No and reusing bathwater for everyone and then your clothes sounds gross. I don't care if you did wash yourself before you got in. Yuck.

Many of them have pads, to direct where to put your feet, beside the floor-level toilet when squatting ...

... which should be helpful, in terms of putting your foot onto it, rather than into it.

As for sharing bathwater ... I was a farm kid of 10 when World War II started in 1939, the hired hands on Dad's large farm went to war, and what Dad and that 10-year-old and a couple of younger brothers got done for the next few years, got done ... and the rest didn't.

We had a circular bath-tub that sat behind the kitchen cookstove on a Saturday night, and we boys took turns bathing, dipping some warm water from the tank at the far end of the stove from the fire, the youngest of the three going first. I guess Dad bathed later - we were in bed by then. Mom was in a mental hospital ... and I think that Grandma took sponge baths, using the wash-stand, jug and large bowl in her bedroom.

In a Japanese bath-house, each bather on the tiled floor around the large tub gets a small wooden tub, dips a bucket of water out of the large central tub, and scrubs thoroughly, then rinses equally thoroughly, before immersing the pristine body into the large central tub that's shared by many, and drained occasionally.

One of our young missionary males, shortly after arriving in Japan, was taken to one of the bathhouses, and after the preliminaries and he'd immersed himself into the large tub, sharing with (I don't know how many others - probably at least a half dozen) developed something of a redder-than-usual face when he found that he was situated near to an attractive young female. He was teased about that, rather substantially, many years ago.

When my fiance arrived by passenger ship in Japan in 1959, I'd flown to meet her, and we stayed at that man's family's home just before flying to Korea. The couple assigned us to certain separate sleeping quarters, but added that what use we might choose to make of our assigned areas was up to us.

They retired many years ago, Don died something like 25 years ago, and his widow lives about 40 miles from me: I haven't seen Celia in years ... I think that a visit with her should be one of my New Year's resolutions ... what say you all?

ole joyful

Jim, that reminds a little of Chinese plumbing.

Amazing use of space, but no thanks! The thought of freezing my nips off before steeping in shared bathwater isn't enticing at all.

I'll keep my shower, thank you!

I like the spray wand sinks.

No thank you. The only part I liked was that you could keep the bath water hot and call for help in an emergency.

If the tub gets checked for bacteria like pools do, I'd say fine.

Still, no. I'm not a bath person and don't go near hot tubs. Yuck to that, too!

I'm just not a soaker. I like to shower the dirt off, not steep in it.

Lol - the point of getting clean is that you are clean when you get in - no soaking in dirt. Not that I even really mind that - I am known to visit sulfur smelling natural hot springs with GASP, muddy bottoms.... I've never been a germ-a-phobe and I very rarely get sick, despite working in a hospital, and even worse yet (for the spreading around of cooties that is) with small children, so I don't worry about it one tiny little bit and enjoy my good, long, relaxing soaks. Soaking in a hinoki tub has been shown to improve your immune system ;-).

I rarely if ever take a shower but I do love a good soak in my tub. But I prefer fresh water each time.

I don't think we do that in America, which is my point. We don't have hand helds to clean before we soak generally speaking.

Generally speaking, bathing is for getting clean. Soaking is for soaking.

Besides that, I actually can't soak- my body does not like it.

ROFLMAO - I guess I'm just un-American then... good thing we're so close to the Canadian border up here, the cultural police might come to get me :)

Of course it's not un-American if you enjoy those things Eastern.

I love sushi, so shoot me.

I would love that Japanese bathroom, so efficient. I love a good soak. It's one of the first things I do when I arrive home after traveling, a thorough shower and a long soak...pure luxury.

I would love the set up in the video! I don't bathe... I shower. I detest the idea of sitting in water, where my dirty body is. Now a good soak... wow, that would be nice. I used to have a hot tub. LOVED it. Never invited anyone to join, unless they agreed to take a shower indoors first.

Maybe some day... when I am more flush again... I will get a new hot tub... or, look in to doing my bathroom over... and getting such a GREAT setup, with the shower option with the drain... and the soaking tub.

I also use communal areas. Been in the sauna's in Germany often. I know, most Americans would shudder at the thought. Oh, my, someone might see me... lol

Moni

If you're showering before getting in the tub, why bother get a bath afterwards? Seems silly.

I rarely bathe, I get showers. It's not that I don't like sitting in my bath water (really I'm not that dirty so it's not like I am stewing in filth), I just don't find a hard tub comfortable on my body and bones! LOL

I lived in Japan as a college student and loved the bathrooms. Per the demonstration, all soaping and washing is done prior to getting into the tub. I loved to soak in the hot water to get warm and relax prior to bed; the tub is deep for that reason. I've been to communal baths, but not mixed gender. Friends can scrub your back.

My understanding is that the tub water isn't kept and reused for months like people do with their hot tubs. And that video might be typical of a newer, modern house in the area that particular family lives but certainly not typical of many of the apartment bathrooms. Obviously the age of the area makes a difference. From what I've read and seen on videos, most larger towns are western influenced where the "country" areas often have the old eastern style bathrooms with the floor toilets. This one had a very modern, relatively new toilet.

