8 Best Saunas in Shizuoka, Handpicked by Our Editorial Team

Editors' comment

The sauna room is fully glass-walled, so the Pacific Ocean fills the entire view even while seated. The dry sauna uses far-infrared heat that slowly reaches deep into the body, letting guests sweat while gazing at the blue of sea and sky. The other room is filled with steam, wrapping guests in humidity while keeping breathing easy. The cold plunge bath sits right next to the sauna, with fresh water constantly flowing in and overflowing. Guests step straight in with sweaty feet, then move on to outdoor relaxation where sea breezes pass through. The defining feature here is that heat, water, and outdoor air all face toward the sea.

Editors' comment

There's no löyly or water-splashing performance here at all. You simply surrender to the dry heat of around 110°C created by METOS KERKES ceramic stones and wait for the sweat to come. It's a time to sit quietly while the sound of a television plays in the background. The cold plunge bath you sink into afterward is a continuous flow of natural Suruga water, filtered deep underground. It's medium-soft water with a hardness of 84, and despite being cold, it feels gentle against the skin. The water from the spout at the back can be drunk as is. On the day of research, reaching in for a drink revealed a surprising sweetness. The other herbal sauna is also a signature feature well worth experiencing.

Read our first-hand visit from March 2026 →

Editors' comment

The large window in the sauna room faces directly out onto the satoyama landscape. At its center sits a stove from Finland's Harvia, and with self-served löyly you can add steam to bring heat deep into the body. The cold plunge bath is 110cm deep, enough to submerge the whole head, and uses gentle, soft water. Standing up, you feel the breeze crossing the satoyama pass overhead. Exposed log-beam rafters, taken over from the now-closed Matsunoyu, run across the building's ceiling. Scenery, heat, and water all come together within this single structure.

Editors' comment

Barrel saunas line the courtyard. The rounded barrel-shaped ceiling distributes heat evenly throughout the interior, warming the body slowly from the core. Indoors, there's a classic dry sauna with high, dry heat. There's also a private sauna for exclusive use, where guests can decide the temperature and timing of breaks themselves. The cold plunge bath is conveniently close to both the courtyard barrel saunas and the dry sauna, allowing a quick step from sweat into cold water. Three different qualities of heat can be compared in a single day, cooling down in the same water after each. A thalasso pool using deep ocean water is also available.

Editors' comment

In the outdoor Siberian cedar barrel sauna, auto-löyly strikes the room with a wave of heat every 12 minutes for 30 seconds. There are three cold plunge baths to choose from afterward. The huge indoor cold plunge bath, the outdoor cypress bath, and the barrel bath are all continuously flowing with Mt. Fuji's underground spring water — sinking into the cypress bath sends the water overflowing all at once before it quickly refills. It's cold without any harshness, and even after getting out, the pores stay cool for a long time. Chairs for outdoor relaxation line the open-air space. Including an herbal steam room and a high-temperature, high-humidity room, there are four types of saunas in total.

Read our first-hand visit from September 2025 →

Editors' comment

There are five sauna rooms, each with different materials and heat qualities. One room, modeled after a tea room, was selected for the Saunachelin list, its design carrying a quiet Japanese sensibility. The Tengu Sauna has walls entirely of cypress and uses a method that pours in hot spring water, resulting in high humidity. The Star Sauna uses Estonian thermowood, filling the room with a deep aroma. At the barrel sauna beside the Kano River, löyly, vihta, and aromas can be used freely, and guests can step straight into the river before outdoor relaxation. All the cold plunge baths use natural river water from Izu. This is a cultural heritage inn, and use is limited to overnight guests.

Editors' comment

What sets this inn's sauna apart from others is that smoke saunas are installed in both the men's and women's large baths. Inside, wrapped in wood, a faint smoky aroma lingers, and auto-löyly delivers rounded heat deep into the body over time. A dry sauna sits on the men's side and a steam sauna on the women's side, letting guests choose the type of heat depending on how they feel that day. The cold plunge bath sits right next to the sauna. Rather than a sharp cold, it's a temperature that gently tightens the skin, and stepping out to the open-air area lets guests release the lingering heat in the sea breeze off Sagami Bay.

Editors' comment

There are two sauna room designs. Daichi, built with straight lines, has a staircase-like structure with dimmed lighting, while Sora, drawn in curves, is gourd-shaped and wrapped in the scent of wood. Both feature auto-löyly that releases steam at regular intervals, and the cold plunge bath sits right next to the sauna room. Stepping outside leads to an outdoor relaxation area facing the garden, where greenery swaying in the wind fills the view. Since the men's and women's areas alternate daily, visiting twice is needed to experience both rooms. The inn also has hot springs drawing amber-colored mineral-rich water.