5 a.m. I woke up as usual, got my morning walk and shower out of the way, and jumped straight into my car.
Blasting through Awaji Island from the Naruto Strait in the early morning is genuinely exhilarating. I knocked back a coffee at Awaji SA and floored it to Osaka International Airport. I took off at 10:50 and touched down at Memanbetsu Airport at 1 p.m.
I wolfed down lunch at the curry place inside the airport, picked up a rental car, and set off for Utoro in Shari. My body was itching to get into that sauna. The excitement and anticipation were so hard to contain that I let out more than a few shouts of joy in the car.
At 4 p.m., I finally arrived at Kitakobushi Shiretoko Hotel & Resort. Nestled in the sweeping nature of Shiretoko — a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site — this is a long-established hot spring resort that stands as one of the greats of eastern Hokkaido. I checked in, threw my bags into the room, and immediately headed up to the 8th-floor panoramic bath, Ouminara.
That afternoon, UNEUNA was open to male guests. This was the sauna room I had admired in magazines and online countless times, always captivated by its graceful design. And now, at last, I was standing right in front of it.
The moment I opened the door to the bathhouse, I stopped in my tracks.
Beyond the large windows, the Okhotsk Sea stretched out in an endless, crystal-clear blue. Perfectly clear skies. Nothing blocking the view. Next to the indoor bath was an open-air viewing bath with no window glass at all, letting you feel the sea breeze of Shiretoko directly. Countless seagulls wheeled overhead, their cries echoing right into the bathing area. It struck me just how powerful the sounds of nature can be.
I washed up first and eased my body into the high-quality natural hot spring of the indoor bath. The gently smooth water slowly worked loose the muscles that had stiffened up over a long journey since early morning. Soaking in the bath while gazing out at the Okhotsk seascape — that alone felt like it was cleansing my soul.
Once I was properly warmed up, it was finally time to open the door to UNEUNA. The space I had been longing for was just a few steps away. I could feel my heart beating faster.
The instant I stepped inside, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of its form. Japan's first 3D woodworking sauna, crafted from domestic hinoki cypress. The smooth curves, inspired by the image of a wooden cave, enveloped the entire space. It's no surprise it won the Forestry Agency Commissioner's Award at the Wood Design Award. I looked around the room like a suspicious intruder and let out a sigh: what an incredible design.
Sitting on the bench, I had a sweeping view of the Shiretoko sea through the large window directly in front of me. Evening was approaching, and the clear daytime blue was slowly shifting into warmer tones as night drew near. I was vaguely thinking, "Is Russia really just beyond that vast sea?" when the area around the stove lit up and the auto-löyly activated. With the temperature set at 90°C and steam filling the compact space, the perceived heat shot up instantly. Sweat poured from every inch of my body. I gradually reached my limit and stepped out of the sauna room.
The flow from the sauna room to the cold plunge bath right in front of it is perfect. It fits about three people and is designed with a depth of 90 cm. Water temperature: 15°C. When I submerged my head, a rush of exhilaration shot straight through the top of my skull and down through my entire body. My overheated body snapped back in an instant.
After cooling down for a while, I moved up to the rooftop TOKONOU Terrace. The name is a clever blend of "toko" from Shiretoko (知床) and "totonou" — it means absolutely nothing to someone who doesn't know sauna culture, but for those of us who do, there couldn't be a more perfectly meaningful word.
I sank into a chair on the terrace and the Okhotsk Sea spread out before me as far as the eye could see. The view here was more beautiful than any observation deck I had ever visited. The temperature was perfect too. Even in late July, the daytime in Shiretoko was 23°C. A pleasant coolness and the sea breeze gently stroked my skin. The conditions were simply ideal for an outdoor cool-down session that could last forever. If someone asked me to name the single best outdoor cool-down of my life, I would answer without hesitation: Kitakobushi Shiretoko. That's how beautiful, how sublime, the experience was.
How long did I stay out there cooling down? I honestly had no idea how much time had passed. I just felt the sun sinking gradually, and a sense of night slowly closing in.
I hadn't opened my phone once all day. I had no idea what was happening in the world, or whether anyone had messaged me. But none of that mattered. Time spent cut off from information, with your mind completely empty — that is the greatest luxury of modern life.
On to my second set. Stepping back into the UNEUNA sauna room, I noticed that the hinoki wood had aged into a rich amber color over time. Months and years had passed since it was completed, and it had taken on even more character and depth. How many people had this space moved over the years? I felt genuinely glad to have touched even a small part of that history.
I heated my body in a clear mind, gazed out at the sea, marveled at the sculptural beauty, and headed to the cold plunge bath. Again I surrendered to the cold that pierced the top of my skull, and my feet naturally carried me back up to the rooftop terrace.
The color of the sky had deepened further. As I sat in the stillness, letting Shiretoko's wind wash over me, I suddenly snapped to attention — a considerable amount of time had passed. I supposed it was about time to get moving.
As it turns out, staying at Kitakobushi Shiretoko Hotel & Resort comes with a wonderful perk: guests can use the large communal bath at KIKI Shiretoko Natural Resort, run by the same group, completely free of charge. That place is also one of Japan's premier sauna facilities — somewhere that has been burning in my heart for a long time. There is one catch, though: you have to enter before 6 p.m.
As reluctant as I was to leave, I wrapped up my sauna session here for now. The third set would continue at KIKI Shiretoko.
A sauna experience spanning two world-class facilities. Just how many sets would I end up doing today? And what surprises would be waiting for me at KIKI Shiretoko? This journey of reboot had only just begun.
