Hopping between sento is a real pleasure. After doing 2 sets of sauna and cold plunge at Gokouyu, I made my way over to Hakusanyu Takatsujiten for some outdoor relaxation — just a 5-minute walk away. Isn't it almost unfair that two of Japan's finest sento are this close to each other?
I ducked under the noren curtain at the entrance and bought a bathing ticket. Near the reception area, original merchandise and goods were neatly displayed. Stepping into the men's locker room, that familiar Showa-retro atmosphere washed over me. I stripped down without hesitation and headed straight into the main bath area. Since I'd been soaking at Gokouyu just minutes before, I skipped the rinse and went directly to the sauna room.
The first thing I felt stepping into the sauna was: hot. The thermometer read 115°C. Sweat burst out of me all at once. The smell of sweat in the sauna room was hard to ignore. I'd been so distracted by the heat and the smell that I almost missed it — but when I glanced up, there was a man sitting right in front of me, covered head to toe in tattoos. Again. I'd just shared a sauna with a fully tattooed guy at Gokouyu not long ago. I casually glanced at his hands and noticed both pinkies were missing. Definitely someone from the other side of society. I kept my eyes to myself and focused entirely on my own state.
The cold plunge bath is right outside the sauna room. Two lion-head spouts blast groundwater in with tremendous force. Hakusanyu Takatsujiten is said to have the best water quality of any sento in Kyoto — a city already famous for its groundwater. According to the manager, the water here is actually drinkable. I've seen people drink it in feature videos about the facility, and sure enough, that day too, someone in the cold plunge was cupping it in their hands and drinking it. My throat happened to be dry, so I figured I'd treat myself to some fine water. First, I submerged myself up to my head and let the cold wash over my whole body. The torrent of water pouring down on my head felt incredible. Then I cupped both hands under the lion spout and gulped it down. Smooth, clean, and delicious.
Drinking the water while sitting in the cold plunge bath is a wonderfully wild experience, filled with a sense of raw pleasure that's hard to describe. It's precisely because so few places let you do this that it leaves such a strong impression and etches itself so deeply into memory.
At some point it hit me: it had been a while since I'd last drunk water from a cold plunge. Very few sento across Japan have groundwater pure enough to drink. In my own experience, the places where I've been able to drink the cold plunge water are: Sauna Shikiji in Shizuoka, Spa Alps and Yuya FUROBAKKA in Toyama, Ogaki Sauna in Gifu, and Kinjo Onsen Motoyu in Ishikawa. Now, Hakusanyu Takatsujiten in Kyoto has joined that distinguished company.
After getting out of the cold plunge, I passed through a dedicated corridor to the outdoor bath area and found a bench to sit on. Soothed by Kyoto's finest cold plunge, every pore on my body was singing with joy.
I sat there in a daze for a while, then headed back into the sauna. I was going in for the sauna, but honestly, the cold plunge was the real star here. In my second round in the sauna room, the sweaty smell was still just as strong. I told myself it was just the trial I had to endure to reach the cold plunge on the other side. I cleared my mind, let the sweat flow, and focused only on what awaited me. The moment to step into that extraordinary cold plunge was drawing near.
When I came out of the sauna room, the cold plunge was empty. Not a soul in it. An opportunity like this doesn't come twice. I rinsed off, slipped into the cold plunge, and dunked my head all the way under. Then I turned around and dove forward into the water face-first. It would be a breach of manners if other guests were around, but since I had the place to myself, no problem. After cooling my body down thoroughly, it was time for the usual ritual: drinking the water. I pressed both hands right up against the lion spout and drank deeply, gulp after gulp. It spread through my parched, sauna-dried body like a revelation. I could practically feel my blood vessels and organs refreshing themselves. That's how good it felt.
I drifted into another outdoor daze, then went through round 3, then round 4 — sauna, cold plunge, outdoor air, repeat. The sauna room smelled of sweat every single time, but the cold plunge was so transcendently good that it transformed everything into a great memory. Hakusanyu Takatsujiten is, without question, the finest sento there is.
After a good sauna, you want a good meal. That thought was running through my head as I walked along, and then I spotted a Western-style restaurant. The sign read Yoshoku no Tatsugoro. In sauna travel, every encounter with a restaurant is a once-in-a-lifetime meeting.
I pushed open the door and was greeted warmly by a friendly staff member. I ordered lunch and looked around the restaurant — my eye landed on what appeared to be photos from when the place first opened. It seemed to be a husband-and-wife operation. There were other customers too, chatting casually with the staff, and the whole atmosphere was wonderfully warm. Clearly a place well-loved by its regulars.
The cooking was careful and unhurried, and the hamburg steak and teriyaki beef I ordered were absolutely outstanding. Having burned through my energy hopping between two sento since morning, everything tasted even more delicious. It was a wonderful place — one I'll never forget.
Now, the end of the journey was drawing near.
As I wrote in a previous travel episode, choosing which facility to end a sauna trip at is a decision that matters. It was still midday, so I could have visited one more place in the evening. But the experience at Hakusanyu Takatsujiten had been so extraordinarily good that ending the trip here felt like exactly the right call. Finish the journey on the highest note possible.
This time I traveled through Kyoto's sento scene, but there are still plenty of places on my list that I haven't made it to yet. I'll no doubt be back in Kyoto again before long. What kind of sauna adventure will be waiting next time? With my heart already buzzing in anticipation of the next trip — and deep gratitude for this one — I pointed the car toward home in Tokushima and drove.
