One of the tropes that comes up regularly in anime involves the hapless protagonist wandering into the wrong (usually the women’s) bath. Low brow hilarity ensues.

I had always thought that this was pretty contrived as the usual reason for this faux pas is “that they switched the baths” i.e. that for some reason the female and male baths were exchanged. Why would anyone do this except as an excuse for ecchi comedy?

Imagine my surprise when I got back from supper tonight and was told that the baths in the ryoukan  that I am staying at had been switched. I asked why and was told after some hemming and hawing that it was because what had been the male bath was larger and tonight there were more women staying here. This (sort of) makes sense and I had asked merely because I was curious. The question though seems to have been taken as a challenge to the competence of the management. Perhaps tomorrow I will try to explain.

I wonder though, what would have happened if I hadn’t gone out? Nobody had mentioned this earlier when I came in. Maybe anime is not as farfetched as I had thought. After sampling yet another excellent sake I hope I don’t forget later tonight when I trundle down for my nightly bath.

Update:

Well, I remembered and used the correct bath. The signs on the wall are on hooks and can be quickly changed which I had not noticed before. The entry room where you remove and leave your clothes was larger. The bath room was slightly smaller but had 1 more shower station. Tiles and accessories were all pink. Soaps etc. were the same. The actual bath was slightly smaller (and much warmer). All in all I don’t see what the fuss was about. The guy who was there when I arrived left quickly and I had the bath to myself. I’ll see what happens in the morning.