5:30 in the morning. I awoke quietly to the cheerful sound of birdsong.
My sleep was a little on the short side, but my mind was remarkably clear. For years now, my body has operated on an unwavering schedule of waking up between 5:00 and 5:30 every morning. No matter how late I go to bed, my internal clock refuses to budge. Every so often, a small fantasy drifts through my head — wouldn't it be nice, just once, to sleep like the dead until noon without a care in the world — but now that I'm awake, the only proper thing to do is get moving. That is the sauna enthusiast's calling.
My destination was already decided.
Daitouyo, in Umeda.
I got ready without delay and stepped out of the hotel near Hanshin Koshien Station where I was staying. This wasn't a checkout — it was a temporary excursion. The plan was perfectly crafted: go to Daitouyo, have an exceptional morning sauna session, enjoy breakfast, return to the hotel, and then squeeze in a blissful second sleep right up until checkout time. The clock had just ticked past 6:00 a.m.
I boarded a Hanshin Railway express from Koshien Station and headed to Hanshin Umeda Station. Even at this early hour, the train was filled with passengers swaying along. Feeling the pulse of the city around me, I sat quietly with a growing excitement in my chest.
Arriving at Umeda Station, I surfaced to street level and walked toward Hankyu Umeda Station, passing by the Hankyu Men's Building. Heading straight down the street where Don Quijote stands, the familiar yet somehow proudly commanding sign for Daitouyo came into view.
Daitouyo is a facility I've visited many times and holds a very special place for me. However, since its grand reopening following a major renovation completed on April 21, 2026, this was my first visit. The anticipation of seeing what it had become was almost too much to bear.
The moment I stepped through the entrance, I was enveloped by an overwhelming sense of cleanliness and a refined, refreshing fragrance. The instant I walked inside, an exquisite scent drifted through the air — one that intuitively convinced me this was absolutely a legendary establishment.
I quickly completed the automatic check-in and payment, took the elevator up to the locker room, changed into the facility wear with not a single wasted movement, and headed straight to the large communal bath on the fourth floor.
As I entered the bathing area, a rich, pleasant scent of birch wafted gently toward me. Perhaps it was drifting from the newly installed Whisk Sauna, that aroma brimming with vitality.
The sauna area inside the bathing space had undergone a truly dramatic renovation. The sauna lineup had been refreshed into three distinct concepts, and the relaxation space had become significantly more generous. Given such a luxurious array of options, I was going to take my time savoring each one.
For my first set, I headed to the Löyly Sauna.
This sauna room — reborn from what was formerly the Rocky Sauna — was constructed from timber of breathtaking beauty and artistry. Two sauna stoves sat proudly inside. Near the entrance stood a state-of-the-art stove that releases an automatic löyly every 20 minutes and drives powerful blasts of hot air through a fan-coil louver. And at the center of the room, a massive rocky stove stood with commanding presence, clearly intended for the large-scale aufguss events.
Setting myself down on the top bench, the heat of approximately 90°C wrapped gently around my entire body. It was an immaculately calculated space — remarkably comfortable.
Shortly after I settled in, a satisfying hiss filled the air as the automatic löyly kicked off. Superb steam filled the sauna room, pleasantly stimulating my just-awakened skin. I could feel the deep warmth gradually spreading through my body, and it was as though each dormant cell was stirring one by one, crying out with a joyful first breath. I heard the quiet inner click of my soul's switch turning on: right, let's start another day.
On a side note — lately, it seems that the moment I enter a sauna room with an automatic löyly, it almost always starts up right away. Perhaps the sauna itself senses that I am a true devotee and welcomes me with its finest heat. Indulging in that pleasant illusion, I sweated it out properly for 10 minutes.
I burst out of the sauna room, rinsed off thoroughly in the shower, and slipped into the cold plunge bath.
