Topics

Statue of Dr. Baelz at the University of Tokyo
(Photo courtesy: Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim)

In our country, hot spring therapy has been called "Toji" since ancient times and has been used for disease treatment and health maintenance.
In the past, when knowledge of hygiene and medical technology was not sufficiently developed, people empirically knew that hot springs were useful for disease treatment and health maintenance.
For example, "Biwa-no-yu Onsen" in Fukushima Prefecture is famous as "Eye Bath," and many people visited such hot springs named after the affected area for treatment purposes.
However, until the Edo period, the use of hot springs was limited to nobles, monks, and influential samurai, and it was only after the Edo period that Toji became popular among the common people.
This was because the world became peaceful and roads were improved, making it easier to travel to hot spring areas, and farmers began to use Toji to relieve fatigue during the off-season.
In the Meiji era, when Western medicine was introduced, hot spring therapy based on Western medicine was introduced to Japan, and among them, the German doctor "Dr. Baelz" left a significant mark on its development.
However, as hot spring therapy developed mainly in Europe, it gradually declined after World War II, when American-style medicine became the mainstream, and hot spring areas transformed into entertainment districts.
However, amidst the recent health boom, the use of hot springs for health promotion is being reevaluated.