The Korean Bathhouse -- Part 1: Background

In a lot of ways, Koreans are far more reserved than your average westerner. Adults and teens dress relatively conservatively compared to their counterparts in the U.S. Couples rarely if ever display affection publicly, even a boy and girl holding hands on the street is noteworthy.

But despite this seeming sexual repression, Koreans are open and upfront with at least one thing that makes most ex-pats blush from head to toe, and ironically the act lets one see every inch of that full-body blush manifest.

On almost any street in Busan you can find buildings with towering blue smoke stacks and adorned with a small red symbol that resembles a bowl holding three flames. These are the universal signs of the inexplicably popular public bathhouses – spas of varying opulence with hot tubs, saunas and a host of other amenities. From everything I’ve heard, read and learned since coming to Korea, the public bath is the thing to do for young and old alike in Korea. Parents take their kids, friends from work and school to together or one goes alone looking for some time to relax and perhaps meet a new acquaintance.

It all sounds normal enough, just like going to the mall perhaps or the beach. The only difference is that here everyone is naked, starkly and comfortably naked. In a recent New York Times travel article about the bathhouse phenomenon in Korea, one Korean man explains, “We don’t consider someone a real friend until we take a bath together.” Please check out the full article here, www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/.

But the bathhouse experience gets stranger. Same sex friends of all ages (kids, teens and adults) hold hands and lead each other around like married couples. Small children perform all the horseplay one would expect from kids in a pool, with birthday suits in place of bathing suits. Sons help scrub their fathers’ backs and other hard to reach places as they shower together.

It is very important to point out that these activities are in no way seen as sexual, much less homosexual, in any way for that matter. Koreans of the same gender often hold hands while walking through the streets or school halls. While seemingly cold to members of the opposite sex, same-sex friends often share a physical closeness I’ve rarely seen in America. But it is never sexual.

Personal Note:
I feel guilty talking about the nudity and strangeness of the bathhouse. The frequency with which expats bemoan the terror of getting naked is telling of our general prudishness. If anything, I admire Koreans’ comfort with their bodies and the absence of the homophobia that is an accepted norm in America. If anything, readers should look to stories about bathhouses not as spectacles of a bizarre culture, but rather a shining example of the freedom shedding preconceived notions of shame (as well as one’s clothes) can provide.

Back to the background:
While bathhouses differ in size and amenities, the basic principle is the same; a public space where strangers and friends gather to clean up and relax. There are rows of showers to use, some patrons choose to use them in the traditional standing mode and others use small plastic stool to sit as they shampoo, shave, and general wipe the grim of the day away. From what I’ve heard, they almost all have at least one hot tub for soaking and one icy-cold tub to cool off. And most bathhouses have at least one sauna or steam room that gives patrons a number of ways to shock their body’s temperature in cruel ways.

These are only the basics. The higher end public bathhouses offer special baths with jasmine infused water, mud baths, natural springs, massage therapy, special “sleeping rooms” with heated floors and white noise machines and much more. They are palaces of excess designed to inspire the utmost relaxation-induced pleasure. Here in Busan is Asia’s largest bathhouse that boasts more than three hundred different baths.

This is the first in a two-part series. Last weekend, my friend Danny and I went to the spa in Taejongdae Spa together for the first time. Later in the week we returned with our friend Brandon. Check back here soon for a full report.