浴びる

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 朝シャワーを浴びる。▶ —
   I take a morning shower.
2. 日光を浴びるのが好き。▶ —
   I like bathing in sunlight.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Abiru (浴びる) is the ichidan verb for "bathe / shower / bask / receive" — 浴 (yoku, the bathing kanji) extends from water to sunlight, applause, attention, and criticism: anything that pours over oneself. Multi-sense cluster: (1) water — shawaa wo abiru (take a shower); (2) sunlight — nikkou wo abiru (sunbathe); (3) metaphorical — chuumoku wo abiru (draw attention), hakushu wo abiru (receive applause), hinan wo abiru (face criticism). The 浴 kanji family: yokushitsu (bathroom), yukata (summer cotton kimono, covered earlier under matsuri), nikkoyoku (sunbathing), shinrinyoku (森林浴, forest bathing). Shinrinyoku was coined in 1982 by Akiyama Tomohide of Japans Forestry Agency, naming the therapeutic effect of spending time in forest environments — now codified in medicine and natural healing. The English "forest bathing" loan spread globally in the 2010s, recommended by the US NIH and EPA. Japans o-furo (bath) culture is distinct: daily soaking in 41-43 degree Celsius water in a yokusou (bathtub), unlike Korean half-bath or Chinese hot showers — Japanese practice full-body shoulder-deep immersion. JLPT N5 abiru pairs with bath and natural-healing cultural clusters.

Quick check

1. Origin year of shinrinyoku (forest bathing)?

   • Coined in 1982 by Akiyama Tomohide at Japans Forestry Agency, globalized as forest bathing in the 2010s
   • Edo-period Shinto rite
   • Meiji-era Western import
   • Post-COVID-19 coinage