Hi all

Hope it isn't too late to jump into the Japanese baths discussion. I've been
out of town and am catching up.

A few years ago I was working on ca 1910s-1940s Japanese agricultural camp
sites in Northern California and found several useful sources.  Many state
health inspectors visited various camps in the 1910s and early 1920s and reported
on the conditions of workers.  These reports usually deplored the unsanitary
camps conditions.  The personal hygiene of the Japanese workers was reported as
excellent, with credit given to the Japanese style camps that were present at
every camp (Bunje 1957; California State Board of Control 1920).

A personal memoir written by a Japanese farm worker's daughter notes that
every farm or camp had a bathhouse.  The bathhouse was built "Japanese style" and
included a large redwood tub with a metal bottom elevated on a foundation of
bricks.  A fire was lit under the tub to heat the water.  Bathers sat on
platforms on the sides of the tub and scooped pans of hot water from the tub with
which to wash and rinse.  Once their bodies were clean the bathers slipped into
the tub and sat on floating platforms that protected those sensitive body
parts from the hot metal bottom! (Shimamoto 1990:13).

Some useful references:

Bunje, Emil T. H.  1957  The Story of Japanese Farming in California.  U.S.
Works Administratin Project Number 165-05-6336.  University of California,
Berkeley.

California State Board of Control  1920  California and the Oriental:
Japanese, Chinese and Hindus.  On file, California State Library, Government
Publications Section, Sacramento.

Naka, Kaizo  1913  Social and Economic Conditions Among Japanese Farmers in
California.  MA Thesis, University of California, Berkeley.

Shimamoto, Chiyo Mitori  1990  To the Land of Bright Promise.  San Joaquin
County Historical Society and Museum, Lodi, California.

Hope this helps
Mary Maniery
PAR