Pleasures of the masses


The Edo period developed its own unique culture after Ieyasu Tokugawa set up his shogunate at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in the year of Keicho (1603-), and the sento of this time shifted in style from the early steam baths to 'Ita-buro', 'Todana-buro' or 'Zakuro-buro'. As the Samurai families gradually lost their 'raison d'etre' towards the late Edo period, so the period began to favor the merchants who gradually gained economic power instead. Thus sento became established as part of the culture of the masses.