Inside Japan’s most beautiful bathhouses

For many, sento are still a vital part of daily life in Japan, each governed by a strict set of customs. For centuries these gender-segregated bathhouses have acted as ritualistic community spaces, meeting points and places for contemplation and relaxation. But numbers have fallen drastically in recent decades: from almost 18,000 bathhouses in the 1960s there remain only around 2,000 across Japan today. In recent years, these bastions of traditional living have become the focus of a new…