Last night, I decided to visit one of the sento, or public baths, in my neighborhood. The exterior of the building was rather unusual; a modern apartment building with lots of sharp angles and decorated to appear slightly decayed. The sento was located on the first floor, inside a slanted doorway.Several baths were available, including your typical jacuzzi-style massage bath as well as an ice cold one. In the corner of the room was the electric bath. I could see some kind of metal plate on the side of the tiles, but other than that, it looked just like a regular pool of water.
Rather than just hopping into the bath, I cautiously dipped my right hand in. I didn't even get past the tips of my fingers before my body instinctively recoiled from the shock. It wasn't exactly painful, but it made my whole arm momentarily twitch uncontrollably.
That should have put me off to the whole electric bath thing right there. Instead, I decided to wade in, keeping the water at waist height. The effect on my legs was not as strong as it was on my hand. Rather than going into a spasm, the shocking effect felt more therapeutic, like my muscles were being pummeled by dozens of tiny fingers.