Sentō rules

The rules are posted on the wall and most of them are about other people. Rinse thoroughly before you get in. The small towel stays out of the water — on your head, if you must. No soap in the bath, no swimming, no phones. The rule nobody posts is the one about your skin.

Tokyo’s sentō run hot. Forty-two is standard. Forty-four is not unusual, and the older places are not interested in your opinion on it. Twenty minutes at that temperature does something specific: it softens and lifts the lipids holding the outer layer of skin together. That is why you come out feeling properly clean, and also why your face feels tight by the time you reach the station.

None of which is an argument against the sentō. It is an argument about what happens afterwards.

Get out before your fingers go badly wrinkled. Take the last rinse cool rather than hot. Don’t cleanse again — the bath has already done more than any cleanser would. Skin that is still slightly damp holds what you put on it far better than skin you have towelled dry, so move quickly: moisturiser within a couple of minutes, onto damp skin, and stop there.

The order has never been complicated. Bathe, then seal. The rest is optional.