Around 4 p.m., I checked into Hotel Kyoto Eminas and spent the next few hours just lounging around in my room. Sure, I could've been out sightseeing — I was in Kyoto, after all — but there's something I genuinely love about wasting time in a hotel room doing absolutely nothing.
I scrolled through sauna facilities online, thinking about where to go on my next sauna trip. There's something about being on the road that sharpens my instincts — I tend to come up with better travel plans when I'm already traveling. Most of my sauna trips were actually planned during other trips.
I kept cycling between trip planning and watching TV, and before I knew it, it was 7 p.m. Time to hit the hot spring.
Guests staying at Hotel Kyoto Eminas get complimentary 24-hour access to Kyoto Takenosatoонsen Manyo-no-Yu. Manyo-no-Yu is a nationwide hot spring and spa brand with locations in Kobe, Yokohama, and elsewhere. The Kyoto location offers two types of natural spring water, and even the cold plunge bath uses spring water — a sign of just how abundantly the springs flow here. I headed to the main bath area with high expectations.
Since the facility is open to non-guests as well, the restaurant and common areas were buzzing. In the men's changing room, I found a dedicated locker section for hotel guests — there was something satisfying about that special treatment. The lockers came stocked with unlimited face towels and bath towels, plus a full set of amenities. Plenty of places offer unlimited face towels, but having bath towels provided too is genuinely appreciated.
The main bath area opened up into a spacious, high-ceilinged space that felt wonderfully airy. Two kinds of hot spring water were used throughout, and there were plenty of different baths to choose from. When I went to rinse off at a shower booth, I discovered something I hadn't expected: the showers used hot spring water too. In all my years visiting hot spring facilities across the country, I had never encountered that before. I was more than a little excited. The water was soft and silky against my skin — almost like being bathed in toner. I was already savoring the onsen before I'd even stepped into a tub.
After that warm-up shower, I settled into the outdoor bath fed by a free-flowing natural spring. Warm, natural water poured in continuously. And when I looked up from the bath, there it was — a beautiful starry sky spread out above me. Soaking in a hot spring while gazing at the stars. This is a special kind of moment. I was glad I came to Kyoto. Glad I was traveling at all. It was only because I'd broken out of my lazy-morning stupor back home that I was here now, experiencing this happiness. That thought reminded me: a single decision can take your life in a completely different direction. There are views you can only see if you get up and go. This world is full of scenery I haven't laid eyes on yet.
After the hot spring, I moved on to the sauna. It was a compact room, fitting maybe ten people, with a far-infrared heater that gave off a very Showa-era retro vibe — nostalgic in the best way. Lately, Finnish-style saunas have been everywhere, and most of the facilities I've visited have stone saunas with convection heating, so seeing a far-infrared heater felt like running into an old friend. There was a TV inside, and I warmed up while watching a travel program. Meditating in silence is great, but there's nothing wrong with kicking back in a retro Showa atmosphere watching TV either.
The cold plunge bath was indeed using spring water, just as advertised — the source water chilled down to 18°C. Hot spring water in a cold plunge tends to feel warmer than the displayed temperature. The softness of the water means there's none of that sharp, skin-biting cold. It's the kind of bath you could stay in forever.
After the cold plunge, I moved outside for an outdoor rest, breathing the night air under the stars.
Normally I'd head straight back to the sauna after the outdoor rest, but at a facility with free-flowing natural springs, the flow is a little different. I'd highly recommend trying this sequence: outdoor rest → hot spring → outdoor rest → sauna. After your body settles into that relaxed state from the outdoor rest, slipping into the hot spring sends a wave of blissful, almost electric warmth through every inch of you. The tension drops out of your body all at once, and a soft sound escapes your lips — the kind of involuntary sigh that says everything. You're wrapped in the warmth of the spring, and gradually your whole body heats up. Then you move back to the outdoor chair, let the night breeze cool you down, and head into the sauna and cold plunge again. At a facility with a wonderful hot spring like this, the loop of sauna → cold plunge → outdoor rest → hot spring → outdoor rest → sauna is absolutely worth trying. I went through three sets.
After all that, it was time to eat — I was starving. I headed to the restaurant inside the facility and ordered oyakodon. It had a slightly sweet seasoning and was delicious.
As I ate, I looked around the restaurant. All kinds of people were there: solo visitors like me, married couples, couples on dates — all sorts of combinations. But there was one thing everyone had in common: they all looked happy. That's the power of hot springs and saunas. In the main bath area, you're freed from everyday life, and your only job is to relax as deeply as possible. Spend an hour in that space and people emerge looking like they've been reborn. They walk in with tired faces staring at the floor and walk out with their heads held high. This is why I can't give up sauna trips.
Back in my room, I made plans for the next day before bed. Today I'd enjoyed two super sento experiences — Sagano Onsen Tenzan-no-Yu and Manyo-no-Yu — so tomorrow I decided to go sento-hopping around Kyoto. Kyoto is one of Japan's premier sento destinations, and it's home to facilities that appeared in the drama Sado. I picked out a few places I wanted to visit. Which one to start with, I'd decide based on how I felt in the morning. Maybe it was the relief of having a plan, but a wave of sleepiness hit me hard — and just like that, I drifted off into dreamland.
