Until I moved in with my Japanese girlfriend (now wife) I had been showering first thing in the morning — it was an integral part of getting/waking up, and showering at night had never crossed my mind (unless I had gotten particularly dirty that day). Then that convention was reversed at the request of my other half.
I’ve come to discover that washing the crap out of my eyes in the morning is actually plenty in terms of a morning fresh up, and I quite enjoy the evening shower and it signifying that my day is done and it is full unwind time.
Curious how others feel about the morning vs. evening shower routine, and if the generalization I am making is as strong as I think it is (i.e. Japan is really full power on the evening shower, and most other places don’t “require” it or practice it in the same way).
And related to all of this — am I not mistaken, or does Japan have a very serious preoccupation with invisible dirt? Like, one’s clothes become dirty by the act of sitting on a subway seat or park bench, and so after doing so one is no longer able to sit on the sofa in their home with said dirty clothing. I had thought this might have been a specific concern of My Japanese Wife, but I think I saw some mention on here about Shintoism and the unseen dirty/energy one might drag into their home …
EDIT: In some cases, it might add something to add one’s nationality to the comment …
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26 comments
I do both. A shower in the morning and a shower at night. And sometimes a shower mid day too if I go to the gym. The mid day shower is amazing! Highly recommended.
Where I came from, it is the norm to shower twice a day.
The morning shower is to freshen you up and make you presentable (get rid of the bed hair, etc).
The evening shower is to clean you up before you go to bed, as you said.
I don’t know if this is a stereotype (if so my apology) but I do find more western people showering in the morning, while more Asians, me included, shower mostly in the evening.
To me, it makes sense to shower in the evening as I can wash off whatever I caught in the street, especially in my hair so I don’t get them to my bed.
Though, a few years back when I swam daily in the morning, I tend not to do extra shower besides the one after the swim.
Outside clothing on couch, not a huge fan, but fine, I drape a blanket on it for the dog, so I know it’s getting cleaned more often than upholstery anyway.
Outside clothes on/in the bed????? NEVER. Gross, heinous, straight to jail.
As you say. Shinto clearly separates the inside from the outside. The inside of the house must be kept clean at all times. This can be seen from the fact that there are steps at the entrance and special slippers in the bathroom. I think many people resist going to bed without cleaning the day’s dirt.
Went from being morning-only to heavy shower at night (shaving, face masks, exfoliating, etc) and quick shower in the morning. Will never go back.
If I wash my hair at night it looks awful in the morning and I get an itchy scalp too if it’s not properly dried. So I tend to shower in the morning as I’m too lazy to do it twice (unless I’ve been working out or during the summer when I just want to live in the shower.)
From southeast asia here, everyone I know showers twice a day. We also generally don’t wear “outside” clothes on our beds, but this varies from household to household.
I’m absolutely certain that evening showers, especially if married or living with someone, is the only way.
Some dirt IS invisible. And so are germs and bacteria that may have found their way into your hair/clothes. When you go outside, all this invisible dirt, germs and bacteria cling to your clothes, your body, your hair, and going to bed without washing that off means you’re transferring all that outside grossness to your bed and pillows and blankets. No thank you.
Do you really think subway seats are clean…?
No matter how clean I may be I just feel really gross going anywhere without showering in the morning.
Its more of a mental thing for me, I grew up associating having a shower as part of starting the day.
Can’t imagine it any other way.
Used to be morning. But switched to evening to synchronize with my family. I wash my face in the morning though.
Mexican American. I shower once at night and once in the morning. I simply don’t like feeling any amount of stickiness caused from sweat during the day, nor the small amount caused while sleeping.
I shower at night because otherwise, bedsheets go uck. I shower in the morning because otherwise bedhead all day. I finish each shower with 30 seconds max-cold to energize (even before bed).
Morning shower is so ingrained into me that if I don’t have one, my morning is ruined and I won’t get anything done. Doesn’t make sense logically but that’s the way it is. Will shower in the evenings during summer though.
As for dirt – I don’t care about it. Wife is goes nuts over it though. She will wipe the suitcase wheels when we get home even after they have only been wheeled from the car to our hotel room and back because it will kill us if we don’t. Doesn’t bother me that she does it, it’s just work I don’t want to do.
Ok but real talk. How to guys do their hair if they shower at night?
Even if i blow dry it out, when i wake up it’s pressed into a shape that needs washed out. I am so ready to shower at night instead, but just don’t know how to with my hair type
I remember seeing a very interesting quote on the subject. Can’t remember where.
“Showers at night are for yourself, showers in the morning are for everyone else.”
The reason being we sweat a lot at night, and there’s dead skin cells all over your sheets, whether you wash them everyday or not.
So, bathing in the morning ensures you’re clean when you go out into the world for your day.
At least twice a day.
Gym in the morning so not showering after that is not an option.
Then before bed, because it’s nice.
In summer it’s a minimum of 3 times. But just a super quick cold shower to cool down.
I’m from Argentina. Both are widely acceptable. I used to have morning showers. Until… I married my wife. Argentinian too, but japanese parents. She opened my eyes (brainwashed me) to the point that now I cannot go to bed without having a shower. I used to come from high-school basketball practices, take my clothes off and jump into bed. Now I feel dirtier than when I used to do those things. Went out just to take out the trash? Guess I’m showering before bed tonight.
Shower both times.
American – I’ve always done a full shower in the morning (I usually work out in the morning) and a quick shower at night. I grew up in a big dirty city so changing from outside clothes when I get home has always been the norm.
Invisible dirt – my Japanese husband insists on wiping all the groceries, snacks, packaging, whatever, with a damp cloth. The cloth is rinsed with water and magically resets itself of any germs the next day.
He also insists on flapping his outside clothes outside to ‘get rid of dirt’ before and after wearing them. The flapping has to be done even if they are going in the laundry basket. This is to prevent ‘dirtying the basket’. The basket’s sole purpose is to contain dirty clothes. (we have a separate one for washed, clean clothes)
He tousles his hair out the window to ‘get rid of dirt’ when he comes home and flaps his indoor clothes out the window to ‘get rid of dirt’ before wearing them.
Under no circumstances is flapping inside the house allowed, because ‘gomi will fall everywhere’.
Life in London: 4 showers a day.
One in the morning
One on the way to work
One on way back to work
One in the evening
Just because the dirt is “invisible” doesn’t mean it’s clean? There’s tons of hair, dead skin cells, pollutants, viruses and bacteria, etc sticking to your clothes especially if you go on and about in a big city. When I get home I can’t even sit on my bed before taking a proper shower and changing into home clothes.
I came from a tropical country that demands showering twice a day every single day so that’s even more of a strict requirement than Japan’s. Since coming here I only take an evening one because the weather isn’t as hot and humid (except in the summer).
My SO is European and insists that I have a shower in the evening, because otherwise it’s yuck.
My personal preference is to mix it up a bit, avoid rote, maybe 2x a day in during tsuyu but every other day in winter… Now who’s crazy?