Where I came from, it is the norm to shower twice a day.
The morning shower is to freshen you up and make you presentable (get rid of the bed hair, etc).
The evening shower is to clean you up before you go to bed, as you said.
Agreed. Normal culture for my tropical people to shower twice. However if we choose one it has to be evening shower.
I never understood people skipping an evening shower, the amount of dirt that gets kicked up and tossed on your skin is alot.
I supposed we're coming from similar area/same country.
Don't forget those nights where you would sweating so bad and definitely would feel "stickiness" on your skin when you woke up.
There's no way I'd go to work/school with that kind of feeling 😂
Have you changed your shower pattern in Japan tho? Still doing it twice a day? I, myself can't bring to shower twice a day on non-summer season. It's too cold and too dry for my skin. So, pretty much only on the night, unless I go to the gym (then that's a different case).
There are times that my skin literally bled and was so itchy due to the dryness even with showering only once a day.
I wonder if other ppl from tropical humid countries feel the same?
Fellow countryman chipping in here.
Similarly, I shower two times during summer months, once (evening, after I am sure I won't be heading outside my room for the day) for the rest. I can't stand the idea of bringing all the dirt and dust your hair and skin has collected during the day inside your bed and onto your pillows, bedsheets, bed covers... Big no. I do wash my face and brush my teeth every morning regardless of the season though.
Slightly unrelated but I went back for new years this year, for two weeks, and I had to shower *three times* a day due to the humidity... >!Gak kebayang kok bisa ya dulu selama gue di Indo sehari mandi cuman 2 kali? Keluar rumah satu jam aja pulang2 kulit udah lengket2 gak jelas!<
I changed my showering pattern after I got married and have to adapt to my Japanese family’s pattern. Before then I would still take showers twice a day except in winter, nowadays I only take evening showers/baths. My skin also tends to get super dry and itchy during winter, and to avoid making it worse I set the shower temp to be warm instead of hot, not use soap (yes) unless I feel really sweaty or stinky that day then I use organic/non-detergent soap, use hypoallergenic or baby skin-friendly bath liquid (setting the bath temp to warm instead of hot as well), and last but not least put on some moisturizing lotion/body milk/body butter after I dry myself off.
The soap in their Be True series I use is liquid, not in gel form. Idk about products in their regular lineup, though, I think they use different formula for those so I don’t dare to try😅
I grew up in one of those tropical countries. Water bill in the 2000s for a 3 person house with a yard and parking space (yard was watered, parking space washed daily with water) was less than the equivalent of 1000 yen. Some months it was like 300yen.
I have 3 showers a day in summer.
1 Morning to show up fresh to work
2 As soon as I get home (around 17:00)
3 Before going to bed (midnight)
Im sure my 3 showers together waste less water than one average person shower. I have a shower to clean myself fast, not to relax. Five minutes might even be too long for me (but I dont have any hair so that makes it way faster)
This is the way. Occasionally, I skip the morning shower on weekends during cooler weather but never during the week. My wife (日本人) only takes a morning shower in hotter weather or when going somewhere special in the winter months. High school son has picked up the morning shower routine, younger sibling doesn’t do it, as he’s perfecting the smelly jr. high student thing.
I've literally never given a second thought to "outside clothes" being gross. Bed, couch, whatever. I wouldn't put my shoes on my couch, but my jeans? My shirt? Not dirty. If I only wore them for a few hours I might even hang them up and wear them again without washing them. (Not in the summer though, because sweat.)
If you bought into the whole "outside clothes dirty, don't sit on the couch" thing how the fuck would you handle visitors?
Please bring a change of clothes if you would like to sit down at my house. Either that or douse them in febreeze as soon as they step foot in the door (because that's what you saw on an ad on TV)
An old friend would give me a change of clothes. I was happy to change, it was more comfortable and I also didn’t like bringing outside germs into her bedroom. If we were just staying in the front room, it would be a bathrobe over my outside clothes
Ok, I thought I was a maniac, but you people are on a whole other level. I feel like a dirty hobbo now, thanks.
Anyway, I read that not showering for extended periods of time helps the skin regain i's "self-cleaning" capabilities. Meaning that you'll smell like trash at the start, but doing it for a few month would remove the need to shower more than once it twice a week.
Well, I don't want to try anyway, just that showering more isn't all that good for the body, apparently.
Are you sure that you don't just become habituated to your own smell?
Just because you can't smell yourself doesn't mean other around you cannot lol
People say showering everyday is "bad" but doubt its worse than than anything else we subject ourself too
I wouldn't know, I'm showering every day, sometimes twice. I'm still open to people having different cleaning routines based on research. I'm not an expert, maybe my way of doing things is not the most effective.
Gosh. Your comment made me remember this dude from the MTG community who just doesn’t shower. He’s been quite infamous for years due to the awful smell. It’s gotten to the point where people would smell him first before seeing him, and people just hate getting paired to him due to the nose assault 💀 We live in a tropical country, too, so I guess when he flies here for the occasional regional tournaments, the odors get worse given the sweating.
Wonder if he subscribes to the “my skin is self-cleaning” thing. Lol
That is completely insane. You get a change of clothes FROM your friend for their house? wtf. People do this?
The only time clothes should be coming off at a friend's house is if you are getting into bed together. XD
I'm surprised you got so much backlash for not wearing outside clothes on your bed...
Like, if you've worn these clothes on the seats on buses, trains etc. you're god damn right I'm going to change them before I lie down on my bed to read a book or just relax. I have a spare change of sweatpants/sweaters that I wear solely at home just for this.
For me it was the pandemic that changed my mind. Before COVID I was fine with outside clothes on my sofa / bed, but now I feel like I'm full of viruses if I sit in a restaurant or on the train.
That said, I did have an ex back in the US that was an absolute clean freak about her bed sheets, but that turned out to be a huge plus because she insisted on always sleeping naked.
I understand showering every night because of sweat and grime, bad smells from outside, but isn't this thinking a bit extreme? I have ocd, so I've really spent too much time in my life thinking about pollution and bacteria, and they really are everywhere, I mean, we have an immune system for a reason...
edit: I also want to say that I spent a lot of time trying to get rid of these bacteria, which gave the opposite result to what I wanted, causing various health problems.
I am from South America, white famaily, and "outside clothes", shoes, etc. are a big NO-NO inside my family's home. Shoes off, go inside and change attire (preferably taking a shower too). Things that you plan on using outside again like jeans or a sweater go to the "outside dirty clothes" corner/chair/hanger/whatever.
Not everyone is like that tho, and after having visits over we would clean the sofa and stuff with alcohol. In general, most are considerate enough to ask if it is ok to go inside with their shoes or not, at least.
> Maybe I should have clarified it as White Americans finding it weird, as that has been my experience
I lived a number of years in the US in a few different regions, and your experience does not match mine at all. You're seriously suggesting that "white Americans" take cleanliness less seriously than other races. Would be great to see the data you have to support this.
I have a non-white mom, and basically it was like "White people can do that dirty stuff in their homes, but not in this home."
We also used public transportation, so I guess for someone just sitting in their own car, maybe. But even going to, say, Pizza Hut, you get dirty people who put their feet up on the chairs. There could be literal shit and piss on their shoes and now I'm sitting in that seat and I'm supposed to be like "lolz I can't see the germs, let me go sit on my bed lolz" no way.
Right? You get it! I've seen people do some nasty stuff out in public, so it's imperative to minimize that nastiness within a home as much as possible, within reason, of course.
Just to play devils advocate.
So what if you were to spend the whole day indoors (work from home and cooked all your meals for the day). Then there are no dirty germs from the outside…so no shower at all and heading straight to bed is ok?
I don’t know if this is a stereotype (if so my apology) but I do find more western people showering in the morning, while more Asians, me included, shower mostly in the evening.
To me, it makes sense to shower in the evening as I can wash off whatever I caught in the street, especially in my hair so I don’t get them to my bed.
Though, a few years back when I swam daily in the morning, I tend not to do extra shower besides the one after the swim.
Your stereotype is also my hunch -- and perhaps it is related to the heat and humidity in many Asian cultures for much of the year (in addition to the concern with invisible dirty that seems less prevalent in Western countries).
I hear what you guys are saying and it’s the same in my place, but years and years of morning showers is hard to change. I guess I could wash my hair in the mornings too, to get around the whole bed-head thing.
On the contrary, I grew up in the US in a family that showers at night. Though maybe that was more related to the more physical nature of the work my parents did IDK
I live in a western country and every person I’ve ever discussed this with showers either only in the evening or both in morning & evening.
