Japanese Ofuro | Furo Bath Ritual

The Ofuro (Ofuru) or Furo is a Japanese bath ritual referring to both the bathing practice itself and the bathtub.

Traditionally, these bathtubs are from wood or cast iron, sometimes with a wood-burning stove built-in below them. Today, you’ll also find them made of other materials, and with modern heating systems. These tubs can be found in Japanese households and in public Japanese bathhouses.

The Ofuru is basically just a deep tub filled with clean hot water (between 38 to 42 °C), sometimes facilitating more than one person, and they are an important relaxing ritual in Japan for both body and mind, and part of the Japanese lifestyle.

An important aspect of taking the Ofuro bath is that one is already thoroughly clean before entering it. It’s not meant to clean oneself. In fact, traditionally, all members of the family would take the bath in the same water, thus clean water was important.

---