About Fermented Rice Bran Bath“hacco bath” (Enzyme Bath)
Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) refers to the dry bathing method that uses the natural fermentation heat when rice bran fermentation occurs. You lay your body in a bathtub filled with fermented rice bran to have a hot bath like a sand bath.
The fermentation heat from rice bran is a type of natural heat that occurs when microorganisms decompose (ferment) organic matter, so it is a kind of gentle heat good for people and the environment that requires no gas, electricity, or other heat sources.
Also, while haccola offers rice bran fermentation baths, there are other enzyme baths that use Japanese cypress as well.
People say that the hands of grandmothers who touch and prepare salted rice bran beds are smooth and fine. Likewise, the minerals and vitamins of the rice bran could support your skin to be beautiful after taking a Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”.
Some people may imagine salted rice bran beds and think "Fermented rice bran baths could be thick and muddy," but actually, Fermented rice bran baths are smooth and fluffy. The bath feels great on your skin.
Also, the hot bath effect of the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”(enzyme bath) warms the body slowly from the core. People say that it has helped with their cold intolerance, improved body temperature, ad enhanced their immunities.
The Effects of Fermented Rice Bran Bath
“hacco bath”(Enzyme Bath)
Hot bath effects
Many people take Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”s (enzyme bath) at temperatures between 60 and 70℃.
At haccola, we mix the bamboo powder with the rice bran. Bamboo is the same genus of the family Gramineae as rice bran, so the compatibility is perfect. The lactic acid bacteria in the bamboo also support rice bran's fermentation, so natural fermentation heat alone could sometimes bring the rice bran temperature to 80 to 90℃.
Even at such high temperatures, there is plenty of air between the rice brans, so the temperature you actually feel is between 40 and 45℃, which is comfortable like taking a slightly hotter bath.
Further, a Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) does not have the stifling sensations that people sometimes experience at saunas. Your skin is less likely to get pruney like after taking a bath, and you are also less likely to get dry skin after getting out of the bath. There is less constraint on the body, so even older people can take a bath comfortably.
Improved body temperature and metabolism
The best effect of the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) is obviously the fact that it warms your body. The improved blood flow from taking a Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) could improve your metabolism, raising your body temperature. From continuous bathing, people expect improved cold intolerance, swelling, stiff shoulders, and fatigue. Aside from these obvious benefits, people also hope to achieve smooth and fine beautiful skin, diet effectiveness, improved sleep quality, and improved immunity.
When you take the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath), we place a bag with warm rice bran in it on your eyes like an eye mask (please let us know if you do not wish it), so you can feel your eyestrain ease.
A large amount of perspiration and a detox feel
When you take the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath), you start to feel the fermented heat slowly, which gradually starts to feel comfortable and makes you sweat a lot. You should feel a sensation like all the unnecessary buildup and stress in your body flowing out, like detoxication.
It is said that when you train the sweat gland, you can more easily have odorless and thin sweat. To do so, it is important to slowly raise your temperature and excrete the buildup, dirt, and metabolic decomposition that has accumulated in the sweat glands. A Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) is perfect for that.
By the way, if you want to sweat a lot or if you prefer higher temperatures, we recommend making a visit right after the establishment opens, taking the first bath.
Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”s (enzyme bath) are warmed naturally through fermented heat, and the temperature drops little by little after each time someone takes a bath. Of course, we manage so that the rice bran temperatures do not go below 60℃ so you can sweat nicely until the end of business hours, but if you prefer very hot temperatures, please make reservations at an early time slot.
Relaxation effects
Lying on the fluffy rice bran bed full of air, you can feel the supreme sensation as if you are floating in the air. When you are in a state such as this, your brain releases "serotonin," hormone known as the happiness hormone, and you should feel deep relaxation of your mind and body.
Also, when you take the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath), you place a warm rice bran eye mask on your eyes and lie down with your eyes closed. As a result, you may experience positive effects during and after bathing like stress relief, positive psychological effects, better concentration, or effects close to meditation.
If you want relaxation like that, we recommend not bathing at a hot temperature that makes you endure the hotness. Instead, we recommend a temperature that makes you "feel so comfortable that it makes you fall asleep." During the early hours right after the establishment opens, the rice bran in the bath is very hot, like taking the first bath. If you want deep relaxation, it would be good to take a bath later when the temperatures start to settle down. Of course, we conduct maintenance every time after a customer takes a bath, so even at a settled down the temperature, you can have a good sweat, so please be rest assured.
Rice Bran's Beauty Components
The history of rice bran
We Japanese people have always had rice in their lives ever since the Jomon period when rice making started up to modern times, which is now.
