Apparently, a "bath in the sky" awaits there. During the day, you can gaze out over the vast cityscape of Nagoya stretching into the distance, and at night, you can soak in the open-air bath while taking in the glittering city lights — lights said to twinkle like fireflies. Such a dreamlike place exists in Moriyama Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. The facility is called Tenkuu SPA HILLS Ryusenji-no-yu.
Ryusenji-no-yu is a nationwide super sento chain, offering superb facilities across the country and continuing to heal the hearts and bodies of many visitors. Today it has locations in Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, and Kanagawa as well, but this Moriyama store is where it all began. I walked in feeling genuinely happy to be visiting the birthplace of Ryusenji-no-yu.
The facility also has impressive rock sauna and massage services, but my goal was the main bathing area. I headed straight to the locker room and stepped into the baths without delay. There is a spacious indoor bath, and beyond it spreads the space proudly called the sky open-air bath. In the indoor area, a large carbonated spring sits at the center, surrounded by a natural hot spring jet bath, an electric bath, the main sauna, and two cold plunge baths. The cold plunge baths are set at 8°C and 16°C, and both are generously sized and deep.
After warming up in the carbonated spring, I moved to the outdoor area. In that instant, I was speechless. An almost impossibly beautiful view spread out before me. You really can see the city of Nagoya stretching far into the distance. Fortunately, the sky that day was completely clear — not a single cloud. With the weather on my side, I was enveloped in an incredible sense of openness. I soaked in the water — a blend of natural hot spring and carbonated spring — and just gazed at the city. I felt like I could stay here forever. Soaking in the hot spring, doing nothing but staring out at the distant cityscape. A simple act, yet the happiness it brought was extraordinary. How long did I sit there? I never looked at the clock. I had no idea how many minutes I had been soaking. I was that deeply lost in the view, my mind utterly empty.
When I finally came to and looked around, the other guests were doing the same — slowly soaking, gazing quietly at the city. I imagine they were feeling something quite similar. The outdoor space also has plenty of chairs set up so you can enjoy the view while taking in the fresh air. A few guests who had already been through the sauna were lounging there, seemingly having lost consciousness to bliss. Some had expressions of pure ecstasy on their faces. Watching them made me eager to get into the sauna myself.
Tenkuu SPA HILLS Ryusenji-no-yu has two types of sauna: the main sauna and the meditation sauna. The main sauna is large, equipped with two oversized sauna heaters. The meditation sauna is located in the outdoor area, with a self-löyly setup using aromatic water, allowing you to quietly and deeply absorb the heat. A cold plunge bath is also available right outside the outdoor sauna. Having a cold plunge bath right at the exit of the sauna room — this is the ideal layout.
I started with the main sauna. The air here is heavy, too. High humidity, a damp and enveloping heat. It feels as though the steam generated by löyly has permeated every corner of the sauna room. A high-humidity sauna lets you sweat properly and raises your core body temperature effectively. In the dry saunas common throughout Japan, the heat is parching and almost sharp against the skin, making it easy to hit your limit quickly. You feel extremely hot, yet often only the surface of your skin is being heated — the heat rarely penetrates deep inside. In contrast, a high-humidity sauna is gentler on the skin, easier to breathe in, and allows you to stay longer. You can warm yourself slowly, deeply, from your core — which makes it far more efficient. The main sauna at Ryusenji-no-yu is, without doubt, an ideal sauna.
After thoroughly heating my body, I stepped out of the sauna room and into the adjacent cold plunge bath. The 16°C and 8°C baths are right next to each other. I took this as an invitation to do a cold-cold alternating bath. You don't often get a chance like this. I first got into the 8°C bath for several dozen seconds, then swung my legs over the edge into the 16°C bath. Having just been in the 8°C water, the 16°C bath almost felt warm — a kind of pleasant illusion. It felt oddly relaxing, even while sitting in a cold plunge bath. And yet, my body was cooling down properly all the same.
After this rare cold-cold alternating bath, I moved to the outdoor area for sky air bathing. With a sweeping view of Nagoya spread out before me, I drifted in and out of consciousness, again and again. What an incredible feeling. The sauna → cold plunge → outdoor air bathing cycle is already amazing on its own, but adding a spectacular view on top of that takes it to an entirely different level. I was genuinely moved.
Flowing naturally from the outdoor air bathing, I headed into the meditation sauna for my second set. There is no TV here — just a calm, quiet space where you simply do self-löyly and feel the heat. That is all there is to do. I had imagined it might be a bit cramped, but the inside was larger than expected, with seating for around 20 people. The corner at the very back was free. The prime spot. I settled in cross-legged and slowly closed my eyes.
After meditating for a while, I heard a voice: "I'll go ahead and do a löyly, if you don't mind." The person had the look of a serious sauna enthusiast and spoke in a Kansai dialect. Was this person also on a sauna journey? A few people replied, "Please go ahead." With a sizzling sound, the scent of aroma filled the room. I recognized that smell from somewhere. It was probably green birch. I remembered encountering the same scent at Golden Time Takamatsu, a beloved sauna in Shikoku. A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I let the heat soak deep into my body.
Just outside the sauna room, the outdoor cold plunge bath awaited. The water temperature was around 15°C. Combined with the indoor baths, that makes three cold plunge baths in total. Cold plunge baths are cooled using machines called chillers, which are among the most expensive equipment to operate in a hot spring facility. And yet, without any compromise, they maintain the most comfortable temperatures for guests. Ryusenji-no-yu has locations across Japan, and every single one maintains an impressively high standard of quality. You can only say: that is exactly what you would expect from them.
After the cold plunge, it was back to sky air bathing. Gazing at the unobstructed panoramic view, I was enveloped in happiness, thinking, "I'm so glad I came to Nagoya." Before I knew it, I had completed four sets. The sauna → cold plunge → sky air bathing cycle here feels like something you could keep doing forever, but overdoing it is not good for the body, so I decided to call it there. This view, this sense of wonder — I will never forget it for the rest of my life.
After the sauna, I was famished, so I treated myself to hitsumabushi, a classic Nagoya specialty. Looking through the food menu, I simply could not resist. When traveling, I often end up eating the local specialty of wherever I happen to be. It is something I find wonderful — you get to experience things you cannot have in your everyday life, and it adds richly to your life experience. There is a world of difference between seeing something in a photo and actually tasting it for yourself. There are many things you can only understand through direct experience.
In today's world, so much can be done entirely online. It is incredibly convenient and comfortable. I work as a programmer, so I love the digital world too. But I also believe that accumulating real, lived experiences is important. Because it reminds you that you are alive, here and now. Sauna in particular gives you an intense sense of being alive. You place your body in the near-extreme conditions of the sauna, then move immediately to the equally harsh cold plunge bath. And then comes the blissful relief of the outdoor air bath. Every single action makes you feel life itself. Maybe that is why people fall in love with sauna.
I got a bit poetic there, but it is time to head to the evening's destination. The next facility is a little ways from the center of Nagoya City — an institution that no sauna lover visiting Nagoya should miss: Sauna Eagle. Let's go.
