*** Welcome to piglix ***

Sansuke


Sansuke (三助?) are the working staff that provide many services at the Zeniyu (銭湯 public bathhouse?) in Japan.

Various theories exist to explain the derivation of Sansuke. In Japanese, Sansuke originally meant three types of services: kamataki (stoking of the boiler), yukagen wo miru (checking the temperature of the bath water), and bandai (fee collection). It was an occasional duty for the Sansuke to provide the services of scrubbing and grooming the customer. But this role became emphasized and the image of the Sansuke has been generalized to mean the service to the visitor in the bathhouse.

Another theory suggests that when smallpox was rampant in Japan, around the Nara era, the Empress Kohmyo built a bathhouse dedicated to the treatment of patients. It still exists today in the temple at Hokke-ji. Legend has it that she even sucked the pus from the boils herself. The attendants who helped the Empress during that time were called Sansuke (三典).

During the Edo era, a Genan (下男 manservant?), or Komono (小者 humble servant?) was widely described as Sansuke as well.


...
Wikipedia

...