1 of 1
Story summary
- The Middle East crisis has cut tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, raising global oil prices and straining Japan’s traditional bathhouses.
- Ikesu Onsen in Aichi has delayed opening by an hour and lost about ten daily customers because monthly fuel-oil deliveries were halved.
- About 30 percent of Japan’s sento rely on fuel-oil boilers, leaving the total number of bathhouses at roughly one-twelfth of its peak sixty years ago.
