Japanese bathhouses awash with post-lockdown customers

Masazumi Kato sighed deeply as he lowered himself into a tub at a public bathhouse in a Tokyo suburb, enjoying a return to a Japanese tradition largely off-limits during the city's coronavirus lockdown. With the lifting of a nationwide state of emergency over the virus, Japan's onsen -- large bathhouses where patrons bathe naked in a series of warm pools and tubs -- are gradually reopening. And fans like 52-year-old Kato have few qualms about returning. 'I believe they are taking anti-virus measures, like chlorine,' he told AFP as he soaked in an outdoor tub, with other naked men submerged in pools nearby. 'I trust them and I like to use this place,' said Kato, a frequent patron of the Yumominosato facility in Yokohama, outside Tokyo.