ONSEN-SHU
ONSEN-SHU
Let’s try Japanese bathing culture today with an ONSEN-SHU towel in hand!
Taoro is a traveler, bath fanatic, and writer. His hobby is collecting Onsen towels. After getting out the bath, he enjoys fruity milk.
ONSEN-SHU
Wash. Wring. Wipe.Onsen towels were born out of Japan’s unique bathing culture. Calling these Onsen towels “ONSEN-SHU (Lands of Onsen) towels,” “ONSEN-SHU” is a project that aims to spread and tell the story of Japanese bathing culture through towels.
Relax and learn
The Senshu area of Osaka has traditionally been a thriving cotton-growing area. An industry developed in which thread was made from cotton and used as fabric, and bleached cotton, otherwise known as Tenugui, were produced. In the Edo and Meiji periods, when there were no towels in public bathhouses and bathhouses, the use of Tenugui called “yokkin” was commonplace. Homes, of course, didn’t have baths, and houses with baths inside the houses having a bath, so-called “inner baths”, only began to be built in postwar apartment complexes.
Towels were imported into Japan at the beginning of the Meiji period. In documents from the time, it is written “hand, wipe, towel.” After years of pile fabric research, a pile weaving machine was developed in 1887. The first towel production in Japan began in present-day Izumisano city. Thin towels were introduced to the market as an alternative to Tenugui, and the custom of using towels became commonplace.
As the postwar reconstruction period came, the culture of entertainment such as recreation, sightseeing, and lodging began to spread, and travel became more common, more facilities started producing original towels bearing the name of “XX ONSEN” or “YY Ryokan,” and Senshu towel production grew dramatically. This marked the beginning of “Onsen towels.” With the passage of time, the use of Senshu towels rapidly extended to include commercial use.
Just about everyone has had the chance to hold one of these Onsen towels. Not only are they used wet with hot water in bathing areas, but recently some people use them to dry themselves off after getting out. More and more people are switching to Onsen towels from their home towels, as they find them more convenient than bulky bath towels. Compact, easy to wash, easy to dry, and taking up little storage space, these towels are excellent for light use.