Eugene Phillips, owner of Miyazaki Bath House and Gallery in Walnut Grove, fills two tubs with hot water in preparation for a two-hour soak. Guests first wash themselves with soap using a bowl of water and a ladle, while sitting on a stool, before entering the tubs. “The tubs are not for cleaning,” Phillips says. “They’re for soaking.”
The ritual of preparation is big in traditional Japanese culture, and Phillips and his life partner, Montserrat Wassam, take great care in making tea and salt scrubs for guests, and in flower arranging. “We try with the flowers and other elements to reach a harmony with the Japanese spirit,” says Phillips.
He bought the historic bathhouse, a 1916 building in an old Japanese community, which used to bustle with a thriving scene for agricultural field workers.
Over the next eight years, he restored the building to its early 20th century glory, including renovating the upstairs lodging, which is now a hotel.
The vintage 1940s kimonos displayed in the front lounge and gallery were once packed away as Japanese-Americans entered internment camps, and have never been washed.
Soaked
A little piece of Japanese culture can be found in Walnut Grove