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[[File:Kodakara-yu.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Interior of Kodakara-yu, a bathhouse at the [[Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum]]]]
Early European visitors to Japan commented on baths and bathing practices there, finding them unusual and surprising, given that Europeans themselves very rarely bathed at that time. Natural hot springs can be found throughout Japan, and baths for relaxation or therapeutic purposes with either geothermally or artificially heated water remain strongly associated with Japan today.
Early European visitors to Japan commented on baths and bathing practices there, finding them unusual and surprising, given that Europeans themselves very rarely bathed at that time. Natural hot springs can be found throughout Japan, and baths for relaxation or therapeutic purposes with either geothermally or artificially heated water remain strongly associated with Japan today.