Body wash

Hot spring resorts are popular with local and foreign tourists in Japan. Municipalities hosting hot springs share in the resorts’ earnings by imposing a “bathing tax” on visitors on a daily basis.

Some towns have raised the standard 150-yen bathing tax to capitalize on the rising number of visitors to hot spring resorts. In Hokkaido, which has the largest number of “onsen” resorts in Japan, six of 179 municipalities increased the bathing tax resulting in higher revenues.

While tourists generally have no disagreement with paying the higher bathing tax, those who do have another option may find it as appealing as relaxing in a hot spring.

Osaka-based showerhead maker Science Co. plans to display a high-tech alternative at the Osaka Kansai Expo in April.

“We plan to offer 1,000 visitors an opportunity to use it during the expo,” according to company chairman, Yasuaki Aoyama, Asahi Shimbun reported.

The company is also planning to release a home-use version of the cockpit-shaped machine with a transparent cover and a seat inside.

The device partially fills with hot water when the bather sits in the seat in the center and sensors measure the user’s pulse and other biological data to ensure washing at an appropriate temperature, according to Asahi Shimbun.

A wash and dry in the human washing machine takes 15 minutes.

Aoyama said his invention was inspired by Sanyo Electric’s human washing machine exhibited during the 1970 Ultrasonic Bath event.

Aoyama was a fourth-grader living in the city at the time he tried it.