The greatest appeal of Daitouyo lies, without question, in the variety of its cold plunge baths. There are four in total throughout the bathing area, and what appeared before me was a beautifully arranged corner with an ideal 14.5°C cold bath and a 20°C mid-temperature bath side by side.
Without a moment's hesitation, I submerged my entire body into the 14.5°C cold bath.
"Ahhh... this is it...!"
The cold water gently yet mercilessly tightened my flushed skin. A first-set cold plunge at 14.5°C in the early morning delivers a fierce jolt to every blood vessel in your body, snapping your mind awake in the most remarkable way.
I stepped out of the cold bath and surrendered myself to a top-quality infinity chair in the relaxation area. I let every bit of tension drain from my body and sank deep into the backrest. The profound totonou that visits you in the morning. Looking around, I could see that, despite the early hour, many gentlemen had already given themselves over to the chairs with expressions of pure bliss, utterly lost to the world.
For my second set, I made my way to the Finland Sauna.
This is a sauna room set to approximately 80°C where self-löyly is possible. Compared to before the renovation, it seemed to retain a somewhat calm atmosphere while feeling slightly more spacious. Inside, a refreshing citrus aroma water was prepared, and a wonderful fragrance filled the room. There is no television in this sauna; instead, softly playing background music and Finnish landscape videos gently guide you into a world of deep meditation. I closed my eyes and listened to my own inner voice.
As I savored the silence, a refined, gentlemanly voice came from the older man sitting next to me: "Would it be alright if I did a löyly?" I replied pleasantly, "Please, go ahead," and the man poured the aroma water over the stones with practiced ease. A vigorous sizzling sound rose up, and the citrus fragrance along with exquisite hot steam spread gently throughout the entire sauna room. I drew that sacred air deep into my lungs through my nose, filling every corner with the scent of citrus. This is why I can never give up saunas.
I cooled down properly in the cold bath once more, then reclined in the infinity chair as the air played over me, bringing my superb second set to a close.
And for the third set, I quietly opened the door to the newly added Whisk Sauna — the centerpiece of this renovation. This is a special sauna room, newly created by the renovation, dedicated to whisking.
Some readers may be wondering what whisking actually is, so allow me to give a brief explanation.
Whisking is a traditional sauna therapy that has been passed down for generations in Finland and the Baltic states. It involves using a bundle of birch (vihta) or oak branches and leaves — called a whisk — to beat or press against the body in the hot, steamy environment of a sauna, or to shower the entire body with the fragrant steam drawn out from the foliage.
I had the chance to experience it once before, at a facility called OND SAUNA in Saga Prefecture. Even now, just recalling it gives me goosebumps — the wild, earthy fragrance of the birch, the pleasant sensation of the leaves brushing against my skin, and that feeling of dramatically improved circulation throughout my entire body. It was a profoundly healing experience.
So it is quite remarkable that a sauna room where you can enjoy whisking as part of your regular routine has now been born here at Daitouyo.
As luck would have it, I was the only one inside — the entire room to myself. Self-löyly with aroma water was available here too, so I gently poured water over the stones and let the steam rise. Then I sprawled out luxuriously on the whisking bench, lying flat on my back.
I closed my eyes, felt the warm steam slowly descending from the ceiling, and let my body heat up thoroughly as I lay there.
And so, a perfect three sets came to an end.
Three saunas, each with a completely different character and concept — and every single one of them uncompromising in its quality. Daitouyo is truly magnificent. I could only nod deeply in renewed conviction: this is indeed one of Osaka's finest establishments.
After leaving Daitouyo, I took the Hanshin Railway back to Koshien Station and returned to my hotel. Sleepiness crept up on me at that point, so I decided to take a nap — or perhaps a second sleep — right up until checkout. My next destination is already decided. The theme of this week's trip is revisiting places full of memories. With that in mind, there is one more facility I want to visit: a celebrated hot spring I went to many times when I used to live in Hyogo Prefecture. The name of that establishment, located in Takarazuka City in Hyogo Prefecture, is Takarayu.