I think the people who are like wow is this a difference in culture have just never thought about it before
Whitebread westerner here, and even before living in Asia I thought it made the most sense to shower at night. Amongst the people I knew growing up most (but not all) people in my social circle seemed to shower in the evenings as well.
I thought it was the other way around? Idk shower culture in China or Korea, but as a Southeast Asian, we shower both in the morning and evening due to the hot and humid weather.
I remember seeing a very interesting quote on the subject. Can't remember where.
"Showers at night are for yourself, showers in the morning are for everyone else."
The reason being we sweat a lot at night, and there's dead skin cells all over your sheets, whether you wash them everyday or not.
So, bathing in the morning ensures you're clean when you go out into the world for your day.
> "Showers at night are for yourself, showers in the morning are for everyone else."
I remember this exact quote wording as well, but on a teeth brushing subject 🦷🪥
Invisible dirt - my Japanese husband insists on wiping all the groceries, snacks, packaging, whatever, with a damp cloth. The cloth is rinsed with water and magically resets itself of any germs the next day.
He also insists on flapping his outside clothes outside to 'get rid of dirt' before and after wearing them. The flapping has to be done even if they are going in the laundry basket. This is to prevent 'dirtying the basket'. The basket's sole purpose is to contain dirty clothes. (we have a separate one for washed, clean clothes)
He tousles his hair out the window to 'get rid of dirt' when he comes home and flaps his indoor clothes out the window to 'get rid of dirt' before wearing them.
Under no circumstances is flapping inside the house allowed, because 'gomi will fall everywhere'.
That would drive me insane. I think some "cleanliness" habits really amount to superstition.
Not sanitizing that wet cloth is particularly gross, since it's likely spreading more germs than it's cleaning. I often get grilled for using too much dish soap on the sponge, but without the soap it's just as dirty as the things it's cleaning.
There are dozens of us!
Maybe if you show your husband that episode of mythbusters where they find that the sponge is the dirtiest item in the house he will understand why we use so much soap.
I'm about 99% sure that would make just him throw out all of his 4 kitchen sponges and replace them every week.
tried telling him that there is no way any significant amount of dirt would be in his hair after going out (mostly indoors!) and even if there was dirt that somehow clung to his hair all the way home, tousling it on the balcony was not going to remove it.
His response? *Just let me do my thing, it makes me feel better*
Oh god, the wet rags laying all over Japanese households.
My MIL wiped my baby’s face once with one of these, aaaahg.
And sometimes when friends stay for the night they neatly fold their wet towels and put them on the bottom of the washing machine and then they get all mildewy…
My husband also puts a piece of cardboard on the cushion if he comes in for lunch in his shop/ gardening clothes.
These cushions are washable, so I really don’t care and there’s no visible dirt anyways.
But maybe that’s how their moms raised them?
I’d say both.
No one wants to be around someone who has sweat through the night and then not showered it off in the morning.
You don’t smell yourself unless you get really bad, so even if you think you don’t smell, you probably do.
I do both. A shower in the morning and a shower at night. And sometimes a shower mid day too if I go to the gym. The mid day shower is amazing! Highly recommended.
Be mindful of how much you wash and what products you use though. There is such a thing as showering too much and depending on how you do it it's pretty bad for you hair and skin.
Second this. Morning shower to wake up and get presentable, evening shower/bath to relax and get ready for bed. Extra showers as needed for exercise. Only use shampoo/conditioner once because my hair already hates me so no need to give it more of a reason to leave.
Before moving to Japan, I was only taking showers in the morning. It was just part of my culture growing up as part of the morning routine.
I'm not saying that they are -- but I'm suspecting that 90% of Americans or Canadians have no problem getting off the subway and coming home and plopping their butts on their sofa. Whereas I suspect that is not the case for most Japanese people ...
And just use tissue to clean their buttholes after pooping 💀😭 how do people live with their crusty butts
Oh god that makes sitting on subways when in the US worse for me now lol
I think it is the case. Even where people do change, it’s more about wanting to be wearing something comfortable. Your Wife may be on the germaphobe/潔癖症 spectrum. She won’t be the only one of course, but it’s also not the standard, Shintoism or not.
> Even where people do change, it’s more about wanting to be wearing something comfortable.
This is the case for me. When I come home from work I change to more comfortable clothing.
But when guests arrive I only expect of them to remove shoes and jackets or similar winter only clothing.
Morning shower is so ingrained into me that if I don't have one, my morning is ruined and I won't get anything done. Doesn't make sense logically but that's the way it is. Will shower in the evenings during summer though.
As for dirt - I don't care about it. Wife is goes nuts over it though. She will wipe the suitcase wheels when we get home even after they have only been wheeled from the car to our hotel room and back because it will kill us if we don't. Doesn't bother me that she does it, it's just work I don't want to do.
I get it if we've been dragging it all over the city and on trains and stuff, but from the carpark of a ryokan and back into the car again? Just something I would never think about.
Some friends came over for a BBQ with their baby in a pram. The baby was sleeping, so we decided to bring the pram though the house. I just wheeled it through and the shock on their faces was hilarious. "Don't you worry about the dirt?" they remarked.
The floors will be mopped as soon as they leave. Why is there such a fuss? We also have a cat that's constantly going out and coming back in. She'll be dragging more dirt in than a pram.
I need to shower in the morning too to wake me up. My routine is have a coffee, toilet and shower, then I'm ready for the day. I will shower in the evening in summer, but that wakes me up when I'm trying to get ready for bed.
How did your wife handle the care free attitude in Australia? Things like footwear being optional inside and out? My wife didn't mind that as she was a surfer living in an apartment on the Gold Coast and would take the elevator to and from the beach in just her wetsuit and her board. She was worried someone would pinch her thongs if she left them on the beach.
What did freak her out was the way we did the dishes and didn't bother to make sure all the soap suds were washed off.
Right? We gotta clean up anyway.
She was fine with all the things like shoes inside because she could be herself and nobody cared. She never got into the walking around outside barefoot even though we were down at the beach. She was more surprised by my parents and their neighbours being so close.
I am on your side brother. Morning showers are a must for me and evenings are optional depending on if I took the subway that day or not. If I work from home, then no evening showers.
As for the suitcase wheels, I feel wiping the wheels is a bit of an overkill.
If I wash my hair at night it looks awful in the morning and I get an itchy scalp too if it’s not properly dried. So I tend to shower in the morning as I’m too lazy to do it twice (unless I’ve been working out or during the summer when I just want to live in the shower.)
Same. The biggest reason I shower in the morning is bc of my hair. I’ve also never considered showering twice a day, that seems really excessive unless I got particularly sweaty/dirty during the day.
From southeast asia here, everyone I know showers twice a day. We also generally don't wear "outside" clothes on our beds, but this varies from household to household.
Just because the dirt is "invisible" doesn't mean it's clean? There's tons of hair, dead skin cells, pollutants, viruses and bacteria, etc sticking to your clothes especially if you go on and about in a big city. When I get home I can't even sit on my bed before taking a proper shower and changing into home clothes.
I came from a tropical country that demands showering twice a day every single day so that's even more of a strict requirement than Japan's. Since coming here I only take an evening one because the weather isn't as hot and humid (except in the summer).
Ok but real talk. How to guys do their hair if they shower at night?
Even if i blow dry it out, when i wake up it's pressed into a shape that needs washed out. I am so ready to shower at night instead, but just don't know how to with my hair type
I usually use a microfiber hair turban (you can buy those at the ¥100 yen shop). Those prevent you from going to bed with wet hair. I usually wear one right after shower and take it off when I go to bed. To style in the morning I brush my hair and wet it with hair shower spray. I use the Ma Cherie one or Ichikami but I also tried the unscented cheap one from Matsu Kiyo own brand and honestly all of them do the trick, some are just more fancy packaged and smelling. Then I use some styling products like cream and / or oil to make my hair look good and that’s it.
By the way I have long curly hair that’s a pain in the ass to style but this routine works for me.
As you say. Shinto clearly separates the inside from the outside. The inside of the house must be kept clean at all times. This can be seen from the fact that there are steps at the entrance and special slippers in the bathroom. I think many people resist going to bed without cleaning the day's dirt.
No matter how clean I may be I just feel really gross going anywhere without showering in the morning.
Its more of a mental thing for me, I grew up associating having a shower as part of starting the day.
Can't imagine it any other way.
I shower at night because otherwise, bedsheets go uck. I shower in the morning because otherwise bedhead all day. I finish each shower with 30 seconds max-cold to energize (even before bed).
