"Soup"

In the cold season, slip into the steaming hot springs, and it will not take long for you to warm up and relax your body and mind. Imagine being in an open-air hot spring, surrounded by snow, and drinking a little wine while taking a bath. What could be a happier moment than this.

Due to geographical factors, Japan is rich in hot springs, and there has been a habit of bathing since ancient times. Naturally, Japanese people are used to seeing each other naked in large public baths since childhood. Even in their own bathrooms, they like to take a bath. Adults and children are squeezed together in a small bathtub. Friends who often watch Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan should have seen the warm scene of father and son rubbing each other's backs in the bathroom.

When traveling abroad, if you stay in a hot spring hotel or a hotel with a big bath, almost everyone will go to the big bath to relax. For families with children, adults will naturally take them to wash together. Fathers take their sons into the "men's soup", and mothers take their daughters into the "women's soup". What if it is a single parent family and the child is of a different gender than the parent? The child is old enough to take a bath by himself, naturally no problem. If the child is still young, it can be nerve-racking.

Speaking of which, how old can you tolerate a child of the opposite sex entering a large bath of the opposite sex? I don't really care about my age, maybe because I'm too old, I don't pay much attention to the stinky skin that the Buddhists say. What's more, if the average person has not deliberately exercised his body and lost the cover of his clothes, it is actually not eye-catching. The little boy who hasn't even grown his hair is not worth seeing.

However, at the end of last year, the Japanese people with turtle hair suddenly revised the regulations, hoping that the relevant industry can abide by such regulations. Children can mix baths, but the age is lowered to under 7 years old. It is said that it was under 10 years old before it was revised, and it has not been revised for more than 70 years. To be honest, Japanese government agencies should have other more important legal provisions that need to be revised, such as such low-importance provisions. Because the vast majority of children are self-conscious, thinking that they have grown up and do not want to go to the bathhouse of the opposite sex. My son has been reluctant to go to the bathroom with his mother since he started elementary school! On the contrary, I often tell my son "hard-heartedly" that there are not many days left in your life when you can step into the girls' bathhouse naked and aboveboard. XDD

According to a research survey, 27% of children aged 7-12 felt shy when they entered the bathhouse of the opposite sex since they were 6 years old, and only 4% felt that they would be shy after they were 10 years old.

In addition, I would like to mention that if adults want to experience mixed bathing, there is still a chance, please search the Internet by yourself. Mixed bathing is still practiced in some parts of Japan today, so be sure to follow local regulations.

Finally, let’s talk about the word “soup”, which was borrowed and used by the Japanese a long time ago, and the meaning at that time was naturally the same as that in Chinese. It's just that they have borrowed for a long time, and both sides have taken what they need, and each has developed the most commonly used meaning. Everyone understands the Chinese context, and it mainly refers to the "soup" of soup. In the Japanese context, "hot water" is most often referred to, but the meaning of "soup" in Chinese is missing. Because in Japan "soup" has mostly been replaced by the English loanword "スープ(soup)".

In fact, what I want to express is to stop using the word "soak" instead of "soak" in the Chinese context. Whenever I see "soak" in an article about hot springs in Taiwan, embarrassment will break out. Of course, I also hope that the various hot spring operators in Taiwan will not "bath in hot springs" because everyone loves to use "bath in hot springs".

2022/02/22 posted.

Original link to Japan behind-the-scenes observation