Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

The nature of competition in Japan, and all about Japanese bathing

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
20 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

One unique aspect of Japan is how many industries have to deal with competition from the government, which interferes with the private sector in ways that wouldn’t be acceptable in the U.S. When you think of your local post office, you probably think of stamps and mail delivery, but the government-run Japanese Post Office does a lot more: it’s the world’s largest bank with some $3.2 trillion in cash deposits in postal savings accounts. The Post Office has so much money sloshing around that it uses it to build subsidized entertainment facilities around the country, like hotels and a giant sprawling indoor pool near Nikko which never has anyone using it. It also sells life insurance, something that’s totally unnecessary in Japan, a country with a strong and competitive insurance industry. Prime Minister Koizumi aims to convert the Japan Post Corporation into a private company, hopefully repeating the successful privatizations of the Kokutetsu railroad monopoly (now known as the six JR companies), Japan’s largest tobacco company JT (once operated directly by government, ugh) and Japan’s old telephone company (now known as NTT, one of Japan’s most vibrant businesses).

My son just finished with his final tests, his last of the third grade. He did really well in his science final, only missing one question, which was about the shadow cast by a stick in the ground. Over the course of several hours, the position of the shadow moves — why? My son, who is no fool, wrote that the Earth is moving, but he was disappointed to find this marked wrong, however — “the sun moves in the sky” was what was in the textbook, and that’s what he was expected to write. We took the teacher to task on this, which surprised him, since questioning educators is seldom done in Japan. In the end, I think we taught our son an important lesson about not automatically accepting what he hears.

I love Japanese public baths (sento) and hot springs (onsen, pronounced OWN-sen), and take my kids almost every week — sometimes twice a week. Public baths hail back from the Edo period when people didn’t have private baths in their homes, and had to go to community facilities to bathe. Volcanic hot springs also have a long history, and popular onsen towns like Kusatsu, located in the mountains near J-List, have been in use as resort towns for hundreds of years. Once my son saw a young boy in the bath and asked me why he had a blue bruise on his rear end. This is the Mongolian Spot (mokohan in Japanese, “the Old Spot of Mongol”), a blue bruise-like spot which is found on Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian children, including my own kids when they were young. The spots go away when the children reach age five or so. In Japanese, the word for someone who is still a wet-behind-the-ears greenhorn is ao ni-sai (AH-oh NEE-sai, “still blue 2-year-old”), which probably has something to do with this spot.

Tags: bathinghistorykidsonsen

More Posts Like This

Isoroku Yamamoto From Zipang
Your Friend in Japan

Why Did I Watch a Film About Isoroku Yamamoto on Pearl Harbor Day?

by Peter Payne
2 years ago

I have a minor obsession with films released in the year of my birth, 1968. The other day, I was...

Western Tourist Who Paid To Take A Photo With Samurai Armor Blog
Your Friend in Japan

Meet the First Weeb in History, Complete With Samurai Armor

by Peter Payne
2 years ago

Let's delve into the history behind the Western tourist who paid to take a photo wearing samurai armor in 1890!

Vinland Saga Season 2

Vinland Saga Ends! Why Was This Anime ‘Peak Fiction’?

2 years ago
Vinland Saga Season 2

Seven Reasons to Watch Vinland Saga!

2 years ago
How Oppai Affect Gravity Albert Einstein

What Did Albert Einstein Find When He Visited Japan?

3 years ago
Why Are Some Anime Inaccessible To Foreigners

Why Are Some Anime Inaccessible to Foreigners?

6 years ago
Next Post
J-List Default Featured Image

The history of the Pocky company and Japan's tiny land mass

Trending Today

Yandere Dark Elf Episode 1 Featured Image
Featured

Yandere Dark Elf, Episode 1 — Love Heavier than Chocolate Melons!

3 months ago
Spring 2025 Ecchi Anime Web Cover
News

Spring 2025 Ecchi Anime and Where to Watch Them

4 months ago
The Top 11 Anime Sex Scenes Blog
Your Friend in Japan

Happy Sex Day! Let’s Rank the 11 Most Surprising Ecchi Scenes in Anime

1 month ago
Haite Kudasai, Takamine San Episode 9 Featured Image
Featured

Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san, Episode 9 — Slippery When Wet!

2 weeks ago
Clevatess Alicia Armored Reminisce
Featured

3 Horny and Hungry Reasons to Watch Clevatess

23 hours ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
Screenshot
News

They’re Back: Announcing the Return of J-List Tissues!

by Peter Payne
July 19, 2025

They’re Back: Announcing the Return of J-List Tissues!

Dandadan S2 Pulls No Punches (and the Fight Scenes Hit Hard, Too)

Cultural Exchange with a Game Center Girl — A Kawaii Romance

Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider and Fight Shocker

Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san, Episode 10 — Fall Brings Chill and Friction!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.