Talk:Tag:bath:type=sento

Alternative tagging proposal

A sento (銭湯) in Japan is a type of public bath whose quality and pricing are regulated by local governments. An onsen (温泉) is spring water that meets certain criteria regarding its temperature and/or mineral content. Therefore, these two concepts are orthogonal—some sento baths use onsen water, instead of the commonly used tap water. I would propose something like *fee:regulated=yes instead of bath:type=sento. --Momiji.Takinogawa (talk) 14:52, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Agree this is a problem. Fundamentally, bath:type=* uses the unclear *:type=* suffix. They should be changed, organized, and separated into their own different aspects.

• bath:type=sento : I suggest keeping it in *bath=* first, as it's more unique, and difficult to classify. Otherwise, it could be considered for eg *bath:style=* / *bath:service=* / *bath:grade=* etc.
• bath:type=onsen : Reason for above being this could be water_source=* + water_source:*=* , not necessary to occupy *bath=* . This allows eg water_source:recirculation=* / water_source:recirculated=* for junkan vs kakenagashi / houryu . water_characteristics=* can be reviewed together, which might be eg *substance=* , as there is classification by acidity/alkalinity/pH, and osmotic pressure.

—— Kovposch (talk) 07:55, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Other orthogonal concepts are

• bath:type=thermal : Overlaps with bath:type=onsen for the temperature category. Onsen can be classified by temperature, There's a subset of nuru-yu for lukewarm legally defined onsen. temperature=* as in sauna:temperature=* is used for the exact numeric temperatures, so a variation on the naming is needed.
• bath:type=foot_bath : Onsen or accomodation facilities can have ashiyu aside from grand bath. Can be *:feet=* (to avoid any problem with *:foot=* suffix) similar to bath:sand_bath=* (instead of *=sunayu ; can be further simplified to *:sand=* ) , with bath:feet=only for dedicated (free outdoor) facilities.
• bath:type=river etc: Ooyunuma-gawa has a naturally flowing riverside foot bath. Can be *bath:location=* , to be clear for where the bath is, not the water_source=* taken. Eg *bath:location=barrel can be used.

bath:type=pool is confusing what it means, when leisure=swimming_pool is still used inside. leisure=sports_centre + sports=swimming doesn't distinguish "recreational" or "leisure", from competitive, athletic, or professional, as long as there's swimming.
Another fundamental issue is how bath=* doesn't match amenity=public_bath , which should entail public_bath=* . This will allow private_bath=* on tourism=hotel for onsen in room.
—— Kovposch (talk) 08:12, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments.

• Regarding fee:regulated=*, I thought it could be also used to represent other types of pricing-regulated essential services such as healthcare and nursing care, but it may be too generic.
• I didn't know water_source=; it best matches the concept of onsen. But, bath:type=onsen can be used with tourism=hotel to map a hotel with Onsen baths, which I think cannot be simply replaced by tourism=hotel + water_source=onsen because the water sources for baths, toilets, and taps can be different.

By the way, I should have posted this on Talk:Tag:amenity=public bath, where the same question was raised some years ago. --Momiji.Takinogawa (talk) 11:34, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

2. I suggest it use tourism=hotel + bath=* / public_bath=* ( hotel=* should be reserved for viz hotel=ryokan ) , similar to tourism=hotel + swimming_pool=* / bar=* / restaurant=* ; or at most only add amenity=public_bath if there's non-overnight say onsen use (higaeri)
—— Kovposch (talk) 08:12, 16 July 2025 (UTC)