women&bathtub

hi everybody!
well..i have a question but it is bit embarassing!
ok,i explain you!
i will go to japan next sunday (it is the first time,so excited^^!!) and i will stay in my penpal's home,with her family.
i know that in japan is common to use bathtub,and they do shower before entering.
so i guess that also in her house they will do like that.
well......i am wondering...how can i do when i will have my period?is wearing tampon ok?or should i don't use tub and just have a shower?will they feel offended if i don't use tub?
oh,sorry is very embarassing but i don't know well!and also i don't want to give them bad idea of me!
thank you!

Well when I was in Japan and using a tampon, I had the same concern about whether I should use the ofuro(bathtub). I asked my host mother and sister about what I should do and they seemed a little uneasy. So... I think they consider that a little bad.

Oh, and if they ask you why you didn't use the tub or if you want to, you could always tell them why.

I believe that Period is "seiri" in Japanese.

Yes, even at home, water in the bathtub is shared by family members. But I don't think that you have to take a bath together with them. (I mean, simultaneously)

So if you feel more comfortable not to soak in the bathtub and finish by shower, that's fine. Who knows that you don't use the tub?

And if they don't have shower, (some old houses don't have shower) scoop water from the bathtub and wash yourself outside of the tub.

Don't get nervous and enjoy your stay!

As far as I know (and feel and act accordingly), if you use tampons (we use those to go swimming, right?), it will be OK to soak in the tub. Niko-cha, maybe your host mother and sister were not tampon users so they at home may have avoided soaking in the tub themselves during their period, or looked uneasy because they are just not used to talking about period in general :)

But what J Lady says is very true; you are not taking the bath together with the host family members, they don't have to know if you used the tub or not :)

thank you very much,i was really worried about that because,as i told before,i don't know well,in my country(as major part of the western countries i think) we mainly use shower and also if you use bathtub you don't use water of other people!
anyway,tomorrow i will come ther so i will consider with my eyes the situation!^^
anyway,thank you!i hope to enjoy there!

I avoid soaking in the tub during my period. It's kind of embarrassing to be walking around too much with the string of the tampon hanging down in any case, so it's better to be as discreet as possible in my opinion. Some people may find that offensive.

Hi Kitty,

As mentioned, you don't have to use the tub if you don't want to. And no one is going to shower with you in a family bathroom. So you won't need tampons. Just let it drain while you shower.

However, if you do want to try the tub, why not just tell your friend you have the period and that you want to be the last person to use the tub in the evening so that you can drain the tub water yourself (be sure to tell your friend that you want to drain the tub water, before you actually do it).

Btw, I've spoken with my female friends over the years and interestingly, you don't bleed while you're dipping in the tub. Maybe this is due to water presure, I'm not sure. On the other hand, I notice that a lot of Japanese women including health specialists believe that you shouldn't dip in the tub or pool during your period, even with tampons, because there is a higher risk of infection. This may be another reason why some hostesses of the house may feel uneasy about young ladies bathing in their tub during her period.

Have fun!

As I understand it, it seems to be expected not to use the bathtub while you have your period. Even if you are the last person, this isn't a good idea as in many households, the bathtub water is later used in watering plants and/or first wash cycle of laundry. Just keep it to the shower outside of the bathtub. It's not like they would be able to tell whether or not you used the bathtub, specially if you are not the first person to go in and it's not offensive either.