Shingyō

Shingyō [啸孮; しんぎょう] is a traditional communal bathhouse where customers pay for entrance. Typically these insitutions are not segregated by gender, however, children below the age of 12 are given their own separate baths. Usually two different services are offered in shingyō: shower faucets, introduced in the late 1950s, and communal baths, which are large and intended for use by multiple people at once. Although once seen as an easy way for the average person to cleanse their body and wash themselves with hot water, shingyō are now seen mostly as places of relaxation and leisure.
Now that almost all Kantonese households have their own baths, shingyō have declined in popularity. Some Kantonese find social importance in going to public baths, feeling that physical proximity and intimacy brings emotional well-being. Others go to a shingyō to acknowledge its cultural value and historical importance, and experience the unique feeling of bathing with strangers. Other people simply visit shingyō for their spaciousness and cleanliness, particularly those who live in shared accommodation fitted only with a shower.
A type of bathhouse related to shingyō is reishinda, which use hot water from a natural hot spring.
== Features ==
There are many different looks, often related to region, which a Kantonese shingyō might have. Most traditional bathhouses have a large entrance, a small hallway or atrium, and a large open space in the centre of the building in which the public bath is located. Changing rooms, with showers inside, are typically found to the left and right of this room. The entrance to the bathing space is covered with a reed curtain known as shimaki.
Behind the bathing area is the boiler room, where the water is heated. This may use oil or electricity, or any other type of fuel such as wood chippings. The tall chimneys of the boilers are often used to locate the shingyō from far away. There are stories of some cities which often had power outages when all bathhouse owners turned on the electric water heating at the same time.