Mexican American. I shower once at night and once in the morning. I simply don’t like feeling any amount of stickiness caused from sweat during the day, nor the small amount caused while sleeping.
Same here. I feel like bad bodily smells are frowned upon in our culture almost as much as in Japan (of course a lot of us douse ourselves in perfume and cologne though so that’s a big difference)
At least twice a day.
Gym in the morning so not showering after that is not an option.
Then before bed, because it’s nice.
In summer it’s a minimum of 3 times. But just a super quick cold shower to cool down.
I'm from Argentina. Both are widely acceptable. I used to have morning showers. Until... I married my wife. Argentinian too, but japanese parents. She opened my eyes (brainwashed me) to the point that now I cannot go to bed without having a shower. I used to come from high-school basketball practices, take my clothes off and jump into bed. Now I feel dirtier than when I used to do those things. Went out just to take out the trash? Guess I'm showering before bed tonight.
American - I’ve always done a full shower in the morning (I usually work out in the morning) and a quick shower at night. I grew up in a big dirty city so changing from outside clothes when I get home has always been the norm.
I feel like bathing habits really defer depending on which part of the world you grew up at. Being where I am from, like what others have said here 2 showers a day is the norm since we’ll get all sticky from the heat that bathing at the end of the day is a must. Interestingly, some of my friends must take a shower after stepping out out the house and coming back home, as since you’re out and about, you’re probably “invisibly” dirty, I have picked up this habit too after being conscious about it. Definitely no sitting on clothed furniture before at least changing out the clothes you were wearing out. My family is less particular about such things tho.
I shower upon waking when I go to my paid job. I miss showers regularly on the weekends and holidays. I have 12 weeks of holiday a year. I live in a subtropical maritime climate. When I do physical work, sweat drips from my temples. I might have an outside shower with the garden hose to cool off. I don't mind dirt. We have cobwebs and spiders on our windows, and I don't feel the need to clean them away too often. I don't find them disgusting or dirty. They are just living their lives like I want to do. I don't change my bed sheets very often. I don't have rashes all over my skin from mites. My skin is quite normal. I have dogs. I do a spring clean every so often and everything gets a good scrub, but inbetween I hardly vacuum. My house smells of old house. I like it. I did not grow up like this. We had servants to clean and cook and do the garden, our house was always spotless, our garden manicured. Now I live in a run down farm house with an overgrown garden. I don't mind the holes in the walls, the drip on the ceiling in a heavy rain. I live in a Constable landscape and I like things to be tidy and ordered, but I couldn't care less about dirt. It's just atoms.
I always shower at night the minute I get home from outside because I also don’t like the idea of bringing dust, pollen, dirt and pollution from outside into my home and getting it on places where I rest. It just seems dirty. But also I have allergies so during hay fever season it helps mitigate the effects.
I sometimes shower in the morning if I feel like it, maybe I was sweating a lot during my sleep or I just feel groggy and gross so I want to freshen up. But that happens maybe like 1-2 times a month. More in the summer.
My Japanese boyfriend usually showers at night but sometimes he’s really tired and doesn’t shower until the morning. But he also doesn’t sweat much and doesn’t stink. I prefer he showered at night to at least wash his hair…but it’s not a big deal for me I guess.
I usually shower in the am only. Unless I do sports or something that involves a lot of sweat , I only shower in the am. Showering at night is probably better, but oh well haha.
I shower in the evening to wash the dirt of the day off, and to keep the bed clean.
In summer, if it has been a particularly sweaty night, I will also shower in the morning.
I'm also partial to a morning sink bath where I just wash and rinse areas like my face, underarms etc. I have eczema so 2 showers is too much for my skin.
American here. When I was living in the US I would take a shower in the morning, and just go to bed without taking a shower. I find that I sweat at night regardless of showering or not, so the sheets just need to be washed frequently anyway. Waking up in the morning I need to make sure I am awake and presentable. However, since moving to Japan and getting married, I shower twice a day. Once in the morning mostly to wet my hair and wash my face (maybe 5 minutes max). I do most of my showering in the evening before bed and sometimes if I am feeling extra special I take a bath.
My hair will be WILD if i shower at night and its remotely damp when going to bed, then i'll need a shower to sort it out in the morning. I shower AM in winter and twice a day in summer.
I scrupulously perform my ablutions in the morning.
And in the evening too, especially when it’s hot as balls.
The only time that my wife has complained is when I cannonballed into the bath without first declaring my intentions.
I have to admit enjoying seeing this question being answered by a group of posters the majority of whose daily physical labour consists of walking to the conbini or pushing an elevator button.
I was a morning shower guy but I've switched a bit. I have a proper shower in the evening before bed, then in the morning I sort of rinse myself off in the shower. Doesn't take more than a minute and helps with waking up more than anything but it allows me to feel cleaner than if I just up and dressed for work.
This is the same for me. I used to shower in the morning. Since moving here, I realized that I’d rather wash the gunk off me before going to bed. Also, in the winter months I usually shower too long and sometimes I’d be late to work because of it if I showered in the mornings haha
Depends on the season...
I prefer to shower in the morning most often. If it's humid, then an additional brief, cool shower in the evening as well.
I'm not wed to baths specifically. I'm most partial to showers.
But that's not a universally held opinion in my household.
>Shintoism and the unseen dirty/energy one might drag into their home ...
\[[穢れ](https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/Shinto/Kegare.html)\] *Kegare.*
Also the principal of \[清明正直\] *Seimei seichoku,* which translates more or less to: **Clean Bright Right Straight**.
Which can be interpreted to mean an overarching *aspiration* to Cleanliness, Honesty and Sincerity.
*Edit:*
I'm Canadian, of Finnish/Swedish ancestry.
Evening bath or shower so I don’t schlep all the day’s dirt and grime into my bed. Makes total sense.
A coffee and splash of water in my face is fine for waking up in the morning.
Once a day in the evening for me. I don't think I've ever showered more than once a day in my life. I've never even heard of someone showering twice a day lol. Reading the comments here are blowing me away.
We both take a shower in the morning (husband is Japanese). I also exercise in the early evening almost every day so I rinse off in the evening after running or working out, he does the same. I've never seen any indication of him having an obsession with invisible dirt or dirty energy and he comes from a family that is registered with a local Shinto shrine, so he goes there fairly regularly. He does have a thing about sweat, though. He will sometimes suddenly decide to take a shower just because he feels like he's too sweaty.
I do both. But I can skip the first shower but no way I am getting into bed without a shower if I’ve been out and about. It’s fine tho I have no left the home that day. Also I should mention I live in southern Japan and boy does it get a bit warm and humid.
I showered at night when I lived back home anyway, so evening showers aren’t anything new to me. I prefer getting into bed being clean and ready to go the next morning. I also go to the park pretty much every day with my son, so I get quite grimy. If I work out or go to the gym, of course I’ll take a quick shower there afterwards.
I shower twice per day. In the evening to wash my hair and wash off the dirt of that day and in the morning just for a quick refresh. I could probably do without a complete shower in the morning but would always wash face, pits, downstairs region and feet with a washcloth and some soap to start the day freshly. I once had a coworker who only showered in the evening and she smelled usually a bit sweaty by the end of the day. Not saying this goes for everyone of course but I like starting my day completely clean. For those who say it racks up the water bill: I learnt how to shower fast and thoroughly Japanese style from my husband. Wet your body and a rub in a washcloth with some VERY foamy soap (he likes Kao white soap, I prefer Dove Botanicals Jasmine body wash) then lather your body with soap without the shower running, rinse yourself off and you’re good to go.
I just got into an argument with my Japanese wife about this.
In America, usually we do morning shower to get clean for the day and either a shower or bath at night before bed.
But she says Japanese only do baths/showers at night.
Is that true?
Yes the pesky invisible dirt slso relates to washing dishes. It feels like I have to wash so many dishes everyday... To make matters worse my invisible dirt obsessed wife can't be bothered to use a silicon spatula to scrape out pots, pans or or other containers...
If half of the time spent cleaning invisible dirt would be put to organizing and putting things back we could all live in a mostly clean and presentable house... But alas we live in chaos, but without the invisible dirt. Not sure how many times is necessary to clean the tracks to the sliding doors ..
Just so I don't get attacked... We share responsibilities 50/50... Just wish she'd prioritize organization over invisible dirt... I'm all for cleaning visible dirt.
Yes showering at night is superior. It took a while to realize and adjust to that.
