Quiz

c) Every member of the family uses the same water.

(The Japan Forum)

Japanese people love baths. When it's hot outside, a bath washes the sweat away, and when it's cold, a bath warms the body and soothes it after a tiring day. A Japanese bathtub is filled with hot water at a temperature of about 40 to 42 degrees Celsius. Since in Japan everyone takes turns soaking in the same water, bathers wash and rinse their bodies before getting into the tub so the water doesn't get dirty. Soap is not used in the tub. In the past, when homes had no baths, people went to public bathhouses called sento, but nowadays most homes have tubs. While no one would be crazy enough to add soy sauce to their bathwater, people sometimes put things like yuzu (a citrus fruit) and iris leaves in the water to give it a pleasing aroma.

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