Recommendation #1: 銭湯 (Se n to u)

Sentou, or public bath, is pure bliss. 

My host mother was very kind in taking me to the closest sentou by our house (5 minute walk).  We arrived at the bath around 5:30pm and there were already lots of people walking around the lobby. 

You would first enter into a wooden floor area where you must take off your shoes and store it.  Then you head towards a cashier area to recieve a tag to keep track of extra activities (massage, stone boards, etc).  We only went to the general public bath, but sometimes, it is the simple things that really matter.

For people who might attend a sentou in the future, here are the general guidelines...  ;)
(keep in mind, most people in Japan have known these customs since they were babies, so for me, I really had to think about every step in order to "fit in")

Before the baths...

1- you have to be okay with being naked around strangers, NBD if you've done drum corps
2- have a wash clothe with you
3- shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel are provided
4- leave the locker area, head to a pre-bath area
5- find an open spot, sit down, take a shower
6- wash the area you just used and return everything EXACTLY back to where it was (bucket, chair, and shower hose)
7- make sure you towel is complete clean too

In the baths...

1- there will be multiple types of baths depending on which sentou you go to
2- if the sentou is more formal, then you must use the given ladel to take some of the water to briefly rinse your feet and then enter into the bath; if it is informal (when in doubt, see what others are doing), then you can just enter
3- keep your towel ABOVE the waters, on your head is fine, on the side of the bath is good, but do not soak your bath towel in the bath water
4- if someone bows at you, bow back, just a slight courtesy to say "go ahead" or "thank you"
5- do not rush to a bath
6- drink water if you feel light headed
7- after a sauna, rinse yourself with the provided bath water by the room to clean off your sweat
8- it's okay to stay for 4 hours or more because I did  :)

Why?

After my second sentou experience (once two years ago, and also this past Sunday), I can honestly say Japanese people LOVE baths.  The cool thing is, these baths are so healthy.  There are baths for smoother skin, germ killing mineral water, herbal water that eliminates pain/exercise/any type of sore, and much much more!  It's not cheap, but definitely reasonable.  I can only relate this to balancing work and relaxation. 

I attached a link to the sentou that I went to.  You can look around the website and just check out the pictures because it is in Japanese...  Enjoy!

http://www.honoyu.jp/rakurakuen/rakurakuen/