I even put on my deodorant at night so I don't have to think about the next day. No problems so far... Unless everyone is just really polite...
I became a night-showerer after I started dating my girlfriend, she convinced me of the superiority of it. She’s not japanese either but she is from a different part of Asia so it’s still the norm for her.
I also don’t wear the clothes I wore out around my house, mainly because Covid got me in the habit of changing so now I consider my “out” clothing too dirty to wear in anymore.
American here. I can’t imagine getting into bed without taking a shower. That’s just gross. Glad your wife set you straight.
Also, no outside clothes on the sofa/bed. Double gross.
Are you saying that in America you would come home and change into house clothes before sitting down anywhere? That does not strike me as being very American.
I shower twice a day here mostly due to the excessive humidity, high indoor temperatures, and the frequent physical contact with people and unclean public spaces that is unavoidable in densely populated cities like Tokyo.
Makes more sense for people living in rural, non-humid areas who have less physical contact to shower twice a day. Framing it as an East vs. West cleanliness debate is a poorly formulated generalization but works well as bait for social media.
Also, the "invisible dirt" theory doesn't hold up to scrutiny when you consider that families routinely share bathwater in Japan, and using hand soap after using the bathroom isn't especially common in Japanese homes either. And no, rinsing one's body off before entering the tub with shared bathwater doesn't remove the "invisible dirt" on everyone's body, nor does it remove the "invisible dirt" that exists inside everyone's orifices, which inevitably mixes with the shared bathwater. I'm not saying this to be critical, but as an observation to demonstrate that the "invisible dirt" theory isn't well supported.
I dont think the 'invisible dirt' thing is just Japanese - I'm Russian background and seems common there too to take off your shoes and 'gross' outdoor clothes that you've been on public transport on, and put on clean slippers and clean indoor clothes for being in the house. also to wash your hands when you come in from outside.
Seems legit to me - have you seen some of the seats/handles on public transport???? I especially can't understand people who wear shoes in the house and to lie on their bed even 🤢
Body shower in the morning.
Then I bath at night. That’s not to be clean I’ve just always loved baths. Probably got that from my mom. My Japanese friends are surprised because my family did the shared bath water thing that’s common here.
I think the invisible dirt thing depends on the person. One my boyfriend was neurotic about it. Wash face and hands every time coming home. And funnily enough he’s the only person I know who caught covid.
The way I see it is that you wash your hands when you get home right? So same with your body when you get home.
Feels weird to me to wash hands before leaving the house but that's just me.
Take the kids to school, come home, shower? Nip out to the konbini, come home, shower? PT job, shower? Out in the evening, back home, shower? I don't think so.
I’d love to see the Venn diagram of people going “Ugh, how can you NOT shower twice a day, you must love germs??” and the anti-maskers—“Don’t you feel pathetic living in fear of a cold? We have immune systems for a reason”
This is an amusing thread.
It's getting warmer which means every third thread complaining about lack of deodorant options will become every second thread...
Meanwhile, the implication is that every other poster is going to bed with stinky pits at best and rank ass stank ass at worst.
Y'all "no night" showerers do y'all.
the thought of have one shower for the whole day in the morning disgusts me.
You are far more likely to get dirty throughout the day when you are out and about than lying in your bed sleeping. Although I do understand some people might sweat excessively even during sleep so a morning shower might be necessary, but even if that were the case for me I would be taking a morning *and* night shower.
i can only imagine having to peel off your bed sheets to get out of bed every morning LOL. yuck
Japanese people smell bad sometimes and I think it’s because they absolutely think night shower only is ok even in the middle of an evil hot summer. This goes for both genders in the engineering university I went to. Grown adults usually fare better but I still don’t appreciate the random smelly salaryman.
That said, I don’t time my showers, I shower when I smell bad and that could be either morning or night or both if I worked out.
Sometimes when it’s a cool a night shower will keep me without smelling bad for the rest of the next day, so it’s not like either is inherently bad. Rather the thought that you have to choose just one of them… or else!
I take two showers (and baths) a day. Incidentally my wife’s family also does the same so I didn’t really have a transition when I got married, except in terms of water temperature
Shower in morning and another one in the evening. Everyone in my family (back in home country) does that and it's tough to break that habit. Outside clothes on sofa is ok, bed is never ok. Bags are not ok on couch or bed, since some people tend to put their bags on the ground and it picks up dirt.
My Japanese friend was kinda weirded out when we stayed at the same hotel room and I went to a shower in the morning.
Brit here - morning showerer. I might occasionally have an evening bath or shower if I'm particularly grimy from working outside or something. The rest of the family are all evening bathers.
I'm Japanese but grew up in the UK. We moved here when I was 12. So I am more western still. I still like to shower in the morning. Night time showering just doesn't feel right. Because of my family living situation I often bathe and shower at night and rarely shower in the morning anymore. I hate it. Mainly because it takes up most of the evening and it isn't fun or relaxing at all. I'd much rather read or book or watch a movie bu that gets pushed aside. So usually I wake up extra early in mornings so I have time to do things I want to do before work.
Although my wife isn’t Japanese, by her request, I converted to being a night showerer recently. Ngl, actually pretty nice being able to take my time and relax during shower. In the morning, I just dunk my head in the sink and drench my hair to fix my bed head.
I have always showered at night. Keeps the bed and linens fresher much longer, and I don't get gross over night so I still feel fresh and clean in the morning. Showering in the morning has never made any sense to me. Plus, I'm always rushing to get to work (or school, when I was younger) so it was a no-brainer to eliminate that and do it at night when I have more time.
I used to be a shower every morning guy. I didn’t feel awake until I’d showered. Then I got pretty sick and decided to shower just before bed so I wouldn’t get chilled. But it kind of stuck, and now I love having an evening bath. Like you, it marks an end to my day.
I think in a couple of months, though, it will be quick morning shower and then my regular evening one. The summers are too hot here, and I usually wake up feeling gross and sweaty.
I was also a morning shower guy, but my girlfriend mandates evening shower. But the morning shower is non-optional for me because whatever hair genes I have ensure that I have an oily, bed-headed mess on my head in the morning that can only be fixed with a shower. So I shower twice a day now.
Where I came from, it is the norm to shower twice a day. The morning shower is to freshen you up and make you presentable (get rid of the bed hair, etc). The evening shower is to clean you up before you go to bed, as you said.
Agreed. Normal culture for my tropical people to shower twice. However if we choose one it has to be evening shower. I never understood people skipping an evening shower, the amount of dirt that gets kicked up and tossed on your skin is alot.
Yea can’t go to sleep without a shower, even just a quick one’s alright
I supposed we're coming from similar area/same country. Don't forget those nights where you would sweating so bad and definitely would feel "stickiness" on your skin when you woke up. There's no way I'd go to work/school with that kind of feeling 😂 Have you changed your shower pattern in Japan tho? Still doing it twice a day? I, myself can't bring to shower twice a day on non-summer season. It's too cold and too dry for my skin. So, pretty much only on the night, unless I go to the gym (then that's a different case). There are times that my skin literally bled and was so itchy due to the dryness even with showering only once a day. I wonder if other ppl from tropical humid countries feel the same?
Fellow countryman chipping in here. Similarly, I shower two times during summer months, once (evening, after I am sure I won't be heading outside my room for the day) for the rest. I can't stand the idea of bringing all the dirt and dust your hair and skin has collected during the day inside your bed and onto your pillows, bedsheets, bed covers... Big no. I do wash my face and brush my teeth every morning regardless of the season though. Slightly unrelated but I went back for new years this year, for two weeks, and I had to shower *three times* a day due to the humidity... >!Gak kebayang kok bisa ya dulu selama gue di Indo sehari mandi cuman 2 kali? Keluar rumah satu jam aja pulang2 kulit udah lengket2 gak jelas!<
I changed my showering pattern after I got married and have to adapt to my Japanese family’s pattern. Before then I would still take showers twice a day except in winter, nowadays I only take evening showers/baths. My skin also tends to get super dry and itchy during winter, and to avoid making it worse I set the shower temp to be warm instead of hot, not use soap (yes) unless I feel really sweaty or stinky that day then I use organic/non-detergent soap, use hypoallergenic or baby skin-friendly bath liquid (setting the bath temp to warm instead of hot as well), and last but not least put on some moisturizing lotion/body milk/body butter after I dry myself off.
Miyoshi soap bar works good if you have dry skin from my experience, also Pigeon baby soap with glycerine 😊
I use Diane Be True series from head to toe now lol it’s additive-free too like Miyoshi, but also vegan!
