My name is Jack Nakamura and I am a 5th generation Japanese American.  I am a middle school student and I take Japanese twice a week.  I also studied Japanese language and culture at my public elementary school in San Francisco, California.  Last summer I participated in the Grassroots Summit in Miyagi, Japan.  I wanted to go to Japan for many years and I was so excited to be going on my first trip.

On the bus from Narita airport to Matsushima, my mom told me that the hotel we were staying at had a public bath.  She really wanted me to experience the Japanese public bath.  I refused to go.  My mom explained it was a once in a lifetime experience so I finally agreed.  Unfortunately, I had to take my very active 8 year old brother, too.  

My mother, sister, brother and I all walked to the public bath together.  My mom gave us some quick instructions and then we off by ourselves.  I was uncomfortable to be around so many naked men.  My brother and I washed ourselves and then went into the baths.  I was very shy and kept the towel over my private parts.  My brother was showing off; standing up in the bath, doing a few Michael Jackson moves and not covering his private parts.  I was totally embarrassed.  One Japanese man thought we were Japanese and started speaking to us.  I had to use sign language and my broken Japanese to tell him I didn't understand.   In Japan, we looked 100% Japanese. After the bath, we felt relaxed and rush to the room to change back into our clothes.

The Japanese bath experience was very different and I learned that Japanese people are not shy to be naked in front of each other.  In America, we don't take baths with people we don't know so it was a very new experience for me. 

My name is Grant Nakamura and I live in San Francisco, California. I am eight years old and in the third grade. My brother and I went to our first public bath in a hotel in Matsushima, Japan.  In our room, I put on my yukata and my slippers.  When I entered the bath, I noticed there was a sign that said, "No tattoos."  I think they have this rule because Japanese people don't want to look at tattoos. My brother and I went to the stools and started washing ourselves. I felt a little weird being naked in front of a lot of men.  I saw a man with grey hair who also had gray hair on his private parts.  This was the first time for me to see so many different types of bodies.  In America, I usually take a bath by myself. 
After washing ourselves went to the outside bath area.  We saw all the trees and I could even see the bay.  It was very beautiful.  When we were done outside, I asked my brother if he wanted to go to the inside bath.  The inside bath was hotter.  Once we were done, we got towels and dried ourselves.  We put back on yukata and we went outside waiting for our mom.  I really liked the bath because the water was very warm and I felt very relax.  I wanted to go the next day but my brother refused.  The next time I go to Japan, I will definitely try another public bath.  I recommend that everyone should try it at lease once.  I also learned that I can't get a tattoo if I want to go to a public bath in Japan.