J ● T| Japanese Traditions and culture

What Is Nagara Culture?

Japan has a unique lifestyle called “nagara culture.” “Nagara” means enjoying one thing while simultaneously doing another. However, this is not simply multitasking. Nagara culture is Japanese wisdom that allows you to savor one activity more deeply through another, achieving relaxation for both body and mind.

This article provides a detailed introduction to “bathtub reading” and “engawa time,” which represent Japanese nagara culture. Here you’ll find hints for spending leisurely time in our busy modern lives.

Bathtub Reading – The Ultimate Relaxation Time

The Appeal of Bathtub Reading

Bathtub reading is a uniquely Japanese nagara culture of reading books while soaking in the bath. Surrendering your body to warm water while turning the pages of your favorite book. The combination of these two forms of healing creates the ultimate relaxation experience.

Japanese people have long cherished bathing not merely as an act of keeping the body clean, but as time to heal the day’s fatigue and organize the mind. By adding the intellectual pleasure of reading, you can satisfy both body and soul.

History and Cultural Background of Bathtub Reading

Japanese bathing culture is very deep and closely connected to hot spring culture. During the Edo period, public bathhouses flourished as social gathering places for common people, and in modern times, the style of enjoying private time in home bathrooms has become established.

This nagara culture of bathtub reading spread with the development of waterproof technology and the emergence of bath-specific reading accessories. Today, many items are sold to make bathtub reading comfortable, including waterproof book covers, bathroom book stands, and even waterproof tablets for e-books.

Effects and Benefits of Bathtub Reading

Bathtub reading offers various health benefits. Warm bathing promotes blood circulation and relaxes muscle tension. Simultaneously, reading reduces mental stress, allowing you to achieve relaxation effects for both body and mind.

Additionally, during bathing you’re separated from everyday noise, naturally creating an environment conducive to reading concentration. With no smartphone notifications and no family calling out to you, it’s completely your own time. This nagara culture also provides a valuable opportunity for “digital detox” for modern people.

Tips and Precautions for Bathtub Reading

There are several tips for enjoying bathtub reading. First, set the water temperature to a lukewarm 38-40 degrees Celsius to enable long bathing sessions. The ideal reading time is about 15-20 minutes, with care taken to avoid dizziness.

Book selection is also important. Light essays and short stories that can be read while relaxing are recommended. Avoid work-related books or difficult specialized texts, and choose books you can purely enjoy.

Engawa Time – The Japanese Luxury of “Doing Nothing”

What Is an Engawa?

An engawa is a corridor-like space in traditional Japanese houses that connects the interior with the garden. It’s a wooden-floored space between the tatami room and garden, where sitting to view the garden or drink tea has been cherished as one form of Japanese nagara culture.

The Cultural Meaning of Engawa Time

Engawa time as a nagara culture embodies the uniquely Japanese aesthetic of “enjoying doing nothing.” This concept, which connects to Western ideas of “doing nothing” or “slow living,” has actually been practiced in Japan for hundreds of years.

Sitting on the engawa, watching the trees sway in the garden, listening to birds chirping, feeling the wind. Not particularly “doing” anything, but simply “being” there. This is the essence of engawa time, a practice that also connects to modern mindfulness.

How to Spend Engawa Time

Ways of spending engawa time vary by person, but there are several typical styles.

Drinking tea while viewing the garden is the most common way to spend engawa time. With warm tea in hand, feeling the changing seasons. Cherry blossoms in spring, fresh greenery in summer, autumn foliage in fall, snowy landscapes in winter. You can enjoy the beauty of Japanese gardens from the premium seat of the engawa.

Taking a nap on the engawa is also one form of Japanese nagara culture. Feeling the outside air while dozing off in a pleasant breeze. This is the ultimate relaxation, offering a sense of unity with nature.

The Value of Engawa Time in Modern Life

In modern housing situations, homes with traditional engawa are becoming rare. However, it’s possible to practice the nagara culture of engawa time by utilizing balconies, terraces, or verandas as “modern engawa.”

Spending leisurely time while feeling nature in urban life. Putting down your smartphone and simply gazing outside. This simple act becomes an important habit for maintaining mental health for modern people living in stressful society.

What Nagara Culture Teaches Us

Richness Beyond Efficiency

Japanese nagara culture presents values different from the “efficiency” that modern society demands. Neither bathtub reading nor engawa time pursues productivity. Rather, they teach us another form of richness: savoring time slowly while doing something.

Habits That Sharpen the Five Senses

Practicing nagara culture sharpens our five senses. In bathtub reading, you immerse yourself in the story world while feeling warmth. In engawa time, you feel the wind, hear birds’ voices, and gaze at garden scenery. By using multiple senses simultaneously, richer experiences emerge.

The Power to Create Mental Space

In busy modern life, incorporating nagara culture creates mental space. Even if it’s difficult to create time for doing absolutely nothing, small habits like reading while bathing or gazing outside while drinking tea can be started by anyone.

Why Not Start Your Own “Nagara Culture”?

Japanese nagara culture of bathtub reading and engawa time reminds us of important things modern people are beginning to forget: not rushing, not hurrying, simply savoring this present moment.

There’s no need to aim for perfect practice of nagara culture. Once a week, slowly read a book in the bath. On a weekend morning, drink coffee on your balcony while gazing at the sky. Start with such small steps.

Nagara culture is Japanese wisdom for recovering just a little margin and richness in busy daily life. Why not start enjoying your own nagara culture today?