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Activity 20
The Japanese Bath

Adapted from "The Japanese Bath," in Spotlight on Japan: Continuity and Change.  New York: The American Forum for Global Education, 1994. pp 79-81

Grade Level

Secondary

Introduction

The ways in which a people conduct their daily lives frequently reveals the most salient cultural aspects of a nation's life.  Tradition often dictates these cultural events.  Although geography or cultural infusion may affect these traditions, some elements remain basically unchanged.  One tradition that remains entrenched in the Japanese society is the ritual of the bath.

Teacher/Student Objective

The goal of this activity is to help students understand that cultural differences between and among the various peoples of the world are subject to both cultural interpretation, as well as to occasional ethnocentric bias.  The greater the exposure to such daily social occurrences, such as the role of a bath in Japan, helps to decrease the ethnocentric tendencies of uninformed students.

Gauging Student Understanding

The progress indicators cited reflect desirable end goals. Teachers should be prepared to use a wide variety of observational, testing and authentic achievement evaluation measures in judging the progress of students.

By examining a personal account of an American woman's experience with a Japanese bath, students will begin to identify and make distinctions between/among elements of difference in cultural manifestations of daily life.  They will demonstrate understanding of such cultural variations by suggesting reasons for the differences.

Suggested Materials

• Copies of Handout 20A, The Japanese Bath.
• If available, pictures of the Japanese bath ritual.

Initial Data for Consideration and/or Process

Distribute Handout 20A, The Japanese Bath, which describes an American woman's experience with a Japanese bath.  Possible questions to raise student consciousness:

• What is unusual or different about these baths?
• According to the author, how did the bath experience change her impressions about Japan?
• What assumptions do you think most Americans have about Japanese baths?
• What are some of the similarities between Japanese baths and American gym facilities?  Differences?
• How would you feel if you were taken to a Japanese bath?  Explain.
• What does the ritual of the Japanese bath reveal about Japanese culture?
• A bath is just one domestic event which the Japanese and the Americans approach differently. What are others?

Break into groups.  Each group will consider three other domestic aspects that reveal how the Japanese and Americans differ (i.e., manners of sleeping, eating and dressing).  Groups will report specific examples to the class.

Examine the origins of these domestic practices, in both Japanese and American cases.  Discuss cultural and religious significance as well as the practicality of these habits today.

Other Possible Activities

Ask the students to research other elements of the daily life of the Japanese (or, indeed, other people from around the globe) and make comparisons and contrasts with their daily lives.  How does one account for any differences: tradition?  Geography?  Culture?

As you acquire new information about Japanese culture, do a perception check on whether changing world conditions and infusion of new ways of doing things borrowed from other peoples (cultural infusion) have brought changes to the Japanese culture?

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