Sento, neighborhood public bathhouses, were once part of daily life in every Japanese town, and many have closed. A few now live on as cafes, where you drink coffee among the old tiles, tall ceilings and even the bathtubs, with no need to undress. Each one keeps a different piece of its bathhouse past, so it is fun to visit more than one.
A cafe in a bathhouse built about 90 years ago in Kyoto's Nishijin weaving district, with the old interior left in place. The walls are covered in brightly colored patterned tiles, and light falls from large windows set high in the tall ceiling. It is a short walk from Daitoku-ji temple, so it fits easily into a day in northern Kyoto.
A former bathhouse in old downtown Tokyo near Ueno, now a cafe that roasts its own coffee. The ban-dai, the raised desk where an attendant once sat to collect fees and watch both baths, is still in place. You drink your coffee looking around at the bathhouse's old frame.
A cafe in a bathhouse built in 1923 in Saga, the quieter side of Arashiyama in western Kyoto. Walls of pale blue tiles and some of the old bath fittings remain around the tables. Photography inside is generally not allowed, so enjoy the room with your eyes.
A cafe in Miyano-yu, a bathhouse in Nezu that closed in 2008, where the retro tiled walls remain. You order at a counter made from the old shoe lockers, as if arriving for a bath, then choose coffee roasted on site or a matcha drink. It is about two minutes on foot from Nezu Station, near the old lanes of the Yanaka area.
A coffee stand in a former bathhouse in Tsuyama, an old castle town in northern Okayama, where the kitchen faces the entrance like an attendant's desk. The old bathtub is still there, its bottom lined with old tiles. Tsuyama is a little over two hours from Osaka by train via Okayama, and the stand is closed on Mondays.
A cafe in a renovated bathhouse in Uzumasa, western Kyoto, where soft light falls from a skylight into what was once the men's bath. One seat for a single guest is set inside an old tub. Hours change from time to time, so check before you go.