A sento is a public bathhouse in Japan. It is mainly uses by regional residents, but anybody can uses it. Users pay fees for entarance. The highest limit of fee is regulated by the local government, so there are deferences among prefectures. The sento fee in Tokyo is 450 yen in Aug. 2008. "Sen" of sento means fee, and "To" of sento means hot water.
Before the middle of Showa period, most of Japanese people do not have their private bath in their houses, and Japanese is the race that likes cleanliness, so many people went sentos on a regular basis. Now a days, most of Japanese have their own private bath, so sento customers are extremely decreasing in numbers.
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