The Land of Hot Springs Japan Also Finds Bathing Troublesome... New Slang 'Cancel Bath Today' Emerges [Sunday Japan Culture]

Trending Among Generation Z... "I'm Not the Only One" Resonates
Japanese Bathing Culture Began with Buddhism...Preference for Bathing Despite Showering Due to Housing Structure

"I’ll really shower in 10 minutes."

On days when you come home after being squeezed front and back on a hellish subway, or after a workout focused on the lower body by a personal trainer, or after drinking way beyond your limit... you have no strength to even move your fingers, so you just throw your bag down and lie on the floor scrolling your phone thinking, "Ah, I still have to shower though." I’m sure I’m not the only one who wishes there was a machine like in Jang Nara’s old music video that would remove makeup and wash you while you just stay still, right?

Why suddenly talk about showering? Because a curious new slang word has recently emerged in Japan, the land of hot springs and bathing. It’s a slang term that declares “I’m not bathing today.” I’ll also share some insights about Japanese bathing culture related to this.

Photo by Irastora.

‘Cancel Bathing Today’ Emerges as New Slang Among Japan’s MZ Generation

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) has a section introducing slang used by Japan’s Generation Z. The recently introduced slang is ‘Furo Kyanseru Kaiwai (風呂キャンセル界?)’. Literally translated, it means “bath cancel vicinity,” which sounds awkward, right?

A brief and somewhat boring Japanese language lesson: the word ‘kaiwai (界?)’ in Japanese means vicinity or surrounding area. When attached after a place name, it refers to the nearby neighborhood, like adding it after Tokyo Ginza to mean “around Ginza.” On the internet, it’s used to group people with similar attributes. For example, attaching it to ‘JK’ (Japanese high school girls) means “in the world of high school girls,” or attaching it to ‘nature’ groups outdoor enthusiasts together. It’s like a shared worldview among people.

So, if we were to paraphrase it in Korean style, it might mean something like “a group of people who don’t bathe.” For example, phrases like “Looking for party members for the no-bath group,” or “You too? Yanadu” are exchanged in a playful back-and-forth.

Photo by Irastora.

Why Shin Hyung-man, Shinnosuke’s Dad, Always Gets in the Bathtub Without Showering

Before you get shocked and ask, “Why on earth would they say they won’t wash?” let’s understand Japanese bathing culture. Japan strictly separates showering and bathing. While we say “take a bath” or “take a shower,” in Japan, bathing is expressed as “entering the bathtub (お風呂に入る),” and showering is described as “pouring water over oneself (シャワ?を浴びる),” using completely different expressions. In Korea, many homes have only showers without bathtubs, but in Japan, no matter how small the house, a bathtub is always installed. You can see this in the anime “Crayon Shin-chan,” where the father, Shin Hyung-man, always soaks in the bathtub after work.

So when did this bathing culture spread in Japan? It is said to have been introduced along with Buddhism. Bathing was an important ritual for monks to purify their bodies. At that time, temples had facilities called “yokud?,” similar to modern saunas. Although ordinary people rarely had the chance to bathe, Buddhist charitable activities opened these facilities to the sick and poor on certain days. This is also considered the origin of public bathhouses.

Photo by TV Asahi.

Later, among the aristocracy, rituals of pouring hot water over the body became popular, often mixed with fragrances to mask body odor. During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, public bathhouses charging fees appeared, and households began to have private baths. Through Japan’s modernization and rapid economic growth, the current form of homes with bathtubs became standard.

Above all, the biggest reason Japanese people still love bathing today is said to be for blood circulation. There are theories about abundant water and many hot springs formed by earthquakes and volcanic activity, but the main reason is that bathing warms the body and relieves fatigue. Japanese houses lack ondol (underfloor heating) like in Korea and have poor insulation, making winter drafts feel very cold indoors. This easily causes blood circulation problems. Combined with Japanese body constitution, dietary habits, lack of exercise, and stress from long working hours, this naturally fits together.

A survey on bathing conducted last year by a research institute under the Japanese real estate company Sekisui House found that 68% of respondents like bathing (including showering) regardless of season, while 10.8% said they dislike it regardless of season.

Not Wanting to Wash... Could It Be Depression?

Thinking about when to fill the tub, when to wash, when to get out and dry your hair can really feel bothersome. Actually, this slang means skipping even showering. In short, it means “just not washing.”

On social media, opinions clash between “What about the smell if you don’t wash in this summer?” and “It’s basically a nuisance,” versus “Nowadays, there are many ways to manage without washing, like dry shampoo.” Nikkei was quite surprised by this reaction.

In a Nikkei column, it was honestly expressed, “There are various reasons like being too lazy to get in, or the hassle of drying hair after bathing. I feel there’s no need to deliberately report this on social media.”

However, the column’s writer also analyzed, “When I asked someone with Gen Z children, they said it’s probably because they dislike being different from others. By joking self-deprecatingly about not bathing, they can feel reassured that ‘I’m not the only one.’” This means the trend started from a sense of solidarity saying, ‘I’m not the only one, let’s be honest.’

As a result of searching for the new term on Google Japan, it can be seen that major media outlets such as Mainichi Shimbun and Diamond have covered it.

Some media have also highlighted the issue more seriously. If you really don’t want to wash, you should suspect depression. According to a local mental health welfare organization, more than half of people experiencing mental health issues said “bathing is difficult.”

Its CEO, Ken Udagawa, said, “The first thing that becomes difficult when suffering from depression is bathing. I was surprised that this is not well known to the general public due to this slang controversy. Eating and even going to the bathroom are painful, so bathing is a low priority for survival.” Because of this, there are calls to focus more on the depressive feelings spreading among young generations.

Today, one slang word has brought us quite a lot of stories. As we prepare for the new week starting tomorrow, let’s renew our mindset and cleanse ourselves thoroughly.