Ordinary people started eating white rice from the late Edo period as rice polishing technology developed and because cooking white rice required less firewood than cooking brown rice.
When you polish rice, you always get some "rice bran." From the times when white rice became popular, people started utilizing rice bran in a variety of ways, like using it as the bed of salted rice bran to make Nukazuke, and so on.
Other than using it for food, people used to soak the "Nuka-bag" in the water, a bag with rice bran in it, to wash the body using the bag and its squeezed juice. Nuka-bags were used as an alternative for soap, and until soap became available, it is said that bathhouses sold rice bran and Nuka-bags for washing bodies.
People say that grandmothers who mix the bed of salted rice bran and Japanese sake brewers have smooth and unwrinkled hands. It is said that people had the conception that rice bran and rice had the effects to make the skin beautiful at the time.
Rice bran's beautifying effects
Improvement of skin barrier functions
Skin barrier functions refer to stratum corneum functions, which protects the skin and the body from dryness and external irritations. Rice bran contains gamma-oryzanol and ceramide components that protect the skin from ultraviolet rays, external irritation, and function to repair the skin.
In particular, ceramide has water retention power and is naturally found in the skin, but its amount decreases with aging. When the skin gets dry, the skin barrier's protection functions are compromised, and it can be the cause of skin-related issues. Therefore, it is important to prevent skin dryness and always keep your skin moist.
Epidermal turnover promotion
When the body's metabolism starts to weaken, so does the skin turnover essential for keeping fresh and healthy skin. Rice bran contains plenty of vitamin B group and mineral components to promote skin metabolism and support the turnover.
Antioxidative effects (for anti-aging)
Rice bran contains antioxidative components such as vitamin E, ferulic acid, and oleic acid. Aside from the antioxidative effects, ferulic acid can also be expected to limit melanin production, allowing you to aim for a youthful, beautiful, and fair skin.
Water retention effects
Rice bran contains a natural extract called Oryza Bran that prevents moisture from evaluating from the skin and is recognized as an excellent component with moisture-keeping water retention properties. People say it has the effects to limit skin sagging and rough skin as it maintains a sufficient amount of water content in the skin.How to Enter/Take a Bath in the Fermented rice bran bath
“hacco bath” (Enzyme Bath)
Before bathing
Makeups
We recommend washing off your makeup before taking a bath. It's because you can sweat as much as you want. You can also put plenty of rice bran on your face and put on a beauty mask, which is an optional menu. At haccola, we have makeup remover installed in our powder rooms, so you can visit us empty-handed.
If you don't want to remove your makeup and want to take a bath with your makeup on, we also have dry sheet masks that you can place on your face as you take a bath. By wearing it, it can absorb your sweat and supports your makeup so that it does not crumble as much as possible.
Contact lenses
Rice bran particles are very fine, so if you are wearing hard contact lenses, it would be better to take them off. You may be fine with soft contact lenses, but please take them off if you have any concerns.
Be careful when you are hungry/full
If you are too hungry or full, please take a bath after waiting for some time. Please be careful as you may feel unwell if you take a bath when you are hungry, and taking a bath when you are full could disrupt your digestion.
Bathing dress code
Some people take a bath naked during a bath while others put on paper underwear. Both styles of taking a bath are acceptable. At haccola, we have paper bras, paper shorts, shower caps, and ear caps available.
If you take a bath naked, please pour rice bran on the parts of your body that you want to conceal as you lay down in the bathtub. If you do so, the staff cannot see these areas of your body when they pour rice bran on your body.
We recommend not wearing any shower cap and letting your hair touch the rice bran if possible. You can take a shower after your bath to wash off the rice bran on your body and your hair.
Bathing time
Often, people take the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) for about 15 minutes. After a while, since starting to take a bath, a surprisingly large amount of sweat should be pouring out. The bathing time is set at 30 minutes at haccola. You can take breaks during your bathing time, and you can change your body positions from lying face up to lying face down, etc. You can, of course, finish your session in under 30 minutes.
You will take a shower after your bath, but sweat will continue to pour out even after. Please enjoy the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath) within a bathing time that is not too much for you.
Also, some people have difficulty sweating initially. However, by taking a bath repeatedly, you can feel that it gets gradually easier to sweat.
Number of times to take a bath
Continuously taking the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”(enzyme bath) could make both your mind and body healthy. Even if your body temperature and metabolism improve, it's a bit of a waste if you don't continue. By making the bathing a habit, get your body to remember a state where the body temperature and basal metabolism are highly functional.
You can take the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”(enzyme bath) many times a day, and it is fine to take a bath every day. Please continue it matching your physical and other conditions. How about starting to take a bath here about a once a week, to begin with?
