This French Woman is the Queen of the Tokyo Bathhouses

In 2008, Stéphanie Crohin was a student at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, reading literature and sociology. But every spare moment she had was spent at the public baths close to her house.

Four years later, Crohin, from France, returned to Japan to work and soon fell back into a familiar routine of trips to the local sento. In Tokyo alone, there are more than 600 of these bathhouses, accessible for modest prices, often less than the equivalent of a fiver.

Passionate about photography, Crohin decided to create a website through which she would share her expert knowledge on the different public baths across the city. Her articles, written in English, are illustrated with photos and a description of each location.

The young blogger has also created a hashtag on her Instagram account with which you are able to follow her adventures — #dokodemosento. Last year she also released her first book, Sento ha chiisana bijutsukan which documents the history and the artworks which are testimony to the unique cultural heritage of sentos.