{"id":2867,"date":"2026-06-29T18:09:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/?p=2867"},"modified":"2026-07-17T05:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:05:42","slug":"__trashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/__trashed\/","title":{"rendered":"Where bathers once gathered, musicians now perform"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Text and photos by Andrew Smith<\/a><\/b>
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In an old Kyoto bathhouse, the tiled bathing rooms were once filled with the steam of hot water and conversation. Now, the rooms echo with live music while audience members sip drinks in the old repurposed bathtubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Walking in feels much like entering a traditional <\/span>sent\u014d<\/span><\/i> \u2013 pay at the front, change into slippers and head to the tiled baths. But instead of soaking, guests come to jam out to live music.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bathhouse’s former men’s section now serves as the concert venue, while the women’s side has been converted into a bar and restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sent\u014ds are traditional Japanese public bathhouses. Dating back to the 6th century, they gained popularity in the Edo period (1603\u20131868) as a place to bathe, socialize and relax in steamy hot water. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Concert organizer Shohei Higashi speaks at the musical event at the former sent\u014d.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBefore, people in Japan used to come to sent\u014ds because they didn\u2019t have baths in their homes,\u201d said 30-year-old Shohei Higashi, who rented out the old bathhouse after it was decommissioned as a sent\u014d and turned it into a concert venue for an evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

For centuries, many Japanese homes lacked private bathing facilities, making neighborhood sent\u014ds an essential part of everyday life. As private bathrooms became a standard feature of Japanese homes in the 1960s, the neighborhood sent\u014d gradually lost its essential role, contributing to the steady decline of public bathhouses across Kyoto.<\/span>
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In the years after World War II, Kyoto had hundreds of sent\u014ds, according to government records. Today, there are only 76 public sent\u014ds listed on the website of the Kyoto Prefectural Cooperative of Public Bath-house Operators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another reason why sent\u014ds have declined so rapidly is that they cost a lot to maintain; that\u2019s become an increasing challenge as fuel prices have risen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Higashi, a Japanese musician and Kyoto resident, organized the music event as a way to preserve Kyoto\u2019s culture while adapting it to modern times.<\/span>
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\u201cPlaces like these are rare nowadays,\u201d said Higashi. \u201cThey\u2019re disappearing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

After moving to Kyoto from Tokyo in 2020, Higashi asked the sent\u014d’s manager for permission to leave flyers for a concert he was organizing. The manager, interested in the event, offered to let him start hosting events at the sent\u014d.<\/p>\n

Another reason why sent\u014ds have declined so rapidly is that they cost a lot to maintain; that\u2019s become an increasing challenge as fuel prices have risen.<\/span>
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In addition to communal bathing, sent\u014ds provided a place for people to gather. Higashi is trying to at least bring that part of the sent\u014d experience back with his musical performances in the former bathhouse.<\/span>
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“A bathhouse has a unique sound and echo, quite different from a regular concert hall,” Higashi said. “The sound of traditional Japanese instruments can be experienced in a more memorable way.”<\/p>\n

Musicians who performed at the sent\u014d in June combined traditional Japanese instruments like the koto with modern ones like the keyboard, as audience members sat around the former bathing area, now decorated with lights and cushions inside empty bathtubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ichi Kazuhiro (left) and Furan Necomaru (right) perform, combining the keyboard and koto with singing to form a complex beat for the audience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ichi Kazuhiro, the artist who played the keyboard at the sent\u014d, has been performing around Japan and in the United States for 20 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying at the sent\u014d was a very special experience,\u201d Kazuhiro said. \u201cThe atmosphere inspired me and gave me many ideas for my keyboard playing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The bathhouse Higashi rented close to Kujo station is the only one in Kyoto doing regular performances with <\/span>wagakki,<\/span><\/i> traditional Japanese instruments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I know, this kind of regular <\/span>wagakki <\/span><\/i>performance is unique to this bathhouse,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Higashi, who plays traditional instruments such as the koto and shamisen, the bathhouse’s history gives the venue a distinctly Kyoto character.<\/span><\/p>\n

The event is a first of many, according to Higashi. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m planning monthly performances here for now,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully with more funding we can make them more frequent in the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The next performance at the sent\u014d will be on July 25.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former sent\u014d becomes new kind of community gathering space<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-editors-pick"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ANDREW-Postcard-026-WEB-A.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2867"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2933,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions\/2933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2026kyoto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}