Japanese Baths

I have added a new must-have for future visits to San Francisco, an experience I will undoubtedly want to repeat before leaving here next week. In Japantown, there is a spa that has, as an added feature, communal baths that you can visit at your leisure. The Kabuki spa is all soft lighting and traditional Asian music, with glowing candles and subtle incense as you come out of the locker area and into the main baths. There, you find a row of individual wooden benches, with wide metal bowls to cleanse your body before the water therapies. The taps and shower faucets are self-regulating and you can choose between cucumber and lemongrass gels. The usual practice is to fill the bowl and then pour it over your body. Three days a week, it is open only for female patrons, likewise for men, with one day reserved for clothed co-eds.

What you notice immediately is that it is a serene room, where each person wanders freely, without the need for clothes or dialogue. The lighting is dim, the music gentle, and the scent quite soft and soothing. There is lemon and cucumber- infused water, fresh fruit, and hot herbal tea to heighten your experience, and lime sea salt scrub to exfoliate in the steam room showers. The hot pool is comfortable on tired achy muscles, and the proper response to a hot treatment is to follow it up with a dip in the cold one. The recommended time for the second phase is a minimum of two minutes, which is quite challenging in such a warm room. A large clock, which seems out of place, is there to help patrons determine that needed time for effective cleansing. There is also a gong, which can be struck to remind people of the need to respect the sanctity of the space with their silence.

The steam showers are like a tropical fog, with a humid mist so thick you can't see two feet in front of you. The moisture is so intense that breathing becomes challenging after a time. The dry sauna is much easier, beautifully hot so that you can lie down for a longer period of time, letting the heat make your skin damp and glistening. Your last option is to simply occupy a wooden chaise longue over your towel, close your eyes, and assume a relaxation pose like you would on a beach at the height of a summer's day.

When you are done, the final ritual is a repetition of the entry cleanse, using the bowl station. Then, back in the ante-room, you can towel yourself dry and apply moisturizers and lotions to your rejuvenated skin before dressing to leave. At the exit, you are invited to take a polished stone as a keepsake of your visit, and then it's time to step back out into the world, refreshed, relaxed, and re-energized by what you've let go inside the spa centre.