Hello!

Thank you for visiting my website. Here is a bit about me, and how I got to writing about Japanese bathing and sauna culture:

Nearly a decade ago, I faced a serious injury as a competitive distance runner that had me on the sidelines for nearly half a year. While devastating at the time, this ended up being a formative life experience, but not in the way you might think…

After several weeks of repetitive recovery exercises at my local gym, I started to frequent the sauna I noticed in the locker room after my workouts. Near instantly, I found myself hooked. The feeling of euphoria after switching from a well heated sauna to the nearby cold shower was unlike anything I had experienced. Beyond the feel good “sauna high” I would get, I noticed something even more enticing. In a way that is increasingly rare in a guarded, 24/7 modern world, people talked to each other. At my local sauna, I met patrons from all corners of the globe, many of whom hailed from countries with rich sauna and bathing cultures. This led me to explore sauna’s around my hometown, and later the world.

From parts of the world as culturally different as Northern Europe and East Asia, I began to notice how communal bathing and sweating connected people. Communal bathing provides a space to connect in an increasingly distracted world, as well as provide a mental reset in the day.

Whether in the style of a Russian Banya filled with laughter and alcohol, or a tranquil Japanese sento where silent presence with others connects, in many ways, louder than any conversation could, I began to appreciate the communal and cultural aspects of bathing culture.

While this blog primarily covers developments in the Japanese bathing and sauna sphere, part of my impetus to write this blog lies in a desire to share the power of sauna and communal bathing to connect and ground us as human beings in a way we are craving now more than ever.

…so why Japan?

While I am fueled by an enthusiasm for sauna/bathing culture in general, I do also have a long-running interest in Japan! Growing up, several of my close friends have been of Japanese descent, which sparked a lifelong interest in several aspects of Japanese culture

Outside of sauna, I have practiced martial arts for over a decade. Japan hosts one of the oldest and most robust martial art/combat sport cultures in the world. Moving to Japan has allowed me to train and practice in a completely new and exciting capacity. Additionally, I have long been interested in jazz, urban planning, and video games. Japan has many of my interests well represented, and having the opportunity to engage with so many of my hobbies has been nothing short of incredible.

…let alone Japanese sento?

In my college days, I stumbled upon a TimeOut article covering Kentaro Imai, a Japanese architect on a mission to pass on Japan’s rich bathing culture to the next generation to combat declining sento attendance across Japan. I was instantly struck by Mr. Imai’s passion for communal bathing, and devoured the descriptions of his projects on his architectural website.

Amidst the mass shutdown of many public baths that historically served as community spaces, Japan is currently undergoing a sento renaissance, paired with by an explosive growth of Finnish and Russian style sauna culture nationwide. The result? Japan has an incredible wealth of sento that are renovating with a more modern finish, and with the addition of saunas that draw lines out the door (up to two hours in some cases!). Being here firsthand, the enthusiasm is palpable. The subculture is so popular, sauna enthusiasts even have their own name: saunners.

I can’t think of a more exciting place to work and live as a sauna and communal bathing fan.

This page is for anyone interested in Japan, sauna and communal bathing, or for those simply interested in something that might be outside of their current day to day routine. All are welcome. Please enjoy!