
all photos by Ju Yeon Lee courtesy Schemata Architects
The number of public baths, or sento as they’re referred to in Japan, have been in chronic decline since the late 1960s. As the number of homes with their own private bath proliferated, public bathhouses shrank from over 18,000 to under 2000 today. But sento were more than just about improving public hygiene in post-war Japan. They became part of a daily routine, a bedrock of local community, where neighbors would gather and connect after a long day’s work. Komaeyu, located in a western suburb of Tokyo, is part of a budding movement to rethink the role of sento for contemporary lifestyles and preserve sento culture.
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