“The Nada Bathhouse saved my life on that day.”

The Nada Bathhouse is loved by locals, and is full of people every day. Its two bathhouses, the Suido-suji Bathhouse and the Rokko-michi Bathhouse are more than 80 years old and located in Kobe’s Nada Ward, which was severely damaged by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Mr. Kazuo Nishimoto, the third owner, was affected by the earthquake at home in Kita Ward. He ordered the closing of the bathhouses by phone because all means of transportation had stopped. On that day, the Nada Bathhouse was opened at 4:30 in the morning as usual. At the time of the earthquake, though the buildings suffered severe damage, luckily no one was harmed.

I was lucky in not having severe damage to my house, with only tea cups breaking which had fallen from the cupboard. However, having never experienced such a great disaster, and as my three children were still young, I worked hard to protect my family. It wasn’t until the seventh day after the earthquake that I was finally able to go to the bathhouse, walking thirteen kilometers for three to four hours.

I was thankful to have escaped complete destruction of the bathhouses given the fierce tremors. I was deeply impressed by the words of a customer who had come to the bathhouse and taken a bath on the morning of that day. He later said, “If I had not come to the Nada Bathhouse, I would have been trapped under the chest of drawers in my house. It saved my life.”

The Suido-suji Bathhouse suffered damage and needed repairs: the brick walls had cracked, the wooden external walls were leaning, and the tiled roof had big holes. In the Rokko-michi Bathhouse, the heavy oil tank had toppled down, resulting in the destruction of the bath facility.




The Nada Bathhouse served as a lifeline for the community.

Having decided to devote his energies to restoration of the Suido-suji Bathhouse, he reopened it on a temporary basis four weeks after the earthquake. Many local people in Nada Ward came to the bathhouse seeking hot water to bathe in because their houses had been destroyed.

The number of visitors a day reached 3,000, which was picked up by a newspaper under the headline “Lifeline for the Community.” While a temporary free bath facility was set up in Oji Park, many people came all the way to pay to take a bath at my bathhouse. I really appreciated it.

As aftershocks were continuing, I decided to open the bathhouse only during the daytime until the facility was fully restored. Although the bathhouse had lasted for 60 years, it suffered severe damage. It took four weeks to restore the bathhouse, repairing it repeatedly.

Before the earthquake, the number of visitors to the Suido-suji Bathhouse at its peak was 1300 a day. After that, however, it gradually decreased to 600 visitors. Eight years after the earthquake, Mr. Nishimoto demolished the bathhouse and built a new building, believing that good hot water and a good facility would surely attract visitors again.

Photo: The Rokko-michi Bathhouse, escaping complete destruction. The retro design of the entrance in those days has remained.


Hot spring source was miraculously found after the earthquake.

In the past, the Nada Bathhouse used to have seven bathhouses. Mr. Nishimoto took over the Nada Bathhouse in 1975. It overcame many difficult situations, including being washed away by the Hanshin Great Flood of 1938. It was surprisingly after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake that a hot spring source was found at the Nada Bathhouse.

Digging a natural hot spring had been a dream of my grandfather, the first owner of the bathhouse. However, he could not realize his dream due to site restrictions and technical problems. He was also afraid that vibration caused by the drilling operation would do harm to the neighbors’ tiled roofs, which were common when the bathhouse was opened in 1932.

Before the earthquake, we had continued to study drilling a hot spring. After the earthquake, I said, “It may sound imprudent of me to say at this time that it might be possible to dig a hot spring on a vacant site,” at the Town Revival Meeting of Bingo-cho 3 and 4-chome, which are located in the Rokko-michi neighborhood in Nada Ward. People at the meeting supported me, saying, “Drilling a hot spring will revitalize the town.” Hearing those words, I made up my mind.

Drilling for a hot spring was started in 1999. When it reached a depth of 600 meters, hot water of 31 degrees centigrade flew out.

The city of Kobe has one of Japan’s most famous hot springs, Arima Onsen. It is not widely known that there are natural hot springs in other areas in Kobe, such as in Nagata Ward. Nada Ward also has five hot springs, among which the Nada Bathhouse was the first.

