33 Keys to Decoding the Korean Wave #32 K-Sauna: Jjimjilbang, “The Disneyland of Spas”
33 Keys to Decoding the Korean Wave #32 Spa, Korean Style
#32 K-Sauna: Jjimjilbang, "The Disneyland of Spas"
*한류를 이해하는 33가지 코드 #32 K-Spa '한국 스파의 디즈니랜드' 찜질방 <Korean version>
https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?mid=Focus&document_srl=4090444
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Throughout their extensive history, Koreans have faced numerous adversities, including invasions by foreign powers, colonization, war, division, and poverty. Today, they navigate a high daily stress index due to fierce competition in a limited land area. Despite these challenges, Koreans have mastered the art of stress relief. Indulging in delicious restaurants, bars, karaoke, and engaging in singing and dancing – these activities are ingrained in the Korean people’s DNA. They are a resilient people, known for eating until they are full, drinking until they get drunk, singing until they are hoarse in karaoke rooms, and dancing until they collapse to release their frustrations. Koreans exhibit determination and endurance, possessing a national character that oscillates between fiery passion and icy composure.
Korean sauna culture, a unique method for stress relief, is a testament to the Korean way of life. Utilizing an “Italy towel” (a rough-textured towel) to exfoliate, alternating between hot and cold baths, warming the body in a fire oven, and enjoying hot and spicy soup – these practices rejuvenate the body and alleviate stress. A people who appreciate not only steam rooms and hot baths (yeoltang) but also hot soup (tang), Koreans are masters of detox. We like it hot!
Today, Korean bathing culture, also known as Jjimjilbang (Korean facility that’s a bathhouse, sauna and spa rolled into one), is gaining global popularity. It is no longer uncommon to find Westerners comfortably lying naked, being attended to by Korean staff armed with Italy towels, and savoring bibimbap. Korean Spas have evolved into a multi-purpose leisure culture, often referred to as the “Disneyland of Spas,” offering facilities such as scrubbing, sauna, skin care, massage, relaxation, Korean restaurants, and sometimes even computer rooms, karaoke rooms, and mini movie theaters. The allure of Korean saunas transcends cultural boundaries, and Korean spas are now becoming a global phenomenon.
Korean Spas in New York
The Jjimjilbang phenomenon has transcended borders and evolved into the global concept of “Korean Spa.” These establishments feature sauna rooms offering various benefits, including Korean Body Scrub services, alongside spa services, pools, restaurants, bars, and health clubs, creating a leisure facility reminiscent of a theme park.
Sauna activates metabolism by expelling waste and sweat from the body, promoting detoxification, and enhancing blood circulation. Beyond its rejuvenating effects, sauna sessions also provide relief from fatigue and contribute to effective skincare.
Luxury Korean spas offer a diverse range of saunas, each with unique benefits. These may include the Himalayan Salt Sauna, Loess Soil Sauna, The Jade Sauna, The Ice Sauna, Elvan Stone Room, and Far Infrared Sauna. Additionally, Sauna Valley, found in these high-end establishments, features various courses such as Infrared Sauna, Gold Sauna, Color Therapy Sauna, Crystal Room, Forest Sauna, and The Bulgama. Each sauna experience within Sauna Valley offers distinct therapeutic properties, contributing to the overall wellness and relaxation of spa-goers.
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In New York, the opening of Spa Castle in College Point, Queens, in 2005 garnered significant attention. Spanning a massive 5-story building resembling a shopping mall, covering an area of 100,000 square feet, and boasting a cost of $25 million, Spa Castle offers 21 pools, a Gold Sauna Room, an Igloo Room (Ice Land), Far Infrared Sauna, Loess Soil Sauna Room, Himalayan Salt Sauna Room, Jade Sauna Room, and a Sauna Valley leading to a Color Therapy Room. With facilities reminiscent of Disneyland and Las Vegas hotels, the spa attracted visitors such as actor John Travolta.
