{"id":73941,"date":"2020-11-01T09:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T00:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/?p=73941"},"modified":"2020-09-30T17:14:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T08:14:28","slug":"3-sento-a-place-that-forgives-weaknesses-how-one-person-threw-away-an-ideal-career-in-order-to-find-her-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/news\/2020\/11\/01\/73941\/","title":{"rendered":"[#3] Sento, a Place that Forgives Weaknesses: How One Person Threw Away an \u201cIdeal Career\u201d in Order to Find Her Own Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

#3 The Conflict Between \u201cWhat I Want to Be\u201d and \u201cHow I Want to Be,\u201d and Arriving at One\u2019s Path<\/h3>\n

Q. Since 2017 you\u2019ve worked as a banto <\/em>(clerk) at Kosugiyu sento <\/em>in Koenji. What have you learned during the two years you\u2019ve worked there? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nThe best part about Kosugiyu is that it accepts your weaknesses. Back when I wasn\u2019t good at design, I would often blame myself, thinking things like \u201cwhy am I so bad at this?\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m not trying hard enough.\u201d But the atmosphere at Kosugiyu is completely different.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m not feeling well or when I have difficulties communicating with others, I don\u2019t feel I need to \u201ctry harder\u201d; instead, I think about how I can make the most out of my abilities. I don\u2019t deny that I can\u2019t do certain things. I accept that and developing the things I can do.<\/p>\n

This is the guiding principle of Kosugiyu, but I also think it captures the essence of sento<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Caption: Enya in her post as clerk at Kosugiyu (photo by Gota Shinohara)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sento <\/em>accepts people and doesn\u2019t push them. When people enter a bath, they don\u2019t know each others\u2019 names, nor do they know what others do on a daily basis. Everyone is naked and on an even playing field; you\u2019re not aware of your weaknesses at all. This calming acceptance of one\u2019s weaknesses can be found at sento<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q. Would you say that, as a clerk, you also accept people\u2019s weaknesses? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nI\u2019ve changed my way of thinking since being welcomed by sento<\/em>. There are customers who are tired and come to Kosugiyu every day. I work in hopes of keeping Kosugiyu, and sento<\/em>, a place that welcomes those who feel weakened.<\/p>\n

Q. Sento<\/em>\u2019s allures encompass both the physical relaxation of a bath as well as the psychological effect of feeling accepted. This year marks your third year working at Kosugiyu. Have there been changes in the number, or types, of customers? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nThere are more and more younger people, and sales have improved considerably. We recently started \u201cmorning baths\u201d from 8 a.m. on Sundays. We generally get around 600 to 700 customers on weekends, but with the new morning baths, we now get around 1,000.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Caption: Notice advertising Kosugiyu\u2019s morning baths, created by Enya<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q. I generally hear that sento <\/em>aren\u2019t doing well financially, but Kosugiyu is bustling. In addition to your sento <\/em>illustrations, you\u2019re also organizing a sento <\/em>revitalization project. Is it because sento <\/em>helped you in a time of need that you want to give back? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nThe sento <\/em>industry faces a number of issues that are setting it on a path of decline, including the lack of successors and a decrease in customers. Of course I want to revitalize sento <\/em>that are facing such circumstances.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not doing these things because I feel I need to give back; I\u2019m just doing what I love, and I think my activities are just an expression of my love for sento<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I do want to share my love for sento<\/em>, though, and I\u2019ll be delighted if that creates a positive effect. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve felt ever since I decided to share my appreciation for sento <\/em>with friends via Twitter.<\/p>\n

Q. After many twists and turns since your time at university, you\u2019ve finally found where you belong: sento<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nI feel like I\u2019ve just started! I want students reading this article to know that you don\u2019t need to follow a straightforward career. As a student, I only heard stories about older students succeeded in design or as general contractors. I never heard stories about those like me, who found their own path after a series of conflicts.<\/p>\n

When I was working at the design office, I had a single-minded focus on what I needed to do to become an architect. However, now as a clerk and illustrator, I\u2019m much more focused on the present, which I feel is guiding me towards the future.
\n\"\"
\nI don\u2019t feel troubled at all, and every day is fun. It\u2019s more about \u201chow I want to be\u201d rather than \u201cwhat I want to be.\u201d When I was a student, nobody told me that lifestyle was possible.
\nThe many twists and turns make it difficult to explain my career, but I feel like the current me would be able to instill some courage in the student me. I was so concerned about find finding the right job and being perfect back then. The current me, on the other hand, took the hand I was dealt and made it work. If I have the opportunity, I\u2019d like to give a talk to students to explain there are people out there like me.<\/p>\n

Q. Will you continue drawing sento<\/em>? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nYes. There are public bathing areas around the world. When I went to Finland, I learned that, due to the proliferation of home saunas, public saunas are disappearing, similar to sento <\/em>in Japan. I think it would be fun to draw the various bathing facilities that exist around the world.<\/p>\n

In addition to sento<\/em>, I also want to draw all types of cities and architecture. I\u2019ve been tormented by the notion of \u201cdrawing and architecture,\u201d but publishing Sento Illustrations<\/em> has given me a sense of self-realization in terms of how I want to draw.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

caption: Published in February 2019 by Chuokoron-Shinsha, Enya\u2019s book Sento Zukai<\/em> (Sento Illustrations<\/em>) includes color illustrations of 24 sento <\/em>primarily located in the metropolitan area.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What I want to draw most is the drinking district of Koenji, where I live. I\u2019d like to live as an artist, cherishing moments that inspire me to draw.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#3 The Conflict Between \u201cWhat I Want to Be\u201d and \u201cHow I Want to Be,\u201d and Arriving at One\u2019s Path Q. Since 2017 y […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3613,"featured_media":73992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3613"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73941"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79146,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73941\/revisions\/79146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}