I arrived at BadenGarden at 19:00. Earlier that day I had visited Onsen Balcony King & Queen in the morning and had plans to meet someone afterward, so I was already in a very elevated mood after a wonderful time. BadenGarden has a sauna made from kelo wood, a timber known in Finland as a wooden treasure. Kelo refers to pine trees aged 200–300 years that have died standing in cold Nordic climates; they cannot be produced artificially and only become kelo after drying naturally for decades. Kelo occurs mainly in the extreme cold regions of Finland, northern Russia, and northern Sweden and is not available in Japan. For these reasons kelo trades at a price far above ordinary sauna woods, and import costs mean only a handful of facilities in Japan can offer it. Because you can enjoy a sauna made from this precious kelo wood, BadenGarden has attracted a lot of attention in Japan. BadenGarden offers overnight stays, so I planned to enjoy the saunas and stay the night. After checking in I headed to the large communal bath. I changed in a guest-only locker and entered the bathing area. Columns reminiscent of Rome lined the space and various baths were arranged around them. The layout was more compact than I had imagined from photos. There is no natural hot spring. The sauna room is on the left as you enter; that is the rumored kelo sauna. Having cleaned myself, I was ready to enjoy it to the fullest. The true delight of kelo is its rich aroma. The kelo saunas I visited in the past at Kobe Sauna and Sauna Tokyo offered the highest-grade fragrance, so I wondered how BadenGarden would compare. With high expectations and imagining the scent that would soothe my nostrils, I entered the sauna room. However, the scent there was completely different from what I had pictured. I couldn't identify the aroma exactly, but there was a faint aroma present that masked the kelo scent, and I couldn't smell kelo at all. Even when I brought my nose close to the kelo wood I could not enjoy the rich fragrance. There may also be structural reasons. BadenGarden's sauna has two areas within a single sauna room: one area uses kelo and the other uses hinoki (Japanese cypress). That means kelo and hinoki coexist in the same space. Personally I prefer kelo separated from hinoki so you can appreciate each wood's scent and heat circulation, so I found this a bit disappointing. Also, the essence of kelo is the rich aroma produced by the material itself, so I couldn't help but question the use of a completely different-scented aroma in a kelo sauna. The heat circulation in the sauna also felt lacking, and it seemed much cooler than the thermometer indicated. Whether due to low humidity or poor circulation, even long sessions didn't warm my body enough. Sweating in the sauna is important, but raising core body temperature is even more crucial, and in low-humidity saunas with poor heat circulation you can sweat without your core temperature rising. I think they should review the placement of intake and exhaust vents or increase the frequency of the automatic löyly. They might also consider adding an automatic fan system to improve air circulation after löyly. The cold plunge bath is cold at 12°C, and because high-grade binchotan charcoal is used, the water felt mellow. However, given how little my body warmed in the sauna, the water felt too cold, and the sensation of cold came before any refreshing feeling. This is not simply a matter of making the cold plunge colder; it needs to be balanced with the sauna's heat and temperature. For the current state of BadenGarden's sauna I think a cold plunge temperature of around 17°C would be ideal. Overall the experience diverged from my expectations, and another disappointing factor was that a man covered in full-body tattoos who looked like a yakuza sat arrogantly, which made me, a timid person, feel nervous the whole time. That night I cut the visit short after two sets and went to have dinner.

The chicken karaage set meal I ordered at the restaurant and the braised beef tendon were both very tasty. In particular, the chicken karaage was carefully prepared and had a nice soy-based seasoning. My sauna trip continues tomorrow and beyond, and tomorrow morning I plan to visit Spadium Japon in Higashikurume, Tokyo. Since this facility is operated by the same company as Onsen Balcony King & Queen, there is no doubt it will be an excellent facility. I fell asleep looking forward to what kind of experience awaited.