I like bathing. I like luxuriating in a hot bath after a vigorous bike ride or before going to bed. It’s relaxing, soothing, and comforting in ways that showers aren’t.
I like bathing at baths even more. It’s always nice to bathe with other bathers. At communal baths, like Lake Steam Baths on W. Colfax Avenue, tubs or pools are bigger than mine at home, the water hotter, the sense of luxury greater. Sinking into hot water to completely submerse my body feels absolutely primordial. To adapt the common Biblical phrase: From water I came and to water I shall return.
My favorite bathing establishment is the Kabuki Spa in San Francisco and I was there just last week. It is one of the must-do things whenever I am in San Francisco. The Kabuki is an old Japanese-style communal baths in the heart of an area in SF called Japantown. Japantown used to be a thriving Japanese-American community until the U.S. government rounded all Japanese Americans and sent them to concentration camps in Colorado and elsewhere in 1942. But some of the community returned and the neighborhood is still called Japantown.
When I first went there, the place had all the tackiness of post-war Tokyo—cold tiles, garish colors, 1950s modern décor; cheap looking like a Japanese monster movie. Then it got bought up by some New-Agey California operation and became a spa, not a bathhouse. All the lights were dimmed and colors softened to mellow earth tones and though it was quiet before, now quiet became meditative silence with meditative music in the background.
The new owners spruced up the place but kept all the main features—the hot pool, the cold pool, the steam room, the sauna, and, best of all, massage. There are alternating men’s and women’s days but clothing is not optional, you go naked once you hang up your clothes in a locker.
I must point out that this is not a sex palace. Sex is prohibited and staff (i.e., monitors), while they refill water pitches, trays of fruit, and towels, are constantly bustling about to make sure nobody is misbehaving. This is not to say that the atmosphere is not erotic. I mean, you can’t put 20 to 40, naked, wet, steamy men (or women on other days) in one room and not have certain interests rise. Once in a while, one man will discreetly touch another but no sex ever happens. It’s kind of refreshing.
But I digress. I have my ritual at the Kabuki. First, I take a Japanese bath. I sit on a low stool and pour buckets of water over my head, soap up and then pour more buckets of water over my head. Then I head for the steam room to warm up and loosen up and breathe hot humid air to clear out my sinuses.
Then the main attraction. After a little break, I step into the hot pool and suddenly every inch of my skin tingles as I slowly slide down into the hot and wet. It’s big enough to stretch out in and even do some bending and stretching. It is the most totally relaxing feeling I have ever had.
Usually when I go to Kabuki, I sign up for a half-hour refresher massage. You can get all sorts of massage and other body treatments lasting forever and costing a fortune if you want. I used to request this one woman masseuse because she had big soft hands that kneaded my flesh like bread dough. The massage usually takes me past the relaxation phase and into the re-invigorating phase with a calm energy returning.
When I walk out of the Kabuki two hours later, I feel not only rested but energized.
This bathing establishment is all about the real pleasure of bathing—washing, soaking, steaming. Getting clean is a pleasure all its own. Getting wet is truly a sensuous gift to your body. Water is an amazing substance. It is plain but powerful in its ability to stir our senses as well as ease our minds. Water, that most pliable of substances, can also be a source of strength and vitality. Try it. I think you need a bath.
© 22 Oct 2012
Nicholas grew up in Cleveland, then grew up in San Francisco, and is now growing up in Denver. He retired from work with non-profits in 2009 and now bicycles, gardens, cooks, does yoga, writes stories, and loves to go out for coffee.
My favorite bathing establishment is the Kabuki Spa in San Francisco and I was there just last week. It is one of the must-do things whenever I am in San Francisco. The Kabuki is an old Japanese-style communal baths in the heart of an area in SF called Japantown. Japantown used to be a thriving Japanese-American community until the U.S. government rounded all Japanese Americans and sent them to concentration camps in Colorado and elsewhere in 1942. But some of the community returned and the neighborhood is still called Japantown.
When I first went there, the place had all the tackiness of post-war Tokyo—cold tiles, garish colors, 1950s modern décor; cheap looking like a Japanese monster movie. Then it got bought up by some New-Agey California operation and became a spa, not a bathhouse. All the lights were dimmed and colors softened to mellow earth tones and though it was quiet before, now quiet became meditative silence with meditative music in the background.
The new owners spruced up the place but kept all the main features—the hot pool, the cold pool, the steam room, the sauna, and, best of all, massage. There are alternating men’s and women’s days but clothing is not optional, you go naked once you hang up your clothes in a locker.
I must point out that this is not a sex palace. Sex is prohibited and staff (i.e., monitors), while they refill water pitches, trays of fruit, and towels, are constantly bustling about to make sure nobody is misbehaving. This is not to say that the atmosphere is not erotic. I mean, you can’t put 20 to 40, naked, wet, steamy men (or women on other days) in one room and not have certain interests rise. Once in a while, one man will discreetly touch another but no sex ever happens. It’s kind of refreshing.
But I digress. I have my ritual at the Kabuki. First, I take a Japanese bath. I sit on a low stool and pour buckets of water over my head, soap up and then pour more buckets of water over my head. Then I head for the steam room to warm up and loosen up and breathe hot humid air to clear out my sinuses.
Then the main attraction. After a little break, I step into the hot pool and suddenly every inch of my skin tingles as I slowly slide down into the hot and wet. It’s big enough to stretch out in and even do some bending and stretching. It is the most totally relaxing feeling I have ever had.
Usually when I go to Kabuki, I sign up for a half-hour refresher massage. You can get all sorts of massage and other body treatments lasting forever and costing a fortune if you want. I used to request this one woman masseuse because she had big soft hands that kneaded my flesh like bread dough. The massage usually takes me past the relaxation phase and into the re-invigorating phase with a calm energy returning.
When I walk out of the Kabuki two hours later, I feel not only rested but energized.
This bathing establishment is all about the real pleasure of bathing—washing, soaking, steaming. Getting clean is a pleasure all its own. Getting wet is truly a sensuous gift to your body. Water is an amazing substance. It is plain but powerful in its ability to stir our senses as well as ease our minds. Water, that most pliable of substances, can also be a source of strength and vitality. Try it. I think you need a bath.
© 22 Oct 2012
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