Challenges in inheritance of public bath and capturing new demand, including recreation

-Focusing on cases where non-relatives succeeded the business-

Abstract

The number of public baths is decreasing due to the spread of home bathtubs and the shortage of successors due to the practice of business succession to relatives, while there is the usage needs of foreigners seeking a Japanese lifestyle and cultural experience and movement to evaluate cultural value of public baths. In this study, in order to find the possibility of inheriting public baths as a living and cultural resource, the following three points were clarified by focusing on the cases where non-relatives succeeded the business. First, we clarified barriers that must be overcome in business succession, second, we grasped efforts to capture new demand such as the use of recreation, and third, we grasped the conscious and unconscious inheritance status of "sento assets" such as sento's unique architecture, equipment, and tools, and examined the risk of future loss.