北投「瀧乃湯」主理人 林佳慧 X 東京「小杉湯」主理人 平松祐介

Text/ 楊雅筑
Dictation/ 林佳慧、平松佑介
photography / 剣持悠大、樹音
Picture provided / 林佳慧、平松佑介

In an age when home bathrooms were not popular, public baths were an important place for daily hygiene. However, with changing times, bathroom facilities became a basic requirement in family homes and the culture of public bathing gradually declined. Currently, there is a generation of bath operators in Taiwan and Japan who are devoting themselves to this "sunset industry", as it's known to outsiders. Some are refurbishing old bathing facilities and launching interesting activities so that the value of public bathing as established in imaginations as a cleaning practice of the past, becomes one that belongs to this generation. "LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS", one of Beitou's three famous hot springs, as well as "KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS", a popular Japanese public bath, are excellent examples of the rebirth of Taiwan and Japan's bathing places.

The third generation of LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS willingly adopt the family business from their hearts

With a history of more than 70 years, LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS used to be an official resort for Japanese soldiers during the Japanese Governing Period. In 1950, it was run by the first-generation owner, Tae-Han Lim. It is now run by three sisters of the third generation. However, before being a career, LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS is, after all, home for them; taking over the public baths is in three sisters’ DNA. "In fact, we three sisters have lived here in LONGNICE. Since childhood, we looked at grandma, mom and dad running the bathhouse, and also felt responsible and driven to take over. For us, LONGNICE is home. If we could not maintain the bathhouse or if we let it decline, we would feel very bad," said Chia-Hui Lin, one of the three sisters.

 However, when the sisters took over LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS, it was already looking old and dilapidated. Thus, restoring it to its original attractive appearance was their primary task. "LONGNICE has undergone several renovations in the past but it was often just partially repaired. This renovation will keep the original appearance of the men's bath and the main structure will remain unchanged; it is more like returning the building to its original state which is what we think LONGNICE should look like," Chia-Hui Lin said.

LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS, one of three famous bathhouses in Beitou, originated from the Japanese Governing Period as a place for neighbors to bond.
(Picture provided：林佳慧)

Warm and friendly like a neighborhood grocery store

Because of the motivation behind the renovation and compared to many modern hot spring hotels or baths in Beitou, the remodeled LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS displays a style of everydayness, in line with the Japanese feelings of Beitou in the past. "If other onsen hotels are superstores offering all kinds of services, I think LONGNICE is like a simple grocery store - small in size and with few services but a strong connection to the neighborhood."

Chia-Hui Lin said with a smile that some regular customers even bring home-grown vegetables to share when they come to the bathhouse and the sisters also remember all the regular visitors who have come to LONGNICE for many years. If they do not see each other for a few days, they become concerned about the health of their elders.

Indeed, like the common and well-known alley grocery stores, LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS is warm, friendly, and the key to its longevity is neighborliness. In recent years and with the cooperation of the Taipei Hot Spring Development Association, LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS has had many opportunities to communicate with the world. In addition to promoting Beitou’s hot spring culture, it has also opened up an international dialogue. As a place of warmth in Taipei, the story of Beitou is very long – one that LONGNICE accompanies throughout.

The area’s love for KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS continues through a new project

Not only is Beitou’s LONGNICE & HOT SPRINGS rich in history and connected to the neighborhood, but KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS, located in Tokyo's Koyoji Temple, is also a place where local happiness arises.

Founded in 1933, KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS, in the appearance of a shrine temple, is important spiritual sustenance for Tokyoites and is loved by the community. This important place was taken over in 2016 by 36-year-old Yusuke Hiramatsu of the third generation to open a new page for KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS. In the past, he set up an Internet Production and Marketing Department for his former company. He initiated the "Limited Housing" project, inviting musicians, editors, and designers to live in an old apartment next to the bathhouse and held miniature exhibitions there. He also held a live concert in the bathhouse to attract the youth’s attention.

The 88-year longstanding mission of KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS is to make people happy

However, Yusuke Hiramatsu also stressed that he never tried to "rewrite" the history of the 88-year-old KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS. In fact, the new chapter and interesting cooperation aforementioned were just different carriers to continue the regional love and affection of KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS. Furthermore, the activities such as the live concerts and art festival were not the pursuit of Mr. Hiramatsu but the guests who "love KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS" took the initiative to propose this. Yusuke Hiramatsu also said that for residents, the public bath is not a fashionable enjoyment but their daily life. Thus, the three key points of its environment - "comfortable, clean, atmosphere" - are more important than these diversified events. If you do your job well, interesting things will find you. "It's KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS’ mission to make people happy and comfortable in the bath! It's the same up to now!" he said.

Hiramatsu added that the sharing economy and self-service are particularly important in the public bath business. This means that maintaining the service-focused characteristics of the bathhouse as well as connecting people is an important mission for public bath businesses. "Keeping the KOSUGI HOT SPRINGS alive is our day-to-day goal and the most important challenge," Yusuke Hiramatsu said firmly. In fact, it is not only Hiramatsu's mission to keep the old bathing place alive but it is also the wish of the new generation of bathing place operators. Such determination is not only the gospel of public bath lovers but also the most solid support and strength behind the sustainable development of bath culture in modern times.

In recent years, Tokyo's "Kosugi" has attracted the attention of young people through interesting projects such as micro-curation and live concerts, and overturned the public's old-school impression of Qiantang. (Picture provided：平松佑介、photography ： 剣持悠大、樹音)