Takizawa adds that even though men often boast about preferring mixed bathing,
when most of them actually get the chance to go into a unisex bath, they tend
to go all shy.
"Only women have the right to open the door," Takizawa says. "If they open up
to be greeted by a man who doesn't meet their liking, they can rest easy
knowing that they can cut him off at any time simply by letting the door shut."
Takizawa says that most women using the baths rarely hold back when it comes to
creating matchmaking opportunities.
"There are some guys who'll yell out for the women to open up the door, but
we've found that the women don't need to much encouragement to open it up," the
owner tells Josei Seven.
Some women may worry that the omiai onsen gives guys on the other side of the
door too close a view of their true faces, but Takizawa claims this should not
pose a problem.
"The steam from the bath gives their faces a more lustrous look and, if
anything, makes the skin appear healthier," he says. "Even if they're not made
up, there's nothing to worry about. Besides, the women are in the bath and
relaxing in an atmosphere that makes it easier for everybody to talk."
Shosenkaku can boast of already having paved the way for several couples to
meet and eventually tie the knot. A campaign it conducted seven or eight years
ago offering a free stay for 30 men and women attracted enormous attention and
resulted in three marriages. Another couple paired off through the bath in a
most unexpected manner.
"One guy stayed with us for a month while he underwent a mineral spring
treatment for an injury he'd suffered. He ended up meeting a nurse who'd come
to enjoy the bath on the other side of the wall," the owner says, adding the
encounter was even luckier to come about as the nurse had only been a day
visitor.
Takizawa adds that families enjoy the matchmaking bath as well as it prompts
communication between mothers and daughters on one side and fathers and sons on
the other.
Shosenkaku's reputation for matchmaking, its owner says, is a deserved one.
"Judging by the voices, I'd say the majority of calls we get about the bath's
effects come from men in their 30s," Takizawa tells Josei Seven. "Them, and
older women interested in finding some women they can marry their sons off to."
Copyright 1999-2004, Mainchi Daily. All rights reserved. Ryann
Connell is a Staff Writer and Senoir Desk Editor for the Mainchi Daily News. No
content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.
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