"If you were to die tomorrow, which sauna would you want to visit one last time?"
If asked that question, I would answer without hesitation: Ogaki Sauna. That's how incredible this place was.
Earlier that morning, Typhoon No. 18 made a direct hit on the Kinki and Tokai regions. I had been staying at Kobe Sauna, and by the time I finished my morning sauna session and breakfast, the rain had stopped. "Alright, time to head to Ogaki Sauna," I said to myself, psyching up as I made my way to Shin-Kobe Station. When I tried to buy my ticket, I spotted the words: "Tokaido Shinkansen service suspended." The typhoon had struck directly, bringing torrential rain to Aichi Prefecture. I approached the counter and told the staff member there, "I'd like to get to Ogaki Station in Gifu Prefecture." She kindly replied, "Normally it's faster to transfer to a local line at Nagoya, but today I'd recommend getting off at Maibara and transferring to a local train bound for Ogaki." The route to Maibara would be unaffected by the service suspension. I immediately bought tickets for that route and boarded the shinkansen.
I thought things were going smoothly, but I ended up stuck at Shin-Osaka Station. The Tokaido Shinkansen runs many trains per hour, and when service is suspended on a specific stretch, trains back up one after another, with the delays rippling through to subsequent trains as well. In this case, the suspended section was around Toyohashi in Aichi Prefecture, but trains departing from Shin-Osaka were also significantly delayed. I could have canceled my shinkansen ticket and taken a local train to Maibara, but at times like this, scrambling around doesn't help. The best thing to do is sit tight and wait. While I was researching plans for the following days and looking up sauna facilities, an announcement came that service had resumed. About an hour had passed — and I'd managed to turn it into a productive information-gathering session. I boarded the shinkansen again and headed to Maibara, where I transferred to a local train bound for Ogaki. Thirty minutes later, I arrived at Ogaki Station.
Ogaki Sauna was one of the locations featured in the drama Sado. In the opening sequence, Taizo Harada and Hiroki Miyake walk from Ogaki Station toward the city center — and I did exactly the same thing. Then I jumped in a taxi and headed to Ogaki Sauna. A few minutes later, the building came into view. The same scene I had watched on TV was now unfolding right before my eyes. My excitement was already at its peak before I'd even walked through the door.
At the front desk, I discovered that instead of receiving a locker key for your shoes, you hand over the shoes themselves, and they give you a locker key in return. The staff member at the desk seemed to have noticed that I arrived by taxi and asked, "Where have you come from?" I answered, "From Tokushima Prefecture." She responded warmly, "My, how far you've traveled — thank you so much for coming. Please take all the time you need and enjoy yourself." My heart was already won over before I'd even set foot in the baths. But what really mattered was the sauna and the cold plunge bath. What would the water feel like — the water they call miraculous? How refreshing would it be after stepping out? Imagining a world I had yet to experience, I got undressed and headed into the bathing area.
The bathing area was laid out exactly as I had seen in the drama: a sauna room and two bathtubs. The near bathtub was the cold plunge bath, fed by free-flowing groundwater. Water was constantly overflowing, and everything felt clean. According to a newspaper article posted at the front desk, the water in Ogaki Sauna's cold plunge bath is even safe to drink. Holding back my eagerness to jump in, I first rinsed off. Then I headed straight to the sauna room. The moment I stepped inside, I felt the heat hit me — it was hot. The thermometer read 110°C. But since it was a stone-type sauna, there was no sharp, painful sensation. In less than five minutes, sweat was pouring out of me all at once. When I reached my limit, I stepped out of the sauna room. I rinsed off under the shower, and then — at last — it was time for the cold plunge bath.
The instant I stepped into the cold plunge bath, I thought I had stepped into a vat of lotion. It was that soft and gentle. It was as if the water itself were a living creature, wrapping around my body and soothing me. The water temperature was 14°C. With ordinary tap water at that temperature, the piercing cold makes it hard to stay in for long. But in Ogaki Sauna's cold plunge bath, I stayed in for about two minutes. Even submerged in cold water, I felt an extraordinary sense of relaxation. While soaking, I also drank some of the flowing water. Cold, smooth, and genuinely delicious.
I stepped out of the cold plunge bath and sat down in a chair in the corner of the bathing area. What truly moved me happened from that point on. The sense of invigoration was beyond anything I'd known before. Every pore on my body was crying out in exhilaration. My skin tingled so much I wondered if I'd soaked in mint water. And because I had drunk the flowing water, the inside of my body felt just as refreshed. I had never experienced a cold plunge bath that felt this good. I slowly closed my eyes, savoring the sensations running through my body. It was only my first set, yet I think I drifted in and out of consciousness for somewhere between five and ten minutes. After that first overwhelming set, I went through a second and a third in the same sequence. By the time I finished the third set, I pressed my palms together in a gesture of gratitude and gave thanks for my own good fortune.
After the sauna, of course, it was time for a sauna meal.
Having come all the way to Ogaki Sauna, there was only one item I could possibly order.
I changed into the facility's loungewear and headed upstairs, where a wonderfully retro space opened up before me. About sixty years of history — a space that has been beloved by so many people — was preserved just as it always had been. The atmosphere of the dining room was outstanding. I took a seat along the wall and ordered the ginger pork loin set meal. In the drama Sado, ginger pork set meal is the go-to meal after a sauna session, and this was the only choice for me too. When the food arrived, I started by sipping the red miso soup. It seeped into a body that had been perfectly primed by the sauna and cold plunge bath. Then I took a big, satisfying bite of the thick-cut ginger pork. It was so good. The rice was delicious too — according to the flyer, it's their own homegrown Koshihikari variety. Not only had the magnificent cold plunge bath soothed my body, it had captured my stomach as well. I had become a devoted follower of Ogaki Sauna.
After the meal, I reclined in the relaxation room, flipping through magazines and napping for about two hours. I slept quite soundly. I had dozed off at sauna facilities before, but I had never slept this deeply. That must be a testament to the sheer power of the sauna and cold plunge bath here. Having slept for two full hours, my energy was completely restored. It was 5 p.m. Before I knew it, I was back inside the sauna room. Round two had begun.
Round two: again, three sets of sauna and cold plunge. The sun had begun to set, and the atmosphere inside the bathing area felt different from earlier in the day. If anything, the water seemed to have gotten even colder. Three sets of blazing sauna and sublime cold plunge bath. I reached a state of total, perfect totonou. Without question, this was the best cold plunge bath experience of my life.
Honestly, I didn't want to leave yet, so I decided to have dinner at Ogaki Sauna as well. How long was I going to stay? I savored the miso katsu and horse meat yukke, then finished with a fresh honey juice as dessert. And on my way out, I bought a commemorative Ogaki Sauna T-shirt, sweatshirt, and towel. Whenever a facility truly moves me, I make a point of buying something to remember it by — but buying this many items at once was a first for me. That's how much Ogaki Sauna moved me, and how much of a fan I had become. It's far away, so I don't know when I'll be able to return — but I know for certain that I will. I'll come back at least once more before I die. With that resolve in my heart, I climbed into a taxi and headed to my hotel for the night.
Tomorrow's destination: the sacred ground of Sauna Shikiji.
To be continued.
