Nuages Flottants

In Japan, there are places that have no equivalent in France: the Sentô, popular urban public baths. At the end of the day, bathers bathe entirely naked, separated into men and women, in an ingenious succession of hot, cold, foaming, electrified or scented baths.

Much more than just places for ablutions and relaxation, the Sentô are essential to the Japanese social fabric, where you can experience hadaka no tsukiai: an idea according to which simply sharing the same space, naked, makes it possible to create a bond and communicate openly, erasing social and cultural differences.

Despite their deep roots in Japanese society, today’s Sentôs are facing major difficulties, forcing many establishments to close every year, leading to their slow demise. To better understand the decline and future challenges facing these places, we spent three months immersed in the Japanese bath, in Kyoto, Tokyo and Kyushu, meeting, interviewing and photographing the Bandai-san: those who perpetuate and reinvent Sentô culture every day.