Episode 75: An Illustrated Guide to Nameless Jobs That Supported Life in the Showa Era: 'The Public Bathhouse Attendant—Watching Over People Amidst the Sound of Wooden Tags and Steam'

In the old days, where were you and what were you like?

When you stepped through the entrance of a public bathhouse, there was always an attendant sitting perched up high, wasn't there?
That person was the town's 'guardian'.
Right between the women's and men's baths, they would click the wooden tags and say, 'Welcome'.
When a child handed over some coins, they would smile and say, 'Alright, that's thirty yen,' as they took them.

What kind of work did you do?

The job wasn't just about taking money.
It involved managing customers' shoes and lost items, checking the water temperature, and sometimes even breaking up fights.
They remembered the names and faces of all the regulars.
'You're early today,' or 'Oh, are your grandchildren visiting?'
Conversations like that were exchanged here and there through the steam.

What kind of people did that job?

Most of them were the proprietresses.
The husband would tend the boiler, and the wife would guard the attendant's booth.
In some cases, there were people who had lost their families in the war and were running the place all by themselves.
But every one of them had a strong core and a gentle smile.
To the children of the town, they were like a 'bathhouse mother'.

Why did that job disappear?

As apartments started coming with their own baths, the number of public bathhouses decreased.
The attendant's booth was also replaced by mechanical ticket machines.
But that 'click' of the wooden tags,
and the face of the attendant smiling through the steam, still remain in the album of my heart.

Could you give us one final word?

The warmth of people is deeper than the bathwater itself.
I think the bathhouse attendant was protecting that.
More than the exchange of money, that single word of 'Welcome back' was the greatest service of all.

🌸 Thank you for reading this far.
If you felt a sense of nostalgia,
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