"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable." - John Kenneth Galbraith

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AHA! An answer to a question I've had for a while (and which is ridiculously hard to find information on in English):


Boys at female onsen and onsen eiquette

A: One of my friends just went to Hokkaido with her friend for a holiday. Her friend was in the midst of her period, and the tour guide (not Japanese) told her not to enter the bath for fear of contaminating the bath with her blood. He informed that she would be scolded by the other ladies if she entered the bath if she has her period as it would affect the cleanliness of the baths.

I find it strange that he thinks that ladies could not enter the bath due to their period. In fact, I found trash boxes for sanitary pads in the changing rooms. Moreover, I'm sure that ladies took baths during their menstration in the past when showers rooms were not invented. Could anyone clarify my doubts of whether entering the baths during menstration is permissible? If not, is it due to taboo or hygiene reasons?

B: I do recall reading in a book, Womansword, that long long ago Japanese women were actually sent to a different house during their period. I don't recall why.

C: Apart from the obvious hygiene aspects (many onsens and public baths have notices asking customers with diarrhoea or periods to refrain from bathing), apparently onsen bathing increases blood flow, which could be dangerous in extreme cases.

[Ed: HAHAHAHAHAHAH I can just see the headlines. "Woman bleeds to death in public bath"]