O-furo

Furo (風呂^?), polite form ofuro (お風呂^?), is a Japanese bath.

Specifically it is a type of bath which originated as a short, steep-sided wooden bathtub. Baths of this type are found all over Japan in houses, apartments and traditional Japanese inns (ryokans) but are now usually made out of a plastic or stainless steel.

A furo differs from a conventional Western bathtub by being of a deeper construction, typically in the region of 0.6 m (25 inches). The sides are generally square rather than being sloped. They generally have no overflow drainage. Traditional pot shaped cast iron furo were heated by a wood-burning stove built-in below them.

Furo (or yubune (湯船, bathtub) that specifically refer to the bath with water) are usually left filled with water overnight, and for some household the water reused or recycled for washing clothes the next day. As in the West, it was the custom for more than one member of the family to use the same bath water and therefore, for the Japanese, it was important to be completely clean before entering the bath. This type of furo was the precursor of the modern Western-style hot tub.^{[citation needed]}

Furo are part of the Japanese ritual of bathing, not meant for washing but rather for relaxing and warming oneself. Washing is carried out separately outside the yubune. The bather should enter the water only after rinsing or lightly showering. Generally Japanese bathrooms are small by Western standards, so the bathroom is set up much like a walk-in shower area but containing the furo.