This week, I'm enjoying a sauna trip in Osaka. I drove from Saturday morning to Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture. The destination is 'Nobuta no Yu Honten.' It's one of Osaka's top super sento facilities and a place visited by sauna enthusiasts from all over the country. Upon arrival, I stepped into the atmospheric interior. An hour later, a small incident occurred in the sauna room. Entering the large bath, I found a dark modern atmosphere that made me forget it was morning. The lighting seemed designed to make relaxation easier. I warmed up in the indoor natural hot spring and moved to the open-air bath. The open-air bath, lavishly using natural hot springs, had several types of tubs and seemed capable of accommodating quite a number of people. I immersed myself in the free-flowing hot spring and looked up at the blue sky. It was a cloudless, beautiful day. The good weather doubled my sense of happiness. It's about time to enter the sauna. 'Nobuta no Yu Honten' has two types of saunas. The first is the main sauna called 'Netsufū Muro.' It's equipped with two stoves, an iki stove and a rocky stove, and can accommodate more than 20 people. The dimly lit room has signs urging people to refrain from talking. The second sauna is a self-löyly sauna called 'Netsu no Shitsu.' It can accommodate about 10 people, has no TV, and talking is prohibited. It's a place for each person to face themselves. However, later on, I would witness a very tense scene where a man gets furious in this sauna room. For the first set, I decided to go to the main sauna. There were about 10 people already inside the spacious room, each in their own world. The only sound was from the TV. If talking is prohibited, I'd prefer if they got rid of the TV too... As I absorbed the heat from the two sauna stoves, my body gradually heated up. My heart rate increased, a sign that my blood flow was increasing. Reaching my limit, I entered the cold plunge bath. The cold plunge bath at Nobuta no Yu uses groundwater. It doesn't seem to be free-flowing, but you can feel the unique softness of groundwater. I cooled my body thoroughly. During the subsequent outdoor air bath, I inhaled the fresh morning air deeply through my nose and exhaled slowly through my mouth. Ventilating the air throughout my body, I felt refreshed. Now, let's proceed to the second set. I headed to the self-löyly sauna. This is where the incident occurred. Entering the sauna room, it was dark enough to remind me of a meditation room, and I could see several people already in a meditative state. I sat on the upper tier, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the pleasant heat of the sauna room. About three minutes later, two young men entered the room laughing. At that point, everyone in the sauna, including myself, was forcibly pulled out of their meditative state. I heard a loud tongue-click from an older man. The two were around 25 years old, with very slight builds, and looked around restlessly as if it was their first time in a sauna. They seemed to gain a sense of security by constantly exchanging words with each other. Well, if they're beginners, it can't be helped, but I wish they wouldn't engage in endless conversations in a self-löyly sauna where talking is prohibited. There's even a sign. Just as I was thinking that, a loud shout of 'Hey!!' echoed throughout the sauna room. The man who clicked his tongue earlier raised his voice. He was very muscular, with a body like a bodybuilder, and undoubtedly tans regularly at a tanning salon. His hairstyle was slicked back, and he had an intimidating presence. The man, who was sitting in the corner of the first tier of the sauna, deliberately moved in front of the two, creating a scene where he looked down at them from above, and yelled with tremendous force, 'How long are you going to keep talking?! Can't you see the no-talking sign, you idiots?! You're too noisy!!!' The sauna room froze with the intensity. It should have been nearly 90°C, but at that moment, I didn't feel the heat. The two were trembling, unable to speak. Meanwhile, the man continued to stand, glaring down at them. Unable to withstand such pressure, the two fled the sauna room. The man returned to his seat, clicked his tongue again for emphasis, and closed his eyes to return to his meditative state. I also enjoyed the meditative state for a while and then entered the cold plunge bath. When moving to the outdoor air bath area, I looked around, curious about the two, but they had already disappeared from the large bath area. Despite the small incident in the sauna room, the quality of the sauna is excellent. By dimming the lights and establishing a no-talking rule, it makes it easier to enter a meditative state, and the cold plunge bath is conveniently located right outside the sauna room, making the flow perfect. The spacious open-air bath has many chairs, allowing for a comfortable outdoor air bath after the cold plunge. After the outdoor air bath, you can warm your body in the natural hot spring you're proud of, or go back to the sauna, offering various options to be grateful for. In the end, I did four sets of sauna → cold plunge bath → outdoor air bath that day. It felt incredibly good from the morning. After this, it's time for the long-awaited meal.

During a sauna trip, my rule is to eat what I want without hesitation. I was extremely hungry, so I ordered a set of soba, tempura, and sushi, along with miso katsu, at the restaurant inside the facility. Each menu item permeated my body after the sauna. I already feel victorious, but it's still morning. This means I can experience this perfect moment again in the evening. So, where to enjoy it? There is a facility I had my eye on, thinking it might be an excellent place based on prior research. That facility is 'Sayama-go Onsen Niji no Yu' in Osakasayama City.