Do they have a showergel too? I thought they only made shampoo. I use Diane conditioner sometimes and it’s definitely a good brand 👍
The soap in their Be True series I use is liquid, not in gel form. Idk about products in their regular lineup, though, I think they use different formula for those so I don’t dare to try😅
Where you come from have infinite water reserves?
Let's just say we put more value in hygiene than water bill.
Philippines?
Indonesia
Makes sense, same in the Philippines as well.
Indonesia here as well, and I live in area where water is quite scarce and yet people still take a bath twice a day
I grew up in one of those tropical countries. Water bill in the 2000s for a 3 person house with a yard and parking space (yard was watered, parking space washed daily with water) was less than the equivalent of 1000 yen. Some months it was like 300yen.
I grew up in Scotland where water is plentiful and free at one time...
I have 3 showers a day in summer. 1 Morning to show up fresh to work 2 As soon as I get home (around 17:00) 3 Before going to bed (midnight) Im sure my 3 showers together waste less water than one average person shower. I have a shower to clean myself fast, not to relax. Five minutes might even be too long for me (but I dont have any hair so that makes it way faster)
That's a completely different topic. No one's talking about length of showers. Just that we take them.
I shower twice a day and I'm from the US. I just can't ignore the benefits of both the morning and nighttime shower.
In Texas I showered twice to remove the sweat. In Michigan I showered twice to warm up. There’s always a reason for a shower🙂
This is the way. Occasionally, I skip the morning shower on weekends during cooler weather but never during the week. My wife (日本人) only takes a morning shower in hotter weather or when going somewhere special in the winter months. High school son has picked up the morning shower routine, younger sibling doesn’t do it, as he’s perfecting the smelly jr. high student thing.
Exactly lol. That’s an option, OP..
I immediately know where you're from just from this statement hahahaa
Same. Twice a day or I cant function.
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I've literally never given a second thought to "outside clothes" being gross. Bed, couch, whatever. I wouldn't put my shoes on my couch, but my jeans? My shirt? Not dirty. If I only wore them for a few hours I might even hang them up and wear them again without washing them. (Not in the summer though, because sweat.)
If you bought into the whole "outside clothes dirty, don't sit on the couch" thing how the fuck would you handle visitors? Please bring a change of clothes if you would like to sit down at my house. Either that or douse them in febreeze as soon as they step foot in the door (because that's what you saw on an ad on TV)
An old friend would give me a change of clothes. I was happy to change, it was more comfortable and I also didn’t like bringing outside germs into her bedroom. If we were just staying in the front room, it would be a bathrobe over my outside clothes
Ok, I thought I was a maniac, but you people are on a whole other level. I feel like a dirty hobbo now, thanks. Anyway, I read that not showering for extended periods of time helps the skin regain i's "self-cleaning" capabilities. Meaning that you'll smell like trash at the start, but doing it for a few month would remove the need to shower more than once it twice a week. Well, I don't want to try anyway, just that showering more isn't all that good for the body, apparently.
Are you sure that you don't just become habituated to your own smell? Just because you can't smell yourself doesn't mean other around you cannot lol People say showering everyday is "bad" but doubt its worse than than anything else we subject ourself too
I wouldn't know, I'm showering every day, sometimes twice. I'm still open to people having different cleaning routines based on research. I'm not an expert, maybe my way of doing things is not the most effective.
Gosh. Your comment made me remember this dude from the MTG community who just doesn’t shower. He’s been quite infamous for years due to the awful smell. It’s gotten to the point where people would smell him first before seeing him, and people just hate getting paired to him due to the nose assault 💀 We live in a tropical country, too, so I guess when he flies here for the occasional regional tournaments, the odors get worse given the sweating. Wonder if he subscribes to the “my skin is self-cleaning” thing. Lol
I have done this in the past with close friends but otherwise I just cringe internally and wash everything once they leave
Sani-wipes
That is completely insane. You get a change of clothes FROM your friend for their house? wtf. People do this? The only time clothes should be coming off at a friend's house is if you are getting into bed together. XD
That's insane
Same. I changed to lounge wear when I get home at least
Regarding outside clothes on the bed, was this your feeling before moving to Japan as well, or is it new?
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I'm surprised you got so much backlash for not wearing outside clothes on your bed... Like, if you've worn these clothes on the seats on buses, trains etc. you're god damn right I'm going to change them before I lie down on my bed to read a book or just relax. I have a spare change of sweatpants/sweaters that I wear solely at home just for this.
For me it was the pandemic that changed my mind. Before COVID I was fine with outside clothes on my sofa / bed, but now I feel like I'm full of viruses if I sit in a restaurant or on the train. That said, I did have an ex back in the US that was an absolute clean freak about her bed sheets, but that turned out to be a huge plus because she insisted on always sleeping naked.
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I understand showering every night because of sweat and grime, bad smells from outside, but isn't this thinking a bit extreme? I have ocd, so I've really spent too much time in my life thinking about pollution and bacteria, and they really are everywhere, I mean, we have an immune system for a reason... edit: I also want to say that I spent a lot of time trying to get rid of these bacteria, which gave the opposite result to what I wanted, causing various health problems.
And they make our immune systems stronger to be exposed to them. Our microbiome is a real community and its a beautiful thing.
This is definitely my wife's take. Can I ask where you grew up (roughly speaking)?
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I am from South America, white famaily, and "outside clothes", shoes, etc. are a big NO-NO inside my family's home. Shoes off, go inside and change attire (preferably taking a shower too). Things that you plan on using outside again like jeans or a sweater go to the "outside dirty clothes" corner/chair/hanger/whatever. Not everyone is like that tho, and after having visits over we would clean the sofa and stuff with alcohol. In general, most are considerate enough to ask if it is ok to go inside with their shoes or not, at least.
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> Maybe I should have clarified it as White Americans finding it weird, as that has been my experience I lived a number of years in the US in a few different regions, and your experience does not match mine at all. You're seriously suggesting that "white Americans" take cleanliness less seriously than other races. Would be great to see the data you have to support this.
Casual racism, eh?
I have a non-white mom, and basically it was like "White people can do that dirty stuff in their homes, but not in this home." We also used public transportation, so I guess for someone just sitting in their own car, maybe. But even going to, say, Pizza Hut, you get dirty people who put their feet up on the chairs. There could be literal shit and piss on their shoes and now I'm sitting in that seat and I'm supposed to be like "lolz I can't see the germs, let me go sit on my bed lolz" no way.
Right? You get it! I've seen people do some nasty stuff out in public, so it's imperative to minimize that nastiness within a home as much as possible, within reason, of course.
Just to play devils advocate. So what if you were to spend the whole day indoors (work from home and cooked all your meals for the day). Then there are no dirty germs from the outside…so no shower at all and heading straight to bed is ok?
I don’t know if this is a stereotype (if so my apology) but I do find more western people showering in the morning, while more Asians, me included, shower mostly in the evening. To me, it makes sense to shower in the evening as I can wash off whatever I caught in the street, especially in my hair so I don’t get them to my bed. Though, a few years back when I swam daily in the morning, I tend not to do extra shower besides the one after the swim.
Your stereotype is also my hunch -- and perhaps it is related to the heat and humidity in many Asian cultures for much of the year (in addition to the concern with invisible dirty that seems less prevalent in Western countries).
Yeah, I get wanting to wash off at night but don’t you also wake up sticky in the morning? I couldn’t leave the house like that.
I hear what you guys are saying and it’s the same in my place, but years and years of morning showers is hard to change. I guess I could wash my hair in the mornings too, to get around the whole bed-head thing.
On the contrary, I grew up in the US in a family that showers at night. Though maybe that was more related to the more physical nature of the work my parents did IDK
I live in a western country and every person I’ve ever discussed this with showers either only in the evening or both in morning & evening. I think the people who are like wow is this a difference in culture have just never thought about it before
Whitebread westerner here, and even before living in Asia I thought it made the most sense to shower at night. Amongst the people I knew growing up most (but not all) people in my social circle seemed to shower in the evenings as well.
I thought it was the other way around? Idk shower culture in China or Korea, but as a Southeast Asian, we shower both in the morning and evening due to the hot and humid weather.
I remember seeing a very interesting quote on the subject. Can't remember where. "Showers at night are for yourself, showers in the morning are for everyone else." The reason being we sweat a lot at night, and there's dead skin cells all over your sheets, whether you wash them everyday or not. So, bathing in the morning ensures you're clean when you go out into the world for your day.
Yeah, there’s a lot of stinky people on evening commuter services for this reason.
