Rub-a-dub-dub and relax in a tub: Survey reveals wintertime bathing habits across Japan

Regional bath habits lead to clear preferences for baths vs. showers and longer times soaking in the tub in certain areas of the country. 

Relaxing in the bath, or o-furo, is such an important part of Japanese culture that there are even theme parks dedicated to it. While that may sound slightly inane to some Westerners who are accustomed to zipping in and out of the shower, there’s really nothing like soaking in the tub after a long day at the office or out and about–just try it for yourself.

In fact, Japan is so serious about baths that one news site, Weathernews, recently implemented a survey to gauge wintertime bathing habits. The site released a series of questions on its app between January 14-17 and received 71,961 total responses from around the country. Specifically, different questions were released on each of the days.

▼ In countries like the U.S., typically only young children regularly take baths. However, taking a daily bath is a cultural norm for adults in Japan.

Let’s take the plunge and see what folks had to say about bathing time, shall we?

Q1: In the wintertime, which do you like taking better: a bath or shower?

With 11,197 total responses to this particular question, the results are clear: Japan is indeed a nation of bath takers, with 80 percent of respondents preferring a bath over a shower in the largely colder winter months. Breaking down the data a bit more, the numbers indicate 79 percent of men and 85 percent of women surveyed would choose a bath first. The only prefecture that showed the reverse trend is tropical Okinawa Prefecture in the south, where only 29 percent prefer a bath over a shower in the winter (compare that to the second-lowest bath-preferring place, Kagoshima Prefecture, where 71 percent of residents still prefer baths). Besides the milder temperatures and different Ryukyuan cultural norms, some Okinawa residents responded that they don’t even have a bathtub at home.

Q2: How long is your total bathing time (including the time it takes to wash your body)?

First, a bit of clarification–in Japan, it’s customary to clean yourself using soap and a small shower outside of the tub before getting in. The actual bathtub is meant to be used only for relaxing in the hot water once you’re clean (which is why family members usually use the same bathwater at night).

The recent survey revealed that across the country, the average total bathing time is 27.3 minutes, which includes both the washing phase and the time spent soaking in the tub. Residents of Yamanashi Prefecture spend the longest time bathing, at an average of 32.4 minutes, whereas residents of Miyazaki Prefecture recorded the shortest time, at an average of 22.1 minutes. In general, there’s a tendency for shorter bathing times in western Japan as compared to the northern and eastern regions.

▼ The typical shower setup at a hot springs resort or public bath, where you clean yourself before stepping into the hot bath water.

Q3: How long do you spend actually soaking in the water in the bathtub during the winter?

Now that we know the average total bathing time is just shy of half an hour, we’re curious to know how much of that time is spent actually relaxing in the bathtub. According to the survey results, the average time is 14 minutes across the country. Similarly to the total bathing time results, residents of northern and eastern Japan tend to take a more leisurely time with their soaks than their counterparts in the south and west. Yamanashi Prefecture once again wins the prize for the longest average soak, at 19.8 minutes, while Tokushima Prefecture wins the title for the shortest average soak, at only 10.3 minutes. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that those who take the longest times also usually bring their smartphones with them to scroll through the news, watch videos, or listen to music. We just hope that they don’t drop it in the water one of these days!

Q4: What’s the most important item for bathing in the wintertime?

What’s that one thing that you absolutely need whenever you’re ready to take a bath? It turns out that Japanese people identify the following bathing must-haves: bath additives/bath salts (35 percent), body soap/bar soap/face wash (13 percent), shampoo/conditioner (12 percent), and nothing in particular (40 percent). In fact, 32 percent of respondents answered that they use some kind of bath additive every single time they take a bath.

The folks at Weathernews were also interested to find out if there were any links between outside temperature and bath additives, so they analyzed Google search trend data over the past several months. They discovered that Google searches for bath additives begin increasing right when the maximum temperature outside is no higher than 23 degrees Celsius (73.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and interest peaks when the temperature is no higher than 10.5 degrees Celsius. One other fun fact–the main reason why people use bath additives in the first place is to recover from exhaustion.

▼ We’re slightly disappointed that no survey takers said that a water-loving cat was a bath essential.

Lastly, the survey also calculated the average cost of shampoo across the country to be 1,054 yen (US$8.02), with shampoos for women costing more (1,327 yen) than those for men (930 yen).

I don’t know about you, but I could really go for a relaxing dip in the tub at this point. If the above results make you also feel a sudden urge to visit a hot spring, you may want to check out this recent list of the top five retro onsen in all of Japan.

Source: Weathernews via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso 1, 2, 3,
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