Though I live in a high-rise apartment building, the earthquake last night didn’t faze me very much. Although maybe, admittedly, it should have. There are a few main reasons for this. The first is that my family was all together at the time, and my children were sleeping soundly in their beds. (Well Young sir …
Mikoku-yu does not have as many “frills” as the sentos I have written about thus far. It doesn’t have a sauna, a large outdoor bath or anime campaigns. It doesn’t have room for all that. Mikokuyu does, however, get the best-use-of space award. That is beyond a doubt. Mikokuyu is not just clean, it is …
Read more “The Great Shitamachi Sento Crawl, Part 3: Mikoku-yu”
Three years ago today, I was ferrying Young Sir home from Kumon, where he had unabashedly basked in his endless love of math and numbers. He did not attempt to burn down the classroom, or cause any trouble of that magnitude. His teacher had called him an o-rikosan, so I was feeling pleased with myself. …
Another reason I love Yudonburi, is its posters. These signs feature original images of anthropomorphic pink rabbits (or bears?…). The rabbit-bears exhibit atrocious manners while grinning mindlessly, in order to remind sento-goers of all the things we shouldn’t do. And I love them, whatever they are, because they do not look like me. “Manners,” are …
Yudonburi is the best. In a way, that’s all that needs to be said here. If you have the time to visit only one sento in the Shitamachi area, and you are wondering which one would be most worth your time, you can stop reading right now and just go to Yudonburi. The directions are …
Read more “The Great Shitamachi Sento Crawl, Part 2: Yudonburi-Sakaeyu”
If you happen to be a seven-year-old autistic boy who has been obsessed with numbers since birth, this may seem like a great toy. And for the most part, it is. There are 20 keys and 20 locks, with each key only able to open the corresponding lock. This makes for endless hours of amusement. …
So last night I finished teaching an 1.5-hour-long class on Zoom to find that Little Prince, who had been happily prancing about the house like his royal self when I last left him, was now zonked out in bed with what my husband informed me was a 38.6 degree fever. Two years ago, this would …
Disclaimer: Gaijin Mommy is not your average sento reviewer. For an English language review with extremely useful, factual-type information, I recommend you check here. Ok, so the most important thing to do before visiting Daikoku-yu is to check this easy-to-understand schedule. Luckily, the only truly important part to note here is in the bottom left-hand …
Read more “The Great Shitamachi Sento Crawl, Part 1: Daikoku-yu”
Daikoku-yu is one of my favorite sentos. Sentos are kind of my thing lately. Over the past few weeks, I’ve passed under the public bathhouse’s new noren banner several times, though I never thought much of it. I’m not a big anime fan, so I didn’t realize that it was a one-of-a-kind work of art, …
Read more “Pray for Daikokuyu. (Or don’t. They’ll probably be fine.)”
Dear Gossip/News Bloggers of Japan, First of all, let me express my gratitude. I perhaps came across as a bit bitchy in my last post about the Kana Washino murder. And to be fair, that was my intention. But at the same time I am grateful to you. You scroll through the dark depths of …