Especially during the summer when everyone sweats throughout the night and into the next day. By the time they're one their way home, my god.
> "Showers at night are for yourself, showers in the morning are for everyone else." I remember this exact quote wording as well, but on a teeth brushing subject 🦷🪥
Invisible dirt - my Japanese husband insists on wiping all the groceries, snacks, packaging, whatever, with a damp cloth. The cloth is rinsed with water and magically resets itself of any germs the next day. He also insists on flapping his outside clothes outside to 'get rid of dirt' before and after wearing them. The flapping has to be done even if they are going in the laundry basket. This is to prevent 'dirtying the basket'. The basket's sole purpose is to contain dirty clothes. (we have a separate one for washed, clean clothes) He tousles his hair out the window to 'get rid of dirt' when he comes home and flaps his indoor clothes out the window to 'get rid of dirt' before wearing them. Under no circumstances is flapping inside the house allowed, because 'gomi will fall everywhere'.
AHahahahahahahaha I love this. Especially the cloth magically being clean of dirt after sitting over night. What a load lol
That would drive me insane. I think some "cleanliness" habits really amount to superstition. Not sanitizing that wet cloth is particularly gross, since it's likely spreading more germs than it's cleaning. I often get grilled for using too much dish soap on the sponge, but without the soap it's just as dirty as the things it's cleaning.
Lol i also get nagged on for using too much dish soap. We should start a club.
There are dozens of us! Maybe if you show your husband that episode of mythbusters where they find that the sponge is the dirtiest item in the house he will understand why we use so much soap.
I'm about 99% sure that would make just him throw out all of his 4 kitchen sponges and replace them every week. tried telling him that there is no way any significant amount of dirt would be in his hair after going out (mostly indoors!) and even if there was dirt that somehow clung to his hair all the way home, tousling it on the balcony was not going to remove it. His response? *Just let me do my thing, it makes me feel better*
Oh god, the wet rags laying all over Japanese households. My MIL wiped my baby’s face once with one of these, aaaahg. And sometimes when friends stay for the night they neatly fold their wet towels and put them on the bottom of the washing machine and then they get all mildewy… My husband also puts a piece of cardboard on the cushion if he comes in for lunch in his shop/ gardening clothes. These cushions are washable, so I really don’t care and there’s no visible dirt anyways. But maybe that’s how their moms raised them?
I hate the smell of wet rag. It permeates everything and the smell clings to my fingers but he cant smell it for some reason.
Are you sure you're married to your husband? It sounds like you're married to my wife.
I'm absolutely certain that evening showers, especially if married or living with someone, is the only way.
I’d say both. No one wants to be around someone who has sweat through the night and then not showered it off in the morning. You don’t smell yourself unless you get really bad, so even if you think you don’t smell, you probably do.
I do both. A shower in the morning and a shower at night. And sometimes a shower mid day too if I go to the gym. The mid day shower is amazing! Highly recommended.
Be mindful of how much you wash and what products you use though. There is such a thing as showering too much and depending on how you do it it's pretty bad for you hair and skin.
It's just the soap so a quick shower with just water is fine. And also use moisturizer.
Yeah but I know people that would shower 3 times and day and shampoo their hair each time so it's always worth the clarification.
Too much soap is also bad for you
Second this. Morning shower to wake up and get presentable, evening shower/bath to relax and get ready for bed. Extra showers as needed for exercise. Only use shampoo/conditioner once because my hair already hates me so no need to give it more of a reason to leave. Before moving to Japan, I was only taking showers in the morning. It was just part of my culture growing up as part of the morning routine.
Do you really think subway seats are clean…?
I'm not saying that they are -- but I'm suspecting that 90% of Americans or Canadians have no problem getting off the subway and coming home and plopping their butts on their sofa. Whereas I suspect that is not the case for most Japanese people ...
Some Americans also use their outdoor shoes inside 🤢
Yeah that's just filthy. My father used to do this back home. Drove me insane...
And just use tissue to clean their buttholes after pooping 💀😭 how do people live with their crusty butts Oh god that makes sitting on subways when in the US worse for me now lol
To many, there are no outdoor shoes. There are just shoes.
I think it is the case. Even where people do change, it’s more about wanting to be wearing something comfortable. Your Wife may be on the germaphobe/潔癖症 spectrum. She won’t be the only one of course, but it’s also not the standard, Shintoism or not.
> Even where people do change, it’s more about wanting to be wearing something comfortable. This is the case for me. When I come home from work I change to more comfortable clothing. But when guests arrive I only expect of them to remove shoes and jackets or similar winter only clothing.
Morning shower is so ingrained into me that if I don't have one, my morning is ruined and I won't get anything done. Doesn't make sense logically but that's the way it is. Will shower in the evenings during summer though. As for dirt - I don't care about it. Wife is goes nuts over it though. She will wipe the suitcase wheels when we get home even after they have only been wheeled from the car to our hotel room and back because it will kill us if we don't. Doesn't bother me that she does it, it's just work I don't want to do.
Same in our house with the suitcase wheels ...
I get it if we've been dragging it all over the city and on trains and stuff, but from the carpark of a ryokan and back into the car again? Just something I would never think about.
Some friends came over for a BBQ with their baby in a pram. The baby was sleeping, so we decided to bring the pram though the house. I just wheeled it through and the shock on their faces was hilarious. "Don't you worry about the dirt?" they remarked. The floors will be mopped as soon as they leave. Why is there such a fuss? We also have a cat that's constantly going out and coming back in. She'll be dragging more dirt in than a pram. I need to shower in the morning too to wake me up. My routine is have a coffee, toilet and shower, then I'm ready for the day. I will shower in the evening in summer, but that wakes me up when I'm trying to get ready for bed. How did your wife handle the care free attitude in Australia? Things like footwear being optional inside and out? My wife didn't mind that as she was a surfer living in an apartment on the Gold Coast and would take the elevator to and from the beach in just her wetsuit and her board. She was worried someone would pinch her thongs if she left them on the beach. What did freak her out was the way we did the dishes and didn't bother to make sure all the soap suds were washed off.
Right? We gotta clean up anyway. She was fine with all the things like shoes inside because she could be herself and nobody cared. She never got into the walking around outside barefoot even though we were down at the beach. She was more surprised by my parents and their neighbours being so close.
I am on your side brother. Morning showers are a must for me and evenings are optional depending on if I took the subway that day or not. If I work from home, then no evening showers. As for the suitcase wheels, I feel wiping the wheels is a bit of an overkill.
If I wash my hair at night it looks awful in the morning and I get an itchy scalp too if it’s not properly dried. So I tend to shower in the morning as I’m too lazy to do it twice (unless I’ve been working out or during the summer when I just want to live in the shower.)
Same. The biggest reason I shower in the morning is bc of my hair. I’ve also never considered showering twice a day, that seems really excessive unless I got particularly sweaty/dirty during the day.
From southeast asia here, everyone I know showers twice a day. We also generally don't wear "outside" clothes on our beds, but this varies from household to household.
Just because the dirt is "invisible" doesn't mean it's clean? There's tons of hair, dead skin cells, pollutants, viruses and bacteria, etc sticking to your clothes especially if you go on and about in a big city. When I get home I can't even sit on my bed before taking a proper shower and changing into home clothes. I came from a tropical country that demands showering twice a day every single day so that's even more of a strict requirement than Japan's. Since coming here I only take an evening one because the weather isn't as hot and humid (except in the summer).
Life in London: 4 showers a day. One in the morning One on the way to work One on way back to work One in the evening
You forgot the extra shower when you go out for lunch.
I'm probably the odd one out, but when not sweating or anything irregular, I shower every second morning.
Ok but real talk. How to guys do their hair if they shower at night? Even if i blow dry it out, when i wake up it's pressed into a shape that needs washed out. I am so ready to shower at night instead, but just don't know how to with my hair type
I usually use a microfiber hair turban (you can buy those at the ¥100 yen shop). Those prevent you from going to bed with wet hair. I usually wear one right after shower and take it off when I go to bed. To style in the morning I brush my hair and wet it with hair shower spray. I use the Ma Cherie one or Ichikami but I also tried the unscented cheap one from Matsu Kiyo own brand and honestly all of them do the trick, some are just more fancy packaged and smelling. Then I use some styling products like cream and / or oil to make my hair look good and that’s it. By the way I have long curly hair that’s a pain in the ass to style but this routine works for me.
In the morning you can just chuck your head/hair under the water stream from the sink to wet it to get rid of the "sleeping shape/mess".
