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I hardly ever have a bath. I`m afraid to say it but it`s true. I rarely wash at all. Exclaim disgust, mock and insult me! I do not care. The bath in the S. household is broken and emits only cold water meaning you have to fill the three feet deep chamber with water and then heat it up.

It takes between 45 minutes to an hour and then as the bath is so deep, the top few centimetres get scaldingly hot whilst the bottom is ice cold. A quick stir later results in a lukewarm temperature overall necessitating a further 15 minute warm up. By this time it`s 3:00 in the morning and I`ve gone to bed. I`ve done this since my first day in Japan.

There is a shower but this spits out only ice cold water which is only useful at the humid height of August. Death is preferable to an ice cold shower in winter. So I go days between baths. Yes it`s disgusting but the only alternative is pneumonia.

That was until today. A nice man came and repaired the bath. At the press of a button warm water comes out. Even in the shower. It`s like liquid gold. I`m off to try it now. It`s been a long time since I felt water on my skin…

See Wikipedia on the humble Japanese ofuro.