Dry Towel Friction

KANPU MASATSU!!!

There are some interesting Japanese traditions, but I recently found one that involves a towel, cold temperatures, and a bare back that was surprising even to me. This is called ‘kanpu masatsu’ which literally translated means “dry towel friction”. Let me describe what this interesting practice involves.

The ‘kanpu masatsu’ is done by taking off your shirt, gripping a thin long and skinny towel between your hands, going outside into the cold winter air, and briskly rubbing the towel against your back over and over, creating a hot friction. If done correctly, the heat will be enough to keep your bare chest and back warm even when exposed to the cold air.

Now you must be asking, why would people put themselves through this?

The pracice of ‘kanpu masatsu’ is expected to prevent one from catching a cold by toughening up the body. The ‘kanpu masatsu’ is rarely performed today, but there are still some old women and men out in the countryside who do it occasionally. A long time ago in (You know, I have heard that this still happens now in some places!) Japan elementary schools and kindergardens required the ‘kanpu masatsu’ as a part of the regular winter daily schedule. The little boys and the girls would take off their tops and run outside together to do ‘kanpu masatsu’ with the teacher. Of course, these days it would be illegal to ask children to take off their shirts in class, especially the boys and girls together, so the ‘kanpu masatsu’ is no longer practiced in school.

This school in particular is so proud of the ‘kanpu masatsu’ they have a picture of the little kids in action on the front page of their website.

Kiddo: “Arrrrgh!!!!”

I put the Japanese for Kanpu Masatsu 「乾布摩擦」into Google Images, and got lots and lots of great Kanpu Masatsu images, check them out! This particular image is old school… 1941, war time Japan.

Next time the morning is feeling a little nippy, pick up a dry towel from the closet and step outside to give your back a scrub. If you do it right, you’ll probably be able to avoid catching a cold! Be careful not to get rug burn though!

Other Towel Rubbing Info:

Wikipedia Article on Kanpu Masatsu

- Harvey

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