Italy Towel and Scrub Culture
One of the crucial elements in traditional Korean bathing culture is undoubtedly the Italy towel, aka the Korean exfoliating mitt. By vigorously rubbing the body with the Italy towel made of rough fabric akin to sandpaper, it effectively removes dirt and serves as an excellent tool for eliminating dead skin cells.
The Italy towel was invented by Kim Pil-gon in 1962. He utilized viscose fabric that was imported from Italy at that time, leading to the naming of the towel as the Italy towel.
Similar products in the United States include bath loofahs and exfoliating gloves. Korean-made Italian towels are available on platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and Target under names like Korean Exfoliating Towel and Korean Exfoliating Bath Washcloth, and is described as performing “gentle scrubbing to remove dead (and dry) skin cells and clean skin pores, eliminating blackheads.”
In a 2016 article titled “Why I Can’t Live Without My Korean Exfoliating Mitt,” fashion magazine Vogue praised the effectiveness of the Korean “Italy towel.” The article highlighted the long-standing Korean passion for exfoliation predating the popularity of BB creams, cushion compacts, and the 10-step skincare routine. Italy towels, costing only 80 cents per sheet, were recommended for their ability to remove dead skin cells and leave the skin feeling softened.
Korean Bathing Culture
Bathing Scene of King Yeonsangun of Joseon in the KBS-TV drama “Yeonsangun” (2017)
In traditional Korean culture, bathing and “ablution” were highly significant, particularly before ancestral rites or important events. Ablution, rooted in Buddhist precepts, involves washing one’s body thoroughly and grooming oneself to avoid negativity and calm the mind, signifying physical and mental purification. During the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC - 698 AD) and the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 AD), when Buddhism was the state religion, bathing was emphasized. However, during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Confucianism became dominant, and policies aimed at suppressing Buddhism led to the prohibition of naked full-body bathing and coed bathing. Consequently, bathing in clothes, even at home, became customary.
The custom of communal bathing also existed during the Goguryeo Kingdom (37 BC-668 AD). In “Samguk Sagi” (The History of The Three Kingdoms, 1145), written by Kim Bu-sik during the Goryeo Dynasty, it is recorded that “in the 17th year of King Seocheon (286 AD), the King’s younger brothers went to a hot spring and enjoyed entertainment with the crowd.”
Foundation Story of the Silla Kingdom
Bathing appears in the story of the founding of Silla in the history book “Samguk Yusa” (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, 1281) compiled by Ilyeon, a Buddhist monk during the Goryeo Dynasty. Before the establishment of Silla, the Gyeongju (the capital of Silla) area was part of Jinhan and ruled by six village chiefs. One day, a brilliant light shone from Najeong, a well at the foot of Yangsan Mountain, and a white horse was kneeling and crying in front of a large, shining purple egg. After the horse flew into the sky, the village chiefs opened the egg, revealing a handsome baby boy. When the child was bathed in Dongcheon stream, his body glowed, birds and animals danced, the heavens and earth shook, and the moon and sun became clear. Born from a large egg like a gourd, he was named Hyeokgeose, meaning he brightens the world. Park Hyeokgeose became the first king of Silla.
On the same day, a strange event occurred at Alyeongjeong, a well in a village. A dragon with a chicken head appeared and gave birth to a baby girl. The baby was beautiful and fair-skinned, but her lips resembled a chicken’s beak. When people bathed her in the stream, the beak fell off. The girl was named Alyeong after the well, and as she grew up, her beauty and virtue were recognized. In 57 BC, when Park Hyeokgeose was 13 years old, he founded the country Seorabeol (later Silla), and married Alyeong, who became queen.
Traditional Fairy Tale: “The Fairy and the Woodcutter”
Bathing also features in the traditional fairy tale “The Fairy and the Woodcutter.” Once upon a time, in a village, a woodcutter hid a deer being chased by hunters. To repay the favor, the deer showed the woodcutter a pond where eight fairies were bathing, and told the woodcutter he could choose one of them for his wife. However, there was a condition: he had to hide the fairy’s wing clothes and not show them until they had four children. The woodcutter married the fairy, who could not return to heaven without her wings, and they had three children, living happily. But one day, the wife asked the woodcutter to show her her wing clothes. She then put on her wings and ascended to heaven with their children.