Bathing procedure
For detailed bathing information, please read “Your Bathing Session”
- Change into paper underwear (or stay naked) inside the Spa Room (private room) then lie down in the bathtub with rice bran that has been dug up for the customer. If you are naked, please pour rice bran on parts you want to conceal. When you are ready, ring the bell to call the staff.
- The staff will enter the Spa Room (private room) to pour rice bran all over your body.
- After the staff leaves the room, you can slowly take a bath. First, you will slowly feel the fermented heat. Then you will gradually feel more comfortable, and you will sweat a lot.
- At 15 minutes after you start to take a bath and 30 minutes after at the end of the bathing time, the staff will enter the Spa Room (private room) to check up on you. During other times, if you feel thirsty, feel unwell, or need something during the bath, please ring the bell and call the staff.
- After you finish taking a bath, you can wash off your sweat in the shower unit in the Spa Room (private room). You can relax in the powder room after that.
After taking a bath
Even after taking a shower after the bath, you will continue to sweat a lot. That's the characteristic of Fermented rice bran baths. As a result, after taking the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath), you might feel satisfaction and weakness that is like comfortable tiredness. After you take a shower, you can change into a dressing gown, hydrate yourself, and rest your body in the powder room.
Our establishment has cold water, a wet towel, hot tea and Nukazuke fruits after the bath for you. There are fermented rice bran shampoo & hair treatment in the shower room, and there are grooming products in the powder room like fermented cosmetic products. You can check your beautiful fair skin that became more transparent and your smooth hair in the mirror as you apply skincare and haircare on yourself.
We also sell fermented drinks and cold sheet masks that are perfect after taking a bath as well as fermented rice bran shampoo and fermented cosmetic products that we recommend using at home.
Concerns Regarding Fermented
rice bran baths (enzyme bath)
Sanitary conditions
After the previous person takes a bath, the next person uses the same bathtub, so some people might be worried about the sanitation. However, the microorganisms in rice bran process waste, such as sweat produced by the previous person taking a bath, so you can consider that the clean state is maintained in the bathtub.
Also, the rice bran inside the bathtub has a temperature of 60℃ or above, so E. coli or Legionella bacteria would not be able to propagate in such conditions.
Sterilization of food products at 60 to 85℃ is called "pasteurization." It's a sterilization method suited for food materials that change at a high temperature or contain easy to destroy proteins, sugars, or vitamins. The method is used to make traditional Japanese sake, milk, cheese, and processed meat products.
The best temperature for pasteurization is between 60 and 85℃, which is almost the same as the temperature of the Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath” (enzyme bath). Therefore, it is considered that inside the bathtub has been pasteurized.
Odor
A distinct odor is produced in the Fermented rice bran bath (enzyme bath) when rice bran ferments. We mix the bamboo powder with excellent antibacterial/deodorizing properties at our establishment, so the odor from the rice bran fermentation is reduced, and it should not bother you so much.
Also, the bamboo's lactic acid bacteria support the rice bran fermentation, so it is possible to keep the rice bran temperature high. As a result, odor-causing bacteria cannot grow.
It is easy to understand about the odor if you recall the bed of salted rice bran for making Nukazuke. Without proper management, there can be an unpleasant odor from it. This is the same for Fermented rice bran baths (enzyme bath). Our establishment spends time every day conducting careful management so we can always provide sanitary, warm, and comfortable Fermented rice bran bath“hacco bath”(enzyme bath).
Low-temperature burns
If the temperature inside the bathtub is high, some people may be worried about low-temperature burns. If at any time you feel excessive hotness by even a little, immediately detach your body from there and call the staff. Also, if your hands and feet are very cold or if you are older, you might not realize that your skin is getting too hot.
If you are worried, please request the staff for not very hot bathtubs. You can also put a towel or sheets between your body and rice bran to reduce the heat, so please feel free to request it.
Anemia
If you push yourself too much to withstand the heat and take a bath because you want to sweat a lot and warm up the body very much, there's a chance you might experience anemia. It is a big problem if you feel dizzy after taking a bath and stand up from the bathtub.
First, please don't push yourself too much. If you feel like you might have anemia, please sit down, and take a rest before entering the shower room. We can deal with it by raising your upper body from five minutes before the bathing session ends for half-body bathing, so please request it to the staff.
There are days when the temperature does not go up
Microorganisms that produce fermented heat to the rice bran are living organisms. No matter how carefully the staff manages, it is up to the microorganism if they want to raise the temperature.
If the temperature of the rice bran inside bathtubs is low, there are times we may have to cancel bathing sessions even if we had received reservations. In such cases, our staff will contact the customers right away.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter.