Water as a part of a family member:
Long time ago, every Japanese household owned a big water jar in a house. In the morning, everyone gather around the jar to blush teeth, to wash faces, or to make breakfast.
Someone in the family brought the water to pour into the jar. Everyone knew that is a fiddly work to bring the water, so we used the water carefully and thankfully. We even reused the water if it was still clean, after pouring in to different jar for watering plants or garden. We would go to the jar 7 to 8 times per day. The jar was the center of our daily life.
When we took bath, we tried to keep the tub water clean. Before soaking into the hot water, we cleaned our body outside of the tub. By doing so, we could use the same water for a few days. Everyone in the family soaked into the same water. In that context, the water is treated equal as a member of the family. In western world, water in the tub gets dirty. It is for a personal use. The attitude of the mind toward water is different.
For Japanese, water was not a mere material, but felt somewhat related to the family.
