「Kobe Sauna & Spa (2nd Visit)」 - A Visit

My pilgrimage to sacred sauna sites began alongside the direct hit of Typhoon No. 18. My sauna journeys always start the moment I finish work on weekdays. On this particular day, heavy rain was already falling by evening when I finished work, but I boarded the express bus as planned. I arrived at Kobe Sannomiya Station at 7:45 PM and walked straight to my destination, ignoring the temptations of the entertainment district. I have no interest in izakayas or hostess bars. After a few minutes of walking, I spotted 'Kobe Sauna & Spa' - my first sacred site. I had visited Kobe Sauna just last Sunday, so this was only my second visit in four days, but this time I was staying overnight. It had been a while since I'd slept in a capsule, and the prospect of enjoying 24-hour sauna access had me strangely excited. After checking in, I headed straight to the main bath area. I removed my paper shorts, grabbed a towel, and made my way to the washing area. Being a weekday evening during a typhoon, the place was surprisingly empty - practically all to myself. I see - targeting bad weather days is the key to comfortable facility usage. Since this was a pilgrimage, I cleansed myself with even more care than usual. Afterward, I soaked in the natural hot spring that sits at the center of the main bath. While the sauna gets all the attention, Kobe Sauna's 'Kaminoyu Onsen' is incredibly pleasant and often overlooked. They luxuriously use natural hot spring water sourced from 1,004 meters underground. Once my body warmed up, I cooled down in the 23°C cold bath before heading to the Finnish sauna. As I wrote in my previous article, Kobe Sauna's Finnish sauna ranks No. 1 in my personal ranking. Inside the dark cabin, faint light filters through small windows, and there's no TV or background music. The aroma of Kelo wood imported directly from Finland and vihta fills the room. Step into this sauna, and you're transported to another world. After a while, someone who had entered at the same time performed self-löyly. The humidity shot up instantly, warming me to my core. As I approached my limit, I rinsed off the sweat and entered the 11.7°C cold bath. Then I surrendered myself to a nearby bench for outdoor air bathing. It was raining heavily that day. The rain hit my body, cooled by the cold bath. While receiving nature's rain massage, I fell into a state of supreme relaxation from just the first set. For the second set, I went straight back to the Finnish sauna, entered the 11.7°C cold bath, and did outdoor air bathing while being pelted by rain. During the second set, I completely lost consciousness. After some time, a staff member's loud voice brought me back to reality. Apparently, Finnish-style löyly was about to begin in the main sauna. Kobe Sauna performs staff-led löyly every 30 minutes. I decided to end my third set with löyly. I settled onto the top tier of the main sauna. After the staff's greeting ended, I applauded, and aromatic water was poured onto the sauna stones. Instantly, the wonderful scent of lemongrass stimulated my nostrils. Simultaneously, the heat wave hit. Sweat poured from every pore. Kobe Sauna's löyly is hot, but there's a pleasant quality to it - you're enveloped in mellow heat waves. I wanted to rush to the cold bath, but I also wanted to receive more löyly. After five additional heat waves, the löyly session ended. I headed straight to the cold bath to cool my body, completing the third set. When I emerged from the sauna, it was past 9 PM. Normally I'd be preparing for bed, but this was the first day of my journey and I wanted to enjoy more. Plus, I was hungry. Time for some post-sauna dining! I put on the facility's loungewear and headed to the 8th floor lounge.

Kobe Sauna also serves delicious food. Since it was past 9 PM, I decided to order the chicken and egg rice bowl (oyakodon) with health in mind. While waiting for my order, I picked up a sauna magazine. Japan truly has so many wonderful sauna facilities - new places I want to visit keep appearing one after another. What a happy problem to have. Soon my oyakodon was ready. First, I closed my eyes to enjoy the aroma. I took a deep breath of that wonderful charcoal-grilled scent. I might look strange to onlookers, but I don't need to worry about that - I don't know a single person here. I savored the first bite thoroughly. Had oyakodon always been this delicious? Here I was, eating oyakodon at a time when I'm usually sleeping. This extraordinary experience is part of travel's charm. After all, the typhoon would hit directly tomorrow morning anyway. A little late night wouldn't cause any damage. Feeling full, I decided to read in the reclining room. I picked up a sauna-related book and after reading for about an hour, I started feeling sleepy. Time to sleep, I suppose. I moved to the capsule room and fell into a deep sleep. It was past 11 PM. I woke up feeling refreshed and alert. How many hours had I slept? It was such a pleasant awakening. Looking at the clock, it was 4 AM. Five hours of sleep. I thought about going back to sleep, but I was completely awake. I was too excited about the journey. Incidentally, my average sleep duration is 7-8 hours. Compared to that, this was short, but I felt more refreshed than usual. Which naturally led to the thought: 'How about a morning sauna session?' When I went to the main bath at 4:30 AM, there were only two people including myself. I cleansed myself and soaked deeply in the 'Kaminoyu Onsen.' With no one around, I relaxed in a spread-eagle position. I felt a sense of superiority having this sacred Kobe site all to myself. Once my body warmed up, I entered the 23°C cold bath and headed to the Finnish sauna. Morning saunas have a different sensation than evening ones. As you sweat, each cell awakens one by one. In my case, I sweat relatively quickly at night, but it takes time to start sweating in the morning. I performed self-löyly in the private sauna and thoroughly warmed my body. I entered the 11.7°C cold bath and did outdoor air bathing while being pounded by torrential rain. I completed three sets while enveloped in tremendous happiness. By the time I left the main bath, it was nearly 6 AM. Kobe Sauna's breakfast buffet starts at 6 AM. I was hungry after the sauna session, so I decided to have breakfast right away. Unlimited access to first-class saunas for 24 hours, plus delicious breakfast included - it's simply the best, to put it modestly. After finishing breakfast and lounging in the reclining room, sleepiness hit me again. I decided to return to the capsule room for a second sleep. When I woke up again, it was past 9 AM. I had apparently slept for about two hours. I felt quite refreshed. I turned on the TV to check typhoon information. It seemed to be moving faster than expected, with rain stopping before noon. In that case, I should prepare and head to Ogaki City in Gifu Prefecture. My next destination is 'Ogaki Sauna.'