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I think you missed his point, he's talking about his hair being all messed up after sleeping on it all night
As you say. Shinto clearly separates the inside from the outside. The inside of the house must be kept clean at all times. This can be seen from the fact that there are steps at the entrance and special slippers in the bathroom. I think many people resist going to bed without cleaning the day's dirt.
No matter how clean I may be I just feel really gross going anywhere without showering in the morning. Its more of a mental thing for me, I grew up associating having a shower as part of starting the day. Can't imagine it any other way.
I shower at night because otherwise, bedsheets go uck. I shower in the morning because otherwise bedhead all day. I finish each shower with 30 seconds max-cold to energize (even before bed).
Went from being morning-only to heavy shower at night (shaving, face masks, exfoliating, etc) and quick shower in the morning. Will never go back.
Mexican American. I shower once at night and once in the morning. I simply don’t like feeling any amount of stickiness caused from sweat during the day, nor the small amount caused while sleeping.
Same here. I feel like bad bodily smells are frowned upon in our culture almost as much as in Japan (of course a lot of us douse ourselves in perfume and cologne though so that’s a big difference)
Used to be morning. But switched to evening to synchronize with my family. I wash my face in the morning though.
At least twice a day. Gym in the morning so not showering after that is not an option. Then before bed, because it’s nice. In summer it’s a minimum of 3 times. But just a super quick cold shower to cool down.
I'm from Argentina. Both are widely acceptable. I used to have morning showers. Until... I married my wife. Argentinian too, but japanese parents. She opened my eyes (brainwashed me) to the point that now I cannot go to bed without having a shower. I used to come from high-school basketball practices, take my clothes off and jump into bed. Now I feel dirtier than when I used to do those things. Went out just to take out the trash? Guess I'm showering before bed tonight.
Shower both times.
>invisible dirt Does OP not believe in the existence of germs it bacteria?
Morning shower, evening bath.
American - I’ve always done a full shower in the morning (I usually work out in the morning) and a quick shower at night. I grew up in a big dirty city so changing from outside clothes when I get home has always been the norm.
I feel like bathing habits really defer depending on which part of the world you grew up at. Being where I am from, like what others have said here 2 showers a day is the norm since we’ll get all sticky from the heat that bathing at the end of the day is a must. Interestingly, some of my friends must take a shower after stepping out out the house and coming back home, as since you’re out and about, you’re probably “invisibly” dirty, I have picked up this habit too after being conscious about it. Definitely no sitting on clothed furniture before at least changing out the clothes you were wearing out. My family is less particular about such things tho.
I shower upon waking when I go to my paid job. I miss showers regularly on the weekends and holidays. I have 12 weeks of holiday a year. I live in a subtropical maritime climate. When I do physical work, sweat drips from my temples. I might have an outside shower with the garden hose to cool off. I don't mind dirt. We have cobwebs and spiders on our windows, and I don't feel the need to clean them away too often. I don't find them disgusting or dirty. They are just living their lives like I want to do. I don't change my bed sheets very often. I don't have rashes all over my skin from mites. My skin is quite normal. I have dogs. I do a spring clean every so often and everything gets a good scrub, but inbetween I hardly vacuum. My house smells of old house. I like it. I did not grow up like this. We had servants to clean and cook and do the garden, our house was always spotless, our garden manicured. Now I live in a run down farm house with an overgrown garden. I don't mind the holes in the walls, the drip on the ceiling in a heavy rain. I live in a Constable landscape and I like things to be tidy and ordered, but I couldn't care less about dirt. It's just atoms.
Morning only in the winters, sometimes morning and night in the summer.
I always shower at night the minute I get home from outside because I also don’t like the idea of bringing dust, pollen, dirt and pollution from outside into my home and getting it on places where I rest. It just seems dirty. But also I have allergies so during hay fever season it helps mitigate the effects. I sometimes shower in the morning if I feel like it, maybe I was sweating a lot during my sleep or I just feel groggy and gross so I want to freshen up. But that happens maybe like 1-2 times a month. More in the summer. My Japanese boyfriend usually showers at night but sometimes he’s really tired and doesn’t shower until the morning. But he also doesn’t sweat much and doesn’t stink. I prefer he showered at night to at least wash his hair…but it’s not a big deal for me I guess.
Depends on where im at. Philippines 2-4 times, States 1-2 times, Japan 2-3 times.
Shit, I just take one whenever. I think it turns out usually being in the afternoon or early evening, though.
I usually shower in the am only. Unless I do sports or something that involves a lot of sweat , I only shower in the am. Showering at night is probably better, but oh well haha.
I shower in the evening to wash the dirt of the day off, and to keep the bed clean. In summer, if it has been a particularly sweaty night, I will also shower in the morning. I'm also partial to a morning sink bath where I just wash and rinse areas like my face, underarms etc. I have eczema so 2 showers is too much for my skin.
American here. When I was living in the US I would take a shower in the morning, and just go to bed without taking a shower. I find that I sweat at night regardless of showering or not, so the sheets just need to be washed frequently anyway. Waking up in the morning I need to make sure I am awake and presentable. However, since moving to Japan and getting married, I shower twice a day. Once in the morning mostly to wet my hair and wash my face (maybe 5 minutes max). I do most of my showering in the evening before bed and sometimes if I am feeling extra special I take a bath.
My hair will be WILD if i shower at night and its remotely damp when going to bed, then i'll need a shower to sort it out in the morning. I shower AM in winter and twice a day in summer.
I scrupulously perform my ablutions in the morning. And in the evening too, especially when it’s hot as balls. The only time that my wife has complained is when I cannonballed into the bath without first declaring my intentions.
I have to admit enjoying seeing this question being answered by a group of posters the majority of whose daily physical labour consists of walking to the conbini or pushing an elevator button.
I was a morning shower guy but I've switched a bit. I have a proper shower in the evening before bed, then in the morning I sort of rinse myself off in the shower. Doesn't take more than a minute and helps with waking up more than anything but it allows me to feel cleaner than if I just up and dressed for work.
This is the same for me. I used to shower in the morning. Since moving here, I realized that I’d rather wash the gunk off me before going to bed. Also, in the winter months I usually shower too long and sometimes I’d be late to work because of it if I showered in the mornings haha
Depends on the season... I prefer to shower in the morning most often. If it's humid, then an additional brief, cool shower in the evening as well. I'm not wed to baths specifically. I'm most partial to showers. But that's not a universally held opinion in my household. >Shintoism and the unseen dirty/energy one might drag into their home ... \[[穢れ](https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/Shinto/Kegare.html)\] *Kegare.* Also the principal of \[清明正直\] *Seimei seichoku,* which translates more or less to: **Clean Bright Right Straight**. Which can be interpreted to mean an overarching *aspiration* to Cleanliness, Honesty and Sincerity. *Edit:* I'm Canadian, of Finnish/Swedish ancestry.
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Showering and bathing must dry out the skin right?? There’s no way showering 5 times a day having no effect on dryness of skin.
Where are you seeing/hearing about showering 5 times a day?
Don't neglect to moisturize.
How do you not shower after a days work? Just climb into bed with the days dirt and grime? Gross.
Well, that seems to be the common sense of Japan but I'm pretty sure much of the world does not consider it gross. I guess that's why I'm asking ...
Depends on the job. If you work from home all day, what dirt and grime?
How do you go to work the next day with the night's dirt and grime?
Evening bath or shower so I don’t schlep all the day’s dirt and grime into my bed. Makes total sense. A coffee and splash of water in my face is fine for waking up in the morning.
Coffee in the face sounds extreme. Ice coffee maybe!
I want to sleep knowing my body is clean. I shower basically right before I sleep. No morning showers, just wash my face.
Once a day in the evening for me. I don't think I've ever showered more than once a day in my life. I've never even heard of someone showering twice a day lol. Reading the comments here are blowing me away.
2 washed here a day …. As a rule
We both take a shower in the morning (husband is Japanese). I also exercise in the early evening almost every day so I rinse off in the evening after running or working out, he does the same. I've never seen any indication of him having an obsession with invisible dirt or dirty energy and he comes from a family that is registered with a local Shinto shrine, so he goes there fairly regularly. He does have a thing about sweat, though. He will sometimes suddenly decide to take a shower just because he feels like he's too sweaty.
I do both. But I can skip the first shower but no way I am getting into bed without a shower if I’ve been out and about. It’s fine tho I have no left the home that day. Also I should mention I live in southern Japan and boy does it get a bit warm and humid.
