxury" Suppose |
we grant this, what difference does it make, |
so long as the result is to make the Japan |
ese the cleanest people in the world3 The |
nose, which is the best barometer tor judg- |
ing different degrees of cleanliness, tells US
that this is true, and proves,to us that man
who washes his body once aday and changes
his clothes once year. is cleaner
than q man who changes his linen weekly
but bathes only once year: Besides, it
must be remembered that the Japanese poor
wear hardly any clothing in summer, while
our slum folks are covered with rags which
are unwashed and loathsome as their bodies.
No doubt Miss Bird is right in claiming
that the Japanese passion for hot baths Is
based on the sensuous enjoyment they
afford. Not entirely, however The aspect
of their streets and houses shows that they
value cleanliness for its own sake, and be-
sides this, they have use for the bath
which may be considered unique. Their
houses afording but little protection against
chilling winds, and having no freplaces,
the hot bath is frequently used as a last re-
sort for getting warm. Prof. Chamberlain
relates that one day some of the inhabitants
of a certain village famed for its hot springs
excused themselves to him for their dirti-
ness during the busy summer months,
"For," said they, eve have only time to
bathe twice a dav." Chow often, then do
you bathe in winter" ooh, about four or
five times daily. The children get into the
bath whenever they feel cold.
Take Them Very Hot.
To sum up, the Japanese bathe for sensuous
pleasure and for warmth and thew get not |