Is there a particular Japanese term specific to this kind of exfoliating washcloth? I’ve been Googling all over, and come up with zilch so far. Going by the kana on the package I recently bought (different brand), the word “katame” seems to be it, but normally I encounter that as a word in jūdō for example, denoting grappling, such as “katame-waza”. BTW, my Japanese language skills are barely perfunctory at best.
Great for cellulite massage.
now there’s something the world could use a lot more of 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know these thingamabobs are marketed to women. Mock me. But there’s nothing better, I think, for getting the back washed and scrubbed, and you don’t need a separate thing on a stick that you have to go into contortions to use. And besides, who doesn’t like nice skin? 
I encountered mild amusement in Japan when I used them. My point was, hey, why just women? They’re good for anyone’s cleanliness (and don’t the Japanese like to think they’re all about that? Hmm? 
), and besides, I’m a Gaijin, so I can get away with it. 
Leaping in over my head …
http://www.maruwa.com/onlineshop/selfcare/selfcare.html
This site calls it " サラックス スキンタオル " = Sarakkusu sukiso taoru = Sarakkusu skin towel.
Googling on " スキンタオル " (skin towel) brings up lots of hits for skin towels.
The Salux brand site lists lots of skin cloths with " サラックス " (sarakkusu).
http://www.salux.co.jp/shopping/index.php
Does that help?
“Sarakkusu” is the Japanese phonetic approximation of the brand name, Salax (and my money’s on that being your usual Japanese made-up foreign-sounding marketing name, like Sentra or Camry). Think “Sa Rak-ku(u) s(u)”, barely voicing the “U” (pronounced “ö”), if at all. Same for “taoru”, which approximates the Enlish word “towel”, but that is a loanword in common usage in the Japanese language today.
“Sukiso” (likely pron. “s’Kee so”), I have no idea. Native Japanese for “skin” is normally “hada”, and the Sino-Japanese for it would be “ki”, which is certainly phonetically represented there, in which case you would probably have a three-word Sinitic combo thing rather than a three-syllable native word.
Sukiso translates as skin, as in relating to skin care.
http://jisho.org/words?jap=スキン&eng=&dict=edict
Ah, of course.
I don’t have the Japanese language pack installed, so I can’t read the kanji or kana as the case may be. Sounds like my guess about the word as a Sino-Japanese compound might be correct, though.
Gotta run, but I’ll slog thru my kanji dictionary later. I was hoping there would be a more concise, maybe colloquial, term for the thingum.
Thanks!
I just got back from the removal of the radiator from the trackhoe…
Presently into degreaser & brillo pads 
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20040226ks.html
This article calls it “akasuri toaru” = dirt-rubbing towel (exfoliating towel).
Here’s an explanation of akasuri:
http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writjpn/signs/akasuri.html
Googling on “akasuri toaru” in Japanese turns up lots of hits
“アカスリ タオル” = Katakana / Katakana
“あかすり タオル” = Hiragana / Katakana
“垢すり タオル” = Using old Kanji for “aka”
Oops, I misread the kana. It should be スキン (sukin = skin) not スキソ (sukiso). So mystery solved, just another Engrish borrowing. 
Interesting how common it is: skin care, skin diver, skinhead, etc.
The word “aka-suri” (dirt-scrub) is also sometimes misinterpreted aka (red) + scrub. Presumably because that’s what you look like when you’re done removing your skin. 
We have one in the bathroom, but I have never used it.
Akasuri towel seems to be the common word.
Skin towel is probably a product name.
Amazon even sells one made from a ‘hand-knitted fisherman’s net’ called the Fisherman’s akasuri towel.
Mukade
Some additional information courtesy of my wife.
When she hears akasuri she immediately thinks of Korea.
Apparently it was introduced into Japan a few years ago as a health fad from 韓国.
The Koreans use gloves similar to the ones used in Turkish baths.
Mukade
All that aside, I trust you find the pastel colors pleasing.
Loofahs may not grow in pastel colors, but they are still my favorite. The can be really rough at first, but soften quickly - or you just get used to them.
Plant a few seeds around a trellis or fence, and when fall is over you have a fresh crop for you and whoever might like one!
Reg
This is odd to me, because info on the web says much the same thing, and yet I distinctly remember my mom having one maybe 30-plus years ago. A gift from someone who had been to Hawaii, as I recall. I’d been looking for them ever since, but they were impossible to find out in the boondocks.
“Akasuri”, yes! That was what a friend in Japan called them, but as is so often usual, web info is misleading: there the word seems to more largely be associated with special spas and their products - I could find nothing at all on the cloth itself, using that word - so I stopped using the word, thinking he must have been wrong somehow. Guess “taoru” was the needed keyword, but he just called them “akasuri”, period. Being from Akita and all that goes with it, he mentioned that the down-home Akita term is “akakosuri” (more like he revealed it with humorous chagrin, as the usual Japanese stereotype is “Akitajin = bumpkin with laughable speech”).
Thank you, Mukade, and MTGuru.
Not so much. For the time being I buy the usual light blue, but being a guy, I’d REALLY like a camo print akasuri taoru. That would be most excellently good. Or plaid. Or, for quaint and cultural, then white with Japanese writing on it, or better yet, a super-traditional white pattern on indigo like you see on traditional Japanese hempen cloth. “Hello Kitty” need not apply.
I remember mom’s was white with some printed blossoms scattered on it. Very Japanese-looking.
Yeah, they’re natural, which normally should drive me, and I’ve used 'em for years, but somehow I just don’t care for 'em. Can’t explain it, other than the akasuri is easier for me to use, I like the consistent rough texture, it really lathers up with less soap than you might expect, washes out clean, and it doesn’t get stinky over time, and that counts because they last for just about forever.
How on Earth do you guys even find this stuff? My searches turn up with bupkes.
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'cause Google is weighting the results due to where the request is from?
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he’s better than you at this?
It does that? Now I’m torqued. Grr.
I don’t even wanna hear it.
I have no idea!
just a question. thought, whatever
Ah, it’s just me up against my usual shortcomings with computer and Intarwebological stuff yet again. You know.