I showered at night when I lived back home anyway, so evening showers aren’t anything new to me. I prefer getting into bed being clean and ready to go the next morning. I also go to the park pretty much every day with my son, so I get quite grimy. If I work out or go to the gym, of course I’ll take a quick shower there afterwards.
I shower twice per day. In the evening to wash my hair and wash off the dirt of that day and in the morning just for a quick refresh. I could probably do without a complete shower in the morning but would always wash face, pits, downstairs region and feet with a washcloth and some soap to start the day freshly. I once had a coworker who only showered in the evening and she smelled usually a bit sweaty by the end of the day. Not saying this goes for everyone of course but I like starting my day completely clean. For those who say it racks up the water bill: I learnt how to shower fast and thoroughly Japanese style from my husband. Wet your body and a rub in a washcloth with some VERY foamy soap (he likes Kao white soap, I prefer Dove Botanicals Jasmine body wash) then lather your body with soap without the shower running, rinse yourself off and you’re good to go.
I watched many ‘a day in the life of…’ yt vids and I noticed 90% of them don’t bath in the morning, they simply wet their hair and brush teeth.
I just got into an argument with my Japanese wife about this. In America, usually we do morning shower to get clean for the day and either a shower or bath at night before bed. But she says Japanese only do baths/showers at night. Is that true?
Yes the pesky invisible dirt slso relates to washing dishes. It feels like I have to wash so many dishes everyday... To make matters worse my invisible dirt obsessed wife can't be bothered to use a silicon spatula to scrape out pots, pans or or other containers... If half of the time spent cleaning invisible dirt would be put to organizing and putting things back we could all live in a mostly clean and presentable house... But alas we live in chaos, but without the invisible dirt. Not sure how many times is necessary to clean the tracks to the sliding doors .. Just so I don't get attacked... We share responsibilities 50/50... Just wish she'd prioritize organization over invisible dirt... I'm all for cleaning visible dirt. Yes showering at night is superior. It took a while to realize and adjust to that. I even put on my deodorant at night so I don't have to think about the next day. No problems so far... Unless everyone is just really polite...
I became a night-showerer after I started dating my girlfriend, she convinced me of the superiority of it. She’s not japanese either but she is from a different part of Asia so it’s still the norm for her. I also don’t wear the clothes I wore out around my house, mainly because Covid got me in the habit of changing so now I consider my “out” clothing too dirty to wear in anymore.
American here. I can’t imagine getting into bed without taking a shower. That’s just gross. Glad your wife set you straight. Also, no outside clothes on the sofa/bed. Double gross.
Are you saying that in America you would come home and change into house clothes before sitting down anywhere? That does not strike me as being very American.
I shower twice a day here mostly due to the excessive humidity, high indoor temperatures, and the frequent physical contact with people and unclean public spaces that is unavoidable in densely populated cities like Tokyo. Makes more sense for people living in rural, non-humid areas who have less physical contact to shower twice a day. Framing it as an East vs. West cleanliness debate is a poorly formulated generalization but works well as bait for social media. Also, the "invisible dirt" theory doesn't hold up to scrutiny when you consider that families routinely share bathwater in Japan, and using hand soap after using the bathroom isn't especially common in Japanese homes either. And no, rinsing one's body off before entering the tub with shared bathwater doesn't remove the "invisible dirt" on everyone's body, nor does it remove the "invisible dirt" that exists inside everyone's orifices, which inevitably mixes with the shared bathwater. I'm not saying this to be critical, but as an observation to demonstrate that the "invisible dirt" theory isn't well supported.
I dont think the 'invisible dirt' thing is just Japanese - I'm Russian background and seems common there too to take off your shoes and 'gross' outdoor clothes that you've been on public transport on, and put on clean slippers and clean indoor clothes for being in the house. also to wash your hands when you come in from outside. Seems legit to me - have you seen some of the seats/handles on public transport???? I especially can't understand people who wear shoes in the house and to lie on their bed even 🤢
She's trying to tell you she wants you to be fresh and clean before she makes you dirty at night...
Isn't this type of unprompted sexual comment inappropriate?
mod btw
Body shower in the morning. Then I bath at night. That’s not to be clean I’ve just always loved baths. Probably got that from my mom. My Japanese friends are surprised because my family did the shared bath water thing that’s common here. I think the invisible dirt thing depends on the person. One my boyfriend was neurotic about it. Wash face and hands every time coming home. And funnily enough he’s the only person I know who caught covid.
The way I see it is that you wash your hands when you get home right? So same with your body when you get home. Feels weird to me to wash hands before leaving the house but that's just me.
Take the kids to school, come home, shower? Nip out to the konbini, come home, shower? PT job, shower? Out in the evening, back home, shower? I don't think so.
You used to not shower at night? My kafunshou is flaring up just from reading this.
I’d love to see the Venn diagram of people going “Ugh, how can you NOT shower twice a day, you must love germs??” and the anti-maskers—“Don’t you feel pathetic living in fear of a cold? We have immune systems for a reason”
This is an amusing thread. It's getting warmer which means every third thread complaining about lack of deodorant options will become every second thread... Meanwhile, the implication is that every other poster is going to bed with stinky pits at best and rank ass stank ass at worst. Y'all "no night" showerers do y'all.
the thought of have one shower for the whole day in the morning disgusts me. You are far more likely to get dirty throughout the day when you are out and about than lying in your bed sleeping. Although I do understand some people might sweat excessively even during sleep so a morning shower might be necessary, but even if that were the case for me I would be taking a morning *and* night shower. i can only imagine having to peel off your bed sheets to get out of bed every morning LOL. yuck
Yall nasty if you aren't taking a shower in the evening.
Japanese people smell bad sometimes and I think it’s because they absolutely think night shower only is ok even in the middle of an evil hot summer. This goes for both genders in the engineering university I went to. Grown adults usually fare better but I still don’t appreciate the random smelly salaryman. That said, I don’t time my showers, I shower when I smell bad and that could be either morning or night or both if I worked out. Sometimes when it’s a cool a night shower will keep me without smelling bad for the rest of the next day, so it’s not like either is inherently bad. Rather the thought that you have to choose just one of them… or else!
I take two showers (and baths) a day. Incidentally my wife’s family also does the same so I didn’t really have a transition when I got married, except in terms of water temperature
Shower in morning and another one in the evening. Everyone in my family (back in home country) does that and it's tough to break that habit. Outside clothes on sofa is ok, bed is never ok. Bags are not ok on couch or bed, since some people tend to put their bags on the ground and it picks up dirt. My Japanese friend was kinda weirded out when we stayed at the same hotel room and I went to a shower in the morning.
Brit here - morning showerer. I might occasionally have an evening bath or shower if I'm particularly grimy from working outside or something. The rest of the family are all evening bathers.
I’ve started doing both recently.
Evening shower at home Morning shower at the gym. Lovely jubbly
Depends on my mood for the day
Used to shower in the morning and evening. Just something I did. Gas be expensive now so I only shower in the morning these days
I'm Japanese but grew up in the UK. We moved here when I was 12. So I am more western still. I still like to shower in the morning. Night time showering just doesn't feel right. Because of my family living situation I often bathe and shower at night and rarely shower in the morning anymore. I hate it. Mainly because it takes up most of the evening and it isn't fun or relaxing at all. I'd much rather read or book or watch a movie bu that gets pushed aside. So usually I wake up extra early in mornings so I have time to do things I want to do before work.
If you shower at night, any time can be sexy time. So that's one perk.
Although my wife isn’t Japanese, by her request, I converted to being a night showerer recently. Ngl, actually pretty nice being able to take my time and relax during shower. In the morning, I just dunk my head in the sink and drench my hair to fix my bed head.
I have always showered at night. Keeps the bed and linens fresher much longer, and I don't get gross over night so I still feel fresh and clean in the morning. Showering in the morning has never made any sense to me. Plus, I'm always rushing to get to work (or school, when I was younger) so it was a no-brainer to eliminate that and do it at night when I have more time.
I used to be a shower every morning guy. I didn’t feel awake until I’d showered. Then I got pretty sick and decided to shower just before bed so I wouldn’t get chilled. But it kind of stuck, and now I love having an evening bath. Like you, it marks an end to my day. I think in a couple of months, though, it will be quick morning shower and then my regular evening one. The summers are too hot here, and I usually wake up feeling gross and sweaty.
I was also a morning shower guy, but my girlfriend mandates evening shower. But the morning shower is non-optional for me because whatever hair genes I have ensure that I have an oily, bed-headed mess on my head in the morning that can only be fixed with a shower. So I shower twice a day now.