One day, the deer appeared again in front of the despairing woodcutter. The deer advised him to go back to the pond and wait for a hollow gourd was lowered from the heavens to fetch water, and to grab onto the gourd and be pulled up to the heavens to reunite with his wife. The woodcutter followed this advice and reunites with his family, and lived happily in heaven with the fairy and his children. But he missed his widowed mother. So his wife told the woodcutter to ride a dragon horse down to the earth, but told him never to get off her horse and set foot on the earth. After meeting his mother again, however, while eating red bean porridge, the woodcutter spilled the hot porridge on the dragon horse’s back and fell and landed on the ground. Then the dragon horse ascended to the sky. This is a tragic story in which the woodcutter remained on earth separated from his wife and children, and was transformed in an instant into a rooster, that cries to the sky every morning.
A Bath Scene from the Pansori “Simcheongga”
“Simcheongga,” one of the Korean pansori one-man operas, tells the story of Simcheong, a dutiful daughter of Sim Bongsa, who lost her mother immediately after birth and was raised by her blind father Sim Bongsa, who was very poor. When the daughter was 15, her father was told by a Buddhist monk that his sight would be restored if he made an offering of 300 seok (43,200 kg / 95,239 lbs) of rice as an offering to Buddha. To obtain the offering, the daughter sold herself to sea merchants who threw her into a lake of Indangsu as a sacrifice. With the help of the Dragon King of the Lake, she was placed in a lotus flower and brought back into the world. Simcheong eventually married the king and became queen. In her palace, she held a feast for the blind, in a plan to find her father. On his way to the feast, Sim Bongsa heard the sound of water and decided to take a bath, but someone stole his clothes. This is the scene depicting the bath.
Sim Bongsa shouted, “I like it, I like it!”
Hearing the water’s song,
He stripped off his clothes, top and bottom,
Set them by the stream, and jumped right in.
“It’s cool, it feels so good!”
He sang as he drank a handful,
Brushed his teeth,
Clenched his fist,
Rubbed his armpits,
“It’s cool and feels so good for the intestines!”
When Sim Bongsa arrives at the palace, he is reunited with his daughter, and his sight was restored.
Shin Yun-bok’s Dano Painting in the Joseon Dynasty
Shin Yun-bok (1758-1814), “Dano Pungjeong” (A scenery on Dano day), ink and color on paper, 28.2cm. National Treasure No. 135, Gansong Museum of Art, Seoul
Shin Yun-bok’s “A scenery on Dano day,” portraying the bathing and leisure activities of women during the Joseon Dynasty, appears to foreshadow the sauna culture that has gained popularity globally in Korean saunas today.
Shin Yun-bok’s painting illustrates women, likely courtesans, engaging in various activities such as bathing in a mountain stream, playing on a swing while adorned in a yellow jeogori and red skirt, adjusting braided hair after bathing, taking a rest, eating, and a woman with her chest exposed carrying a bundle on her head, perhaps containing food judging by the visible liquor bottle. The painting reveals human desires, including an erotic element, as male companions or strangers spy on the bathing women through cracks in the rocks. Aren’t today’s Korean jjimjilbangs and saunas a similar leisure culture that encompasses bathing, skincare, relaxation, massage, karaoke, and even restaurants?
Since ancient times, on Dano Day (the Korean celebration of Spring, which falls on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar), women have gathered at a stream to wash their hair with boiled calamus water from iris flowers (changpo), and wash their faces to ward off evil spirits. It was believed that bathing at noon on Dano Day would lead to a long and healthy life. Additionally, women wore hairpins made of iris roots, partook in Dano fasting meals featuring suruchwi rice cakes, mugwort rice cakes, manggae rice cakes, herbal rice cakes, and flour jjim, and enjoyed swings, wrestling, mask dances, lion dances, and traditional masked performances.
