Day10: Sauna culture
Oh, one-third of the residence period has passed. I’m staying with the other two artists from the U.S. and France. We decided to experience a sauna tonight.
Photo by Nagisa Mizuno
Sauna is a Finnish word and originally from Finland. No doubt that it is an essential part of Finnish culture. Most houses have a sauna attached even today.
One most often quoted characteristic of Finnish people is shyness. Once in a sauna, however, they talk even to strangers.
I guess one reason comes from the fact that warmth makes you relaxed. Coldness confines ourselves to inside physically and mentally. We have to wear many layers of clothes to protect ourselves from feeling cold. Not only in Finland but in modern societies, we also have to wear many layers of “socially favoured stance” to protect us from being hurt by others.
Photo by Nagisa Mizuno
But if we want to obtain the maximum effects of the sauna, we need to peel ourselves without having anything on.
It’s interesting that Japan has a similar culture of enjoying a public bath and we are said to be shy too. We are probably too tired to wear the heavy outer layers, right?
