What comes to mind when you hear Yobuko, in Saga? What would you want to taste first when you get to Yobuko?
Most people would say squid.
But not me. The first thing I want to taste in Yobuko is sauna.
After savoring a daytime sauna session at Kanigoten Ariakekai-no-Yu, overlooking the Ariake Sea, I drove north through Saga Prefecture, on and on, and checked into a hotel in Karatsu. From the Ariake Sea to the Genkai Sea. In just a few hours, I’d gone from Saga’s southern sea to its northern one. I collapsed onto the bed and lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling. The afterglow of that daytime sauna still lingered deep in my body.
As the sun sank lower, I started the car again and headed for Yobuko.
It’s about 30 minutes by car from central Karatsu to Yobuko. By the time I arrived, it was completely dark. Yobuko is a morning town, known for a morning market counted among Japan’s three great morning markets. At night, Yobuko falls silent, and almost nothing is open. But the fishing boats moored in the harbor, the smell of the sea, the sound of waves coming from somewhere. The air of a port town was still there, unmistakably, even at night.
In one corner of that town stands a hotel called Nakao Jinroku HOTEL. Its first and second floors are home to my destination this time: JIN6 Sauna.
I passed through the stylish lobby and checked in. JIN6 Sauna is a mixed-gender sauna, so I rented a swimsuit, changed at the lockers, and headed into the bathing area.
As a rule, I don’t use mixed-gender saunas. But there are exceptions. When a place offers a world or a sauna you can’t experience anywhere else, I’ve decided I’ll go even if it’s mixed. And JIN6 Sauna is the exception among exceptions.
When I stepped into the bathing area, it was 7 p.m. There were only about four people. It looked like I’d have this remarkably well-stocked place practically to myself. For some reason, this whole trip had kept steering clear of crowds. I can only think the sauna gods were cheering my trip on. Incidentally, this wonderful streak would continue right to the end of the trip, but that’s a story for another time.
JIN6 Sauna has three kinds of sauna and three kinds of cold plunge. The saunas are the Whale Sauna, the Squid Sauna and the Kiln Sauna. Yobuko’s sea and its whales, the famous local squid, and Karatsu ware. The symbols of Karatsu are built right into the saunas. Just reading the descriptions, I couldn’t stop grinning.
I decided to start my first set with the Kiln Sauna.
Karatsu ware has 400 years of history. This sauna is built with bricks that were actually used in its kilns, along with Karatsu clay. Even from the outside it looks like a kiln itself, and inside was a dim space with a low ceiling, enclosed in earth and brick. It felt as if I had become a piece of pottery being fired in the kiln.
Near the stove, Karatsu tea had been set out. When I poured the tea over the stones, it sizzled, and a toasty, gentle aroma spread through the room. Why are Kyushu saunas so good at using tea? I let myself be slowly fired by the soft heat radiating from the brick and earth, and by the vapor rising from the tea. When the moment felt right, I headed for the cold plunge.
The cold plunges are wonderfully unique too: the tubs are fish tanks that were actually in use. I was about to climb into the place where squid used to swim. I’d never seen a cold plunge like this. On top of that, there are two temperatures side by side: a brutal 10°C (50°F) and a mellow 20°C (68°F). The idea is to let the icy 10°C pull you taut, then hop over to the 20°C.
The instant I sank into the 10°C, every blood vessel in my body clenched at once. A groan slipped out. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I moved next door to the 20°C, and this time my whole body let go. The 20°C should have felt cold, yet it was as gentle as lukewarm water. Going back and forth between the tanks, I had fully turned into a squid.
For my second set, I went into the Squid Sauna.
Modeled on Yobuko’s famous squid, it’s made up entirely of soft curves. There are hardly any straight lines. It’s a very spacious sauna, yet I had it to myself for the second set too. Through the window I could see Yobuko Harbor at night. Making the most of the empty room, I lay down on the beautifully curved bench. Lying down spreads the heat evenly through your whole body, and it feels fantastic. Gazing at the curves of the ceiling, I started to feel, strangely, as if I were drifting inside a squid.
For the second set’s cold plunge, I chose the Sky Cold Plunge on the second floor.
This cold plunge has an overwhelming presence. A glass cylinder juts out from the building, floating above the port town at night. It looks as if this cold plunge were the center of the town. I sank into the water as if diving headfirst into Yobuko. After cooling down for a while, I gave myself over to a chair in the open-air cooling-off spot right beside it. The sea breeze blowing in from the Genkai Sea slowly stroked my chilled skin.
The third set, at last, was the Whale Sauna. This sauna was breathtaking.
The instant I opened the door, a world like the inside of a whale’s belly spread out before me. In the dim room, a framework that called ribs to mind reached up to the ceiling. In the center, a small fountain glowing pale blue rose quietly, and sounds evoking the deep sea were playing. Sitting down on the bench, I felt like a little fish swallowed by a whale.
After I’d been sweating for a while, the air changed. It was time for the automatic löyly. Here, the löyly is inspired by a whale spouting. Water shoots up forcefully from a dedicated nozzle and showers down onto the sauna stones. With a roaring hiss, vapor billows out and fills the whole space in an instant.
And that’s not the end of it. Next, a sound like whale song echoed through the room, and wind and mist came at me at the same time. Hot. I was supposed to be in a sauna, yet it felt like being on a theme park ride.
After heating my body to the limit inside the whale’s belly, I sank, squid-like, into the fish-tank cold plunge. Pulled taut at 10°C, loosened at 20°C. When I collapsed into a chair, the whale song was still echoing deep in my ears.
At night, almost every shop in Yobuko is closed. So, what to do about dinner? Just as I was about to give up, I spotted the lights of a small restaurant right next to JIN6 Sauna. Apparently it had opened just a month earlier.
The moment I opened the door, a cheerful voice called out, “Welcome! Coming back from the sauna?” Busted. My face must have been in full totonou (the deep, clear-headed calm that comes after cycling through sauna, the cold plunge and cooling off in the open air). In the homey little dining room, I ordered curry and a hamburg steak. With every bite, the energy I’d burned in the sauna was recharging.
And so ended day two of my Nagasaki–Saga sauna trip. From tomorrow, the second half finally begins.
The theme of this trip is recovery. If you truly want to restore body and mind, there’s one place you absolutely can’t miss.
Takeo, in Saga Prefecture.
Tomorrow I’ll head to Takeo first thing in the morning and visit OND HOTEL. The journey is far from over.