Public Bathhouses and Deungmok
The first public bathhouse in Korea opened in Pyongyang (now the capital of North Korea) in 1924, with the first public bathhouse in Seoul following the next year. After Korea gained independence from Japanese imperialism in 1945, the number of private public bathhouses increased rapidly. By 2001, the number of public bathhouses in South Korea peaked at 10,098. As upgraded facilities such as spas, saunas, and jjimjilbangs became more popular, the number of local public bathhouses began to decrease rapidly.
In the summer, when houses lacked bathrooms and air conditioners, Korean adult men and boys would often enjoy a bath and escape the heat by washing themselves at wells, pumps, or taps. Deungmok (or mokmul) is a simple bathing method that involves taking off your top, lying down with your arms and legs stretched out, and washing with water from the waist up to the neck. Deungmok is considered a unique aspect of Korean bathing culture.
American Celebrities Enthralled by Saunas
#Conan O'Brien and Korean actor Steven Yeun explore a K-Spa
*Steven Yeun & Conan Visit A Korean Spa - CONAN on TBS
In February 2015, Conan O’Brien, the renowned comedian and host of the TBS talk show “CONAN,” joined Korean American actor Steven Yeun for a visit to Wi Spa, a Korean sauna in LA. The comedic duo experienced naked dips in cold and hot baths, ventured into a hot sauna, underwent steaming services, braved a 213-degree kiln resembling a pizza oven, and explored a 217-degree clay room. The adventure concluded with O’Brien having a humorous nightmare in the sleeping room, accompanied by a trot-style jjimjilbang song.
Actor Steven Yeun, born in Seoul in 1983, has gained fame for his roles in “The Walking Dead,” “Okja,” “Burning,” and “Minari,” the last earning him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, while winning the Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG) Best Actor Award. Yeun has also won the Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and SAG Award for Best Actor for his performance in the 2024 Netflix drama series, “Beef.”
#American Boyband the Jonas Brothers indulge in a K-Spa
*The Jonas Brothers go the spa "to center up and relax" before shows
The Jonas Brothers also visited Wi Spa in LA, four days before the 62nd Grammy Awards in January 2020. During an interview with Gayle King, host of “CBS This Morning,” the three Jonas Brothers relaxed in a clay room for the Grammy Special program.
Joe Jonas mentioned, “Being in any warm place helps warm up the voice a little bit,” and Nick Jonas explained, “We’ll be in front of 20-something thousand people, and so having some time to center up and relax beforehand is pretty important.” The Jonas Brothers, nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards, offered a delightful glimpse into their unique pre-show rituals and appreciation for Korean sauna culture.
Jjimjilbang Makes Headlines in U.S. Media
New York Times: Holiday Detox and the Allure of Sauna
“Hot for the Holidays: The Lure of a Korean Sauna.”
In December 2006, The New York Times featured a special on Korean-style spas and jjimjilbangs. The article, which highlighted King Spa Sauna in Palisades Park, New Jersey, was titled “Hot for the Holidays: The Lure of a Korean Sauna.”
Customers at King Spa Sauna come from New York, Connecticut, Boston, and as far away as Toronto, representing diverse ethnicities, including Americans, Japanese, and Russians. The article vividly described scenes of women of different ages washing each other’s backs with soap, all naked, in separate bathhouses for men and women. This sight was likened to a Bacchanalian scene right out of a classical painting. Notably, the ddemiri (Korean body scrub) service, performed by a middle-aged woman (ajumma) in a black bra and panties, was highlighted. The scrubbing by the ajumma, using an Italy towel on the naked body, was compared to a cook handling a chicken filet on a deli slab. The process efficiently removed dead skin cells, leaving the skin smooth and bright.
