Tatsutamachi in Tsuchiura is is a neighborhood once surrounded by rivers and canals. In 1915, it was a cluster of thatched tenements bordered on its west side by a middle school for women.
From "Mystery in Tatsuta (立田の怪)," told by Ishido Yoshio, born in 1905
Excerpt:
After cooking udon or soba noodles, people would use the cooking water for washing themselves. Few houses had baths and public baths were in Manabe or Honmachi, far away - and they cost money.
My house had a rare bath. On bath day the everyone in our cluster would come to "receive hot water." The people in our cluster lived in thatched tenements; each house was divided among six families. Well and latrine were shared. Families would take turns. When one family got in the bath; they yelled to the next, "Oy! Your turn!" Children came with mothers; girls formed groups. Keeping the fire burning wasn't easy. They would yell, "If you don't get in quick, the fire will go out!" It was best to get in early. By the end, grime and mud would make the bath like black bean soup.
From:
佐賀純一, 佐賀進 「田舎町の肖像」,図書出版社、東京、1993、日本語 - http://amzn.to/sUstqg
This is a collection of 72 reminiscences collected in and around Tsuchiura, a lakeside town located about 50 km northeast of Tokyo. The highlight above is from this edition.
The earlier English book, Memories of Silk and Straw, is a translation of Tsuchiura no Sato: E to Denbun (土浦の里：絵と伝聞) that Dr. Saga published in 1981. It contains 50 reminiscences.
Saga Junichi, Saga Susumu, Garry O. Evans, Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan, Kodansha America, 1987, English - http://amzn.to/sudJTy , Paperback edition - http://amzn.to/vHQ2SB
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