美濃焼き壺湯：2023年6月17日（土）

【要旨】
岐阜県多治見市の陶器製壺に嵯峨野の源泉を注いだ壺湯は，身体の芯から温まる。美濃地方は粘土や赤松など窯業資源が豊富である。コロナ対策緩和により外国人観光客が温泉を利用する機会が増えたが，入浴マナーの理解不足が課題である。最近では，浴槽に入る前後に二度身体を洗う習慣が広まりつつある。

【本文】
岐阜県多治見市で作られた陶器に，嵯峨野の天山の湯の源泉を入れた壺湯に浸かると，身体の芯から温まる。

　岐阜県美濃地方や愛知県瀬戸市は窯業が盛んな地方である。窯業に必要な資源が豊富にあるからである。美濃地方には粘土原料（蛙目（がいろめ）粘土，木節（きぶし）粘土，藻珪（そうけい）），中性の軟水，高火力の源となる赤松が豊富だからだという。

　蛇足であるが，コロナ対策緩和措置で海外からの観光客が温泉施設にも大量に利用し始めた。日本の入浴ルールを理解していない観光客がいる。一番厄介なのが，身体を洗わずに，いきなり湯船に入る観光客である。特に，ジェット風呂は洗わずに入っても良いと勘違いされているようである。これは利用客側から本人に直接注意することは難しいため，施設側で入り口において入浴のルール説明を徹底して欲しい。ということで，最近は浴槽に入る前と出るときに二回身体を洗う習慣に変わりつつある。

Mino Ware Pot Bath: Saturday, June 17, 2023

Summary
Soaking in a pot bath made from ceramics produced in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, and filled with hot spring water from Tenzan-no-Yu in Sagano warms the body from deep within. The Mino region in Gifu and Seto City in Aichi are known for their thriving ceramics industry due to abundant resources such as clay, soft neutral water, and red pine for high-temperature firing. With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, more foreign tourists are visiting hot spring facilities, but a lack of understanding of Japanese bathing etiquette has become an issue. One common problem is entering the bath without washing the body first—especially in jet baths, which are mistakenly seen as exceptions. Since it’s difficult for other guests to correct this directly, facilities are encouraged to clearly explain bathing rules at the entrance. As a result, it’s becoming more common to wash the body both before and after entering the bath.

Main Text
When you soak in a pottery bath made in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, with the hot spring water from the Tenzan of Sagano, your body warms up from the core.

Gifu Prefecture's Mino region and Seto City in Aichi Prefecture are renowned for their ceramic industry. This is due to the abundant resources necessary for pottery production. The Mino region is known for its rich clay materials such as Gairo-me clay, Kibushi clay, So-kei clay, neutral soft water, and abundant Akamatsu (Japanese red pine) which serves as a high-heat source.

It is digressive, but due to the relaxation of COVID-19 countermeasures, a large number of tourists from overseas have started using hot spring facilities. Some tourists are not familiar with the bathing rules in Japan. The most troublesome issue is tourists who enter the bath without washing their bodies first. In particular, it seems that there is a misunderstanding that it is acceptable to enter the jet bath without washing. Since it is difficult to directly address this with the customers themselves, it is requested that the facility thoroughly explain the bathing rules at the entrance. As a result, recently there has been a shift towards a habit of washing the body twice, before entering and before leaving the bathtub.