Bathhouses used paper lanterns lit with candles hung on high posts as their signs. Some also pasted the characters for "Bathhouse" or their name on the lantern.

Towns of old used to have public baths, popularly called "bathhouses." Their interiors were usually divided into two rooms: the inner one having a square pool filled with hot water to be used as a bathtub, and the outer room with beds for people to rest after bathing. Before the 20th century, people would "rise before sunrise and rest after sunset." For this reason, bathhouses usually lit their lanterns at dawn for the start of the business day. Some would even gently rattle an iron clapper to solicit business. After their baths, students, male servants and merchants then proceeded to take up their respective duties.