How to Take a Japanese Bath

An intoxicating, illustrated guide to Japan's ritual of hot-tub bathing.


Since its first publication in 1992, this book has become a curious classic, taking a simple (yet often incorrectly performed) activity and depicting it with a graphic, manga-style edge. In twelve drawings a young Japanese man is shown preparing, rinsing, soaking, communing, relaxing, contemplating—all an encouragement to readers to slow down, ease into the hot water, and enjoy this timeless ritual of purity and release.