9. Washing before a bath is the Japanese way
Different peoples of the world have many diverse and unusual traditions associated with baths. The most paradoxical, perhaps, can be considered the Japanese tradition. It requires that the visitor, before entering the sauna furo, most thoroughly ... before entering a furo sauna.
The fact is that the furo is arranged in such a way that visitors must warm up in a very large vat of hot water. The water in the vat doesn't change for days, but the visitors do. Therefore, they are required not to dirty the water with themselves as much as possible.
When among the guests are foreigners, they, learning that they will take a bath after it has already been used by a dozen people, are a little shocked. But the Japanese - nothing, got used to it.
Different peoples of the world have many diverse and unusual traditions associated with baths. The most paradoxical, perhaps, can be considered the Japanese tradition. It requires that the visitor, before entering the sauna furo, most thoroughly ... before entering a furo sauna.
The fact is that the furo is arranged in such a way that visitors must warm up in a very large vat of hot water. The water in the vat doesn't change for days, but the visitors do. Therefore, they are required not to dirty the water with themselves as much as possible.
When among the guests are foreigners, they, learning that they will take a bath after it has already been used by a dozen people, are a little shocked. But the Japanese - nothing, got used to it.
10. The main thing is regularity
How often should you wash in a bathhouse? Different peoples and different times had very different views on this. Ancient Egyptian priests took a bath four times a day. Ancient Greeks and Romans necessarily visited thermae twice: with this began and this ended each day. Slavs had a single bath day - Saturday. Once a week water procedure was obligatory for everyone: from a beggar to the tsar-batiushka.
In medieval Europe it was considered normal to bathe two or three times a year. Some people thought that it was normal to wash twice in a lifetime: right after birth and once before the wedding. Of course, the body stank, but this had an interesting "side effect". To drown out the unpleasant odor, perfume was invented.
Neglect of hygiene had another "side effect" - horrific epidemics. It must be assumed that most of the dirty people died out after that. Now the whole world listens to the advice of doctors and strictly adhere to their recommendations. And how often do you go to the baths?
