Over half the Japanese re-use their bath water

DIMSDRIVE recently published the results of a survey into what people get up to in the bathroom. They interviewed 6,436 people from their internet monitor group by means of a private internet-based poll. 41.3% of the sample was male and by age 1.0% were in their teens, 17.2% in their twenties, 37.1% in their thirties, 27.4% in their forties, 12.7% in their fifties, and 4.6% aged sixty or older. This is a subject where I’ve previously translated another survey, so it might be useful as a cross-reference.

There are lots of interesting figures here that back up various preconceptions that I think many of us have about the Japanese love of bathing. I used to just have a quick shower or bath once or twice a week before I married, but I’ve been coerced into washing every day, and now quite miss a bath if for some reason I can’t have one, such as when on holiday. However, I only usually just jump into the tub for a minute or less to warm myself up just before bed time, with the majority of the bathroom time spent under the shower.

Q1: About how often do you take a bath, including shower only? (Sample size=6,436)

Almost every day	85.3%
Four or five times a week	9.6%
Two or three times a week	4.4%
Once a week	0.3%
Less than that	0.3%
Never	0.1%

Note that if no bath at home, going to a local bathhouse is counted instead.

By age, the seven non-bathers were perhaps three men in their twenties and three in their thirties and just one over sixty. Younger people were more likely to bath every day, with women slightly more than men.

Q2: When do you most often take a bath? (Sample size=6,429)

Morning only	6.7%
Daytime only	0.9%
Evening only	73.7%
Morning and evening, or more often	7.9%
Other	1.1%
No particular fixed time	9.7%

Younger people were slightly more likely to bath or shower in the morning. People living alone were almost thrice as likely to wash in the morning, and twice as likely to wash either twice or more per day or at no particular time; conversely those living with others were half as likely again to wash in the evenings, perhaps due to the Japanese custom of sharing the bath water.

Q3: Where do you most often start washing from? (Sample size=6,429)

Head or hair	47.2%
Face	18.8%
Arms	13.6%
Neck	8.4%
Legs or feet or toes	3.0%
Hands or fingers	2.9%
Bottom	2.1%
Chest	1.4%
Shoulders	1.0%
Stomach	0.7%
Back	0.2%
Other	0.7%

Women were amost two and a half times more likely to start with their face, presumably related to removing make-up.

Q4: What do you use to wash your body? (Sample size=6,429)

Nylon towel	46.2%
Cotton towel	22.3%
Wash towel or glove	11.7%
Body sponge	8.7%
Other towel	7.1%
Net-like sponge	6.7%
Body brush	5.0%
Loofah	1.0%
Other type of sponge	0.5%
Scrubbing brush	0.4%
Other	2.3%
Don’t use anything	7.8%

Q5A: How long do you spend in the bathroom (not just bath tub) in summer? (Sample size=6,429)

	All	Men N=2,655	Women N=3,774
About 5 minutes	4.8%	7.4%	2.9%
About 10 minutes	19.6%	27.2%	14.3%
About 15 minutes	26.6%	27.8%	25.4%
About 20 minutes	23.1%	20.3%	25.1%
About 30 minutes	17.9%	13.2%	21.2%
About 45 minutes	4.4%	2.3%	6.0%
About an hour	2.9%	1.5%	3.9%
About an hour and a half	0.5%	0.2%	0.8%
About two hours	0.2%	0.1%	0.3%
More than two hours	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%

Q5B: How long do you spend in the bathroom (not just bath tub) in winter? (Sample size=6,429)

	All	Men N=2,655	Women N=3,774
About 5 minutes	1.4%	2.6%	0.6%
About 10 minutes	7.3%	12.0%	4.0%
About 15 minutes	15.9%	22.6%	11.2%
About 20 minutes	25.2%	28.5%	22.9%
About 30 minutes	29.0%	23.6%	32.8%
About 45 minutes	11.4%	6.4%	14.9%
About an hour	7.5%	3.8%	10.1%
About an hour and a half	1.7%	0.4%	2.6%
About two hours	0.5%	0.1%	0.8%
More than two hours	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%

Q6: Apart from washing, what do you do in the shower or bath? (Sample size=6,429, multiple answer)

Think about things	36.0%
Shave	33.8%
Brush teeth	24.4%
Wash the bathroom	22.9%
Massage, stretch, exercise	17.1%
Play with children	16.1%
Read a book or magazine	10.2%
Sing	9.5%
Sleep	4.7%
Listen to the radio	3.5%
Listen to music	3.3%
Drink	3.2%
Watch television	2.6%
Do aromatherapy	2.4%
Talk on telephone or send mail	1.0%
Eat	0.5%
Other	1.9%
Don’t do anything in particular	22.7%

Barring listening to the radio, women do everything above much more than men; almost a third of men (over twice the figure for women) do nothing in particular.

Q7: When taking a bath or shower, do you usually soak in the tub or not? (Sample size=6,429)

	Summer	Winter
Soak in the tub almost every time	33.1%	69.1%
Usually soak in the tub	14.4%	16.3%
Usually don’t soak in the tub (to SQ)	30.6%	8.8%
Almost never (or never) soak in the tub (to SQ)	21.9%	5.8%

As one might expect, people living alone were less likely to soak in the tub.

Q7SQ: Why don’t you soak in the tub? (Sample size=3,384, multiple answer)

Because shower only is good enough	66.8%
Because it’s hot	50.6%
Because it’s a pain	24.3%
Because it’s a waste of electricity, gas, water	19.3%
Because I’ve no time	16.7%
Because there’s no water reheating function	7.9%
Because I live alone	7.9%
Because the tub is too small	5.1%
Because I don’t like soaking in the tub	4.5%
Because I’ve never been in the habit of soaking in the tub	1.7%
Because the bath and toilet are in the same room	1.3%
Because I don’t have a bath tub	0.4%
Other	3.5%
No particular reason	1.2%

Q8: Do you use the remaining bath water for the washing machine, etc? (Sample size=6,429)

Reuse	55.3%
Don’t reuse	37.0%
Don’t know	2.7%
Don’t have or use a bath	5.0%

Q9: Do you like bath time? (Sample size=6,429)

Love it	21.6%
Quite like it	43.1%
So-so	27.6%
Don’t really like it	6.9%
Hate it	0.8%

Q10:What’s needed for a good bath time? (Sample size=6,429, free answer)

Rank	Item	Votes
1	Bath salts	586
2	Reading matter	155
3	Children’s toys	71
4=	Radio	58
4=	Soap	58
6	Aroma	47
7	Music	45
8	Television	39
9	Smells	29
10=	Children	25
10=	Drinks	25