Furo

Furo (風呂), the more common and polite form: ofuro (お風呂), is a Japanese bath. Specifically it is a type of bath which originated as a short, steep-sided wooden bathtub. Baths of this type are found all over Japan in houses, apartments and traditional Japanese inns (ryokans) but are now usually made out of a plastic or stainless steel.

A furo differs from a conventional Western bathtub by being of a deeper construction, typically in the region of 0.6 m (25 inches). The sides are generally square rather than being sloped. They generally have no overflow drainage. Traditional pot shaped cast iron furo were heated by a wood-burning stove built-in below them.

Furo (or yubune (湯船) that specifically refer to the bath with water) are usually left filled with water overnight, and for some household the water reused or recycled for washing clothes the next day. As in the West, it was the custom for more than one member of the family to use the same bath water and therefore, for the Japanese, it was important to be completely clean before entering the bath. This type of furo was the precursor of the modern Western-style hot tub.

Furö

Furö is an island located in the Baltic Sea five nautical miles (about 6 miles) off the east coast of Oskarshamn in Sweden.

History

Historically the island has been used as base for fishing (mainly cod, herring and flounder). Today there are no permanent fishermen on the island.

Pilot and lighthouse

In 1874, the Swedish authorities located a lighthouse and a pilot station to Furö. The lighthouse was built at the north-western end of the island. The building was also used as accommodation for the pilots. In 1921 a new, more modern, lighthouse was raised at the reef Finnrevet just south-east off Furö. Today there are no pilots left on Furö, but their latest red wooden building from 1933 still exists, and is now used as a summer cottage. The island is today mainly used for recreation.

Shipwrecks

The waters around Furö are quite shallow. Many ships have run aground near the island. On the night of November 28, 1949 the British steamer Britkon ran aground at Furö during a heavy gale. The fully loaded ship was stranded on the reef Finnrevet just off the island. Eleven men and women reached the shore by lifeboat. The remaining 27 of the crew was rescued by the pilots on Furö. The Britkon was hard stranded and broke in half two days later. Today nothing is visible above the surface since the wreck has been partly broken up and salvaged.