The Perils of Public Bathing

Ms Semba likes going to local onsen pretty frequently, five or six times a week. Sometimes she goes to the onsen I’ve been to near my apartment, Himehiko Onsen. Last week, while coming back into the locker room, she saw one of our students.

A male student.

His mother was finishing getting ready to go out to the pools while he stood there waiting for her. They were both also wearing their birthday suits, but the boy was the only one looking around. Semba-san realized he was one of our young students after she realized he was looking at her oddly. He’s eight or nine years old, and the cross-gender bathing limit is ten years old, so technically they weren’t breaking any rules.

Personally, I think this is a bit tacky. I don’t know of any students at my school whose parents are not married, so I have to assume it was a choice rather than a matter of necessity. At any rate, Ms Semba was understandably mortified. She was still a bit flustered the next day, which was, perhaps unfortunately for her, Parents’ Day. The boy’s mother ended up leaving halfway through the lesson without saying a word to anyone on her way out of the school.

She must have had to make a really important phone call.

Comments

5 responses to “The Perils of Public Bathing”

  1. Jenny Avatar

    Oh, you win for stories today.

  2. Claudia Avatar

    That’s the gayest bathhouse I’ve ever seen.

  3. Shannon Avatar

    Wow. That would have been so very awkward! Poor Ms. Semba!

  4. Molly Avatar
    Molly

    Where there’s a willy there’s a why?! LOL this poor boy none-the-less has to face his teacher for the duration even when his own mother sqwirms. Which was more of a lesson? delightfully I’m sure the child will relish the thought of finding out there is no perfection like the now. 8-9 is a ripe age for learning, I think 10 would be too old! Thank You for sharing, my sides hurt.

  5. David Avatar

    Jenny:
    Yay me!

    Claudia:
    Heh. You said “gay.” Incidentally, the picture you see is from the women’s side. I’ll leave you alone with your thoughts now…

    Shannon:
    Yeah, I felt pretty bad for her. She couldn’t put it out of her mind for a few days after it happened. Thankfully, our summer vacation started at the end of that week.

    Molly:
    I wonder if his mom talked to him about it. I hope she used it as a life lesson, and didn’t just ignore the awkward social situation. Japanese people have made an art form out of ignoring the elephant in the room.

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