Bathhouse Mama-san

Bathhouse Mama-san
Noel Laflin

3-3-18

There’s a little old lady who guards entry into the Daiwa Royal Hotel’s public bath house.

She must be seventy or thereabouts and takes her job quite seriously.

I know this first hand as she made sure David and I took off our slippers at the correct spot before walking on the polished wood floors, and then proceeded to instruct us, in rapid Japanese and hand gestures, on the proper way to stow our kimonos, slippers, glasses, and towels.

I had just stood up from the small stool placed before my mirror, where one showers, shaves, etc, naked as a jaybird of course, to make a move for the first hot tub - when mama-san suddenly appeared out of nowhere once more to lecture us, via hand pointing and rapid Japanese – that our large towel must remain in the locker room, but that the small hand towel was allowed, if it was placed on our head.

 

Or so we deduced.

 

She followed us back to the locker room to make sure that we complied.

The hot bath and cold rinse tubs were quite invigorating afterward.

But I kept on the lookout for the little old lady from then on.