Photo: Mr. Nishimoto always keeps a smile on his face. Being a positive person with a cheerful personality, he is loved by locals.


The Nada Bathhouse supports the health of the people

Currently, more than 1,000 people on weekdays and 2,000 people per day on weekends visit the two bathhouses of the Nada Bathhouse. With the belief that bathing in hot water promotes health, he keeps the bathhouses open from early morning to late at night almost every day of the year, hoping for the good health of as many people as possible.

More than half of the visitors are elderly people, including a healthy 96-year-old man. I am 65 years old and have a chronic disease. However, I am healthy because I take a bath every day. I want to operate the bathhouse as long as possible in order for those who look forward to taking a bath to bathe whenever they want to.

In the past, it was said that people often visited the Suido-suji Bathhouse twice a day: Shopkeepers in the Suido-suji shopping district would come to take a bath after making their purchases in the morning, return to their stores to work, and visit the bathhouse again to take a bath at night, which was a typical daily routine. During its peak, about 500,000 people a year used the Nada Bathhouse. They are proud of that record.

In the city of Kobe, there were nearly 200 bathhouses during the peak period, though I do not know exactly when. The number of bathhouses halved after the earthquake. Many bathhouses had to be closed because they had been badly damaged due to their collapsed chimneys or weak structures, made of wood and bricks. An increasing number of bathhouses have been unable to continue their business for economic reasons, including soaring fuel costs caused by the recent higher oil prices. Despite such a severe situation, we have been able to continue our business, greatly owing to the local people and visitors coming to our bathhouses.

Photo: The front door of the Rokko-michi Bathhouse was made by recycling the doors of clothing boxes used before the earthquake.


Aiming for bathhouses open to local people

Mr. Nishimoto wants his bathhouses to be open to more generations. He has actively taken up new initiatives, including a squad of neighborhood kids scrubbing the backs of adults in 2006; and currently, a parenting support group named “Suku Suku Club,” which gathers once every month.

Elementary school kids who scrubbed the backs of adult visitors were given ice cream as a reward. That activity became a hot topic for people and received TV coverage. It might be a good chance to enhance communication among people.

At “Suku Suku Club,” my wife reads aloud picture books and picture story cards borrowed from the library to children and their parents, and then they take a bath together. A young nursery teacher who became interested in this initiative brought an electronic piano to the bathhouse and sang songs with children. Our activities have gradually expanded. Bathing in a bathhouse in one’s childhood will surely be a wonderful experience for kids.

At “Suku Suku Club,” the mothers who use the bathhouse sometimes take care of each other’s children or talk about the problems they have raising their children.

In the past, when a mother got into a bathtub or washed her body, the people around her took care of her child. Nowadays, taking care of another person’s child is difficult to do, reflecting the prevailing customs of the time. If people become acquainted with more people, they will naturally begin to help each other. It is also emotionally healing to take care of another person’s children.

Being in the local area, the Nada Bathhouse values the human relationships created at the bathhouse.

Currently, there are 26 staff members at the two bathhouses. They want visitors to use clean bathtubs and bathrooms. That is why they work hard cleaning them late every night. It is hard work. But they are all in good health, maybe because they bathe every day at Nada Bathhouse. Mr. Nishimoto said, “Especially our female staff members all have beautiful skin.” He added that in the current times, bathhouses are needed by local people, though running a bathhouse is difficult to manage.

An elderly person living alone said that she often talked to the TV set. She continued, “I try to talk to other people when coming to the bathhouse.” Going to the Nada Bathhouse becomes a daily custom, and visitors naturally become friends with the persons who go at the same time. I would like to continue the good relationships between visitors and our staff, both of whom kindly give thanks to each other. I have spent a long time building relationships with people particularly in the Suido-suji shopping district. I know their faces and names. I would like to value these relationships and make steady efforts to continue my bathhouse.

Photo: “Rubbed Kannon” symbolizes praying for good health. He continues to aim for a bathhouse loved by the local people.


(Photographed by Kyoko Kataoka, interviewed and written by Kaoru Nikaido and Aya Yamamori)