Inside King Spa Sauna, areas were divided into a unisex sauna and a women-only sauna, featuring saunas like Gold Pyramid Sauna, Rock Salt Sauna, Mugwort room, Herbal Steam Sauna, Bul Hanzungmak and Bulgama Sauna. The tradition of jjimjilbang therapy, rooted in Korean tradition as having beneficial effects such as thermotherapy, purification, and skin rejuvenation, was traced back to the Korean medical book “Donguibogam,” published around 1600.
In a 2017 follow-up article, The New York Times revisited King Spa Sauna in an article titled, “A Korean Spa Offers Saunas, Bibimbap, and a Taste of Home in New Jersey.” It mentioned that in Korea, jjimjilbangs are referred to as “mini vacations in the city,” with an estimated 1,800 of them across the country.
King Spa Sauna, which opened in Palisades Park in 2003, operates 24 hours a day and has expanded to locations in Chicago and Dallas. The spa not only provides cupping services, popularized by Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, but also offers a restaurant serving Korean dishes such as bulgogi, bibimbap, octopus dishes, and red bean shaved ice.
Jjimjilbang and Body Scrub Earn Praise from the American Media
In 2015, the fashion magazine Vogue named Wi Spa in LA, Imperial Spa in San Francisco, New York Spa & Sauna in Flushing, Havana Health Spa in Aurora, Colorado (near Denver), and Olympus Spa in Lynnwood, WA, as the best Korean spas in major U.S. cities in “The 5 Best Korean Spas Around the Country—And Why You Should Go.”
In 2018, CNN delved into the secrets of the scrub culture in an article, “Korean scrub mistress spills her secrets.” CNN provided the Korean scrub mistress’s tips for those using a Korean sauna for the first time: 1. Avoid shower gel, 2. Soak for 30 minutes in medium-hot water, 3. Be completely bare, 4. Seriously, relax, 5. The fun should come afterward, 6. Scrub weekly.
New York Magazine also published a special article on Korea ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February 2018, titled “These Korean Spa Mitts Scrub Me to Baby Softness.” The article shared an individual’s experience in a Korean spa/jjimjilbang, describing the unique full-body scrub traditionally performed using inexpensive green scratchy rayon mitts, humorously referred to as “Korean Italian towel.” The writer concluded, “At the end of your treatment, you're left with the skin of a soft, supple angel — and you’re also surrounded by tiny pills of dead, gray skin. It’s utterly disgusting and truly glorious at the same time.”
The Allure of Jjimjilbangs
The jjimjilbang has become an integral part of Korean culture, serving not just as a bathing facility but as a vibrant social hub where relaxation, rejuvenation, and community converge. As their global appeal expands, jjimjilbangs embody the rich traditions of Korean bathing culture while embracing modern wellness trends. Their popularity has surged due to their ability to offer a sanctuary from the daily grind, making them a preferred destination for stress relief and self-care.
In a world increasingly focused on self-care and wellness, jjimjilbangs exemplify the enduring legacy of Korean hospitality and the art of relaxation. As more people discover the unique experiences these spas offer, they will continue to captivate and inspire, ensuring that this cherished tradition remains a vital part of both Korean culture and the global wellness landscape.
Sukie Park
A native Korean, Sukie Park studied journalism and film & theater in Seoul. She worked as a reporter with several Korean pop, cinema, photography and video magazines, as a writer at Korean radio (KBS-2FM 영화음악실) and television (MBC-TV 출발 비디오 여행) stations, and as a copywriter at a video company(대우 비디오). Since she moved to New York City, Sukie covered culture and travel for The Korea Daily of New York(뉴욕중앙일보) as a journalist. In 2012 she founded www.NYCultureBeat.com, a Korean language website about cultural events, food, wine, shopping, sightseeing, travel and people. She is also the author of the book recently-published in Korea, "한류를 이해하는 33가지 코드: 방탄소년단(BTS), '기생충' 그리고 '오징어 게임'을 넘어서 (33 Keys to Decoding the Korean Wave: Beyond BTS, Parasite, and Squid Game)."
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