I really like the floor drain in the main part of the tub room for showering. It makes so much sense and makes it so much easier to clean and keep clean. Plus this style of bathroom should be much more friendly to those with mobility issues although I'd like to see some more grab rails than they have. Surprises me they don't have more in these bathrooms. Anyone with any mobility issue knows well that North American bathrooms are downright anti-cripple. People are so hung up on appearance they don't want to have grab rails or non-skid features to say nothing of being able to sit down for a shower or sit normally in a bathtub. It's just not "pretty" enough for people, which just annoys the h*ll out of me. There really needs to be some accessibility reform in this part of the world.

The one thing I still question is using the bathroom as a clothes dryer. Seems to me the electricity used to heat that room for the length of time it would take to dry clothes would be far more than the cost of operating a dryer. There's also the venting of the moist air, adding cost, and I question the air circulation would be adequate for efficient clothes drying. From what I read, utility costs in Japan are high, for both gas and electric so heating an entire room to dry a load of clothes just seems inefficient to me. One difference there I noticed is apartments frequently have washers in them and they'd line dry the clothes on balconies, though some have the drying feature in their bathroom. Around here I'm not even sure it would be legal to dry clothes on an apartment balcony! I'm sure it's not allowed in condo setups.

Interesting setup for toilet and sink in a bathroom. Not quite sure what I think of it just yet.

The Japanese say, "What? You run a lot of water into a tub ... then climb in ... immerse yourself, or pour water over yourself ... then rub soap all around, rub with a washcloth, then rinse the dirty soapsuds off ...

... and sit in your own filthy water??"

"Yuck! Double Yuck!!!".

Their view ... makes a lot of sense, don't it? Unless you drain that tub ... then run another batch, rinse and sit in that ... or, maybe, use that for rinsing, then run a third batch for the cleansed and rinsed body's soak?

Different strokes/soaks for different folks, looks like.

ole joyful

Who is so dirty that they sit in "filthy water"? I'm sure we all bathe daily, really, our bath water is not filthy!!

I sort of saw that when I was able to take baths joyful. It got to where I'd sit in to relax, read a bit, and then, when it was draining, take a quick shower. No more bathtubs in my house. For now.

I can only remember taking 3 baths in recent years. I find it too boring. I don't know what to do as I'm laying there. LOL I put some epsom salts as they're supposed to be good for us, and it makes us relaxed.

If I had my 'druthers and I owned a house, I'd install a shower only. No tub. Although I do use the tub to wash the kitty litter pans.

People are so afraid of germs these days. Whole families used to take turns bathing in the same bath water and we're all still here right? Fighting germs help build up our immune system and make us stronger. Relax and enjoy yourself! :)

Eeuw, Jasdip - remind me never to take a bath at your place!

okey-dokey comtesse. But they're already scraped clean, they just get soaped and rinsed in the tub. Very little mess.

hmmmm.... I'd much rather use another person's soaking water than use a tub that's had litter boxes cleaned in it.... I do that outside with the hose or at worst in the utility sink in the basement and that gets bleachy water in it from the washing machine regularly.

Cynic, I think the clothes that are spun dry are just hung over the tub, and the little girl is turning on a ventilation fan, not a heater. Where I lived, my family had a yard and we hung things outside on a drying rack all year. I do hang things indoors to dry inside here, year round.

As to being grossed out that I clean the litter boxes in the tub, are you thinking that I fill the tub with water and then wash them??? I sure hope not! It's quite easy and pretty clean. Since the tubs are deep and waterproof, obviously, it's quite simple to put hot water and soap inside, scrub them and then pour the water directly down the drain. Good grief, I don't even get the tub dirty, so I don't know why the gross factor.

The Japanese bathrooms don't look like my thing. Maybe if I actually tried them I'd like them.

I'm always confounded by our recent germaphobia. Lack of cleanliness can kill you. I think we're also killing ourselves with too much cleanliness. We do need some germs in our life. The litter box gets hosed down outside, but I do use my tub as a big washing receptacle for other things as the occasion arises. A tub can be cleaned and sanitized if needed. My big thing is whether there is something like kitty litter or grease that would clog the drain. I don't use my sinks or tubs for mop water because I don't want the dog and cat hair clogging my drain. I put mop water in the big plastic tubs and then pour it in the back yard when I'm done. The dog gets a bath in the tub, but I try to screen out the hair before it goes down the drain. Afterwards, the bath is cleaned out, wiped down and rinsed with cups of water. We move on with our lives. Some germs are worse than others, but they aren't all bad.

America's extravagant use of water only began as people moved into the cities for factory jobs and municipal water systems were built. Without your local sewer system, population density cannot exist, nor can the majority of rural areas survive. You can live for weeks without food, but going without water will kill you in five days.

Flushing water down the drain is a luxury. The majority of women's labor in agrarian cultures is spent fetching water.

PBS Homestead History

"Many families did not rinse or wash their dishes...so when a pioneer woman commanded her children to clean their plates, she really meant business."

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/frontierlife/essay5.html