Slowly sinking into the natural hot spring, working up a sweat in the sauna, cooling off in the cold plunge bath, then stretching out in an outdoor lounge chair for the ultimate relaxation — repeat this cycle enough times and all the petty distractions of daily life, every little frustration and annoyance, simply stop mattering. By the time you walk out the door, they're completely gone, wiped clean. What remains is a feeling of pure bliss and a positive outlook on life. Go to the sauna every day, and you get to feel this way every single day.
People often ask me, "Don't you get tired of going to the sauna every day?" or "You travel every week — are you sure you can afford it?" Honestly, mind your own business. I do it because I can. And besides, I don't think about saunas in purely financial terms. As I said above, the sauna has the power to flip a negative mindset into a positive one. At a Japanese super sento, you can experience all of this for around 1,000 yen — that's cheap even if you go every day. No matter what anyone says, I fully intend to keep going to the sauna every single day.
Anyway, this week's sauna journey begins.
On Saturday morning, after waking up feeling fantastic, I went through my usual routine of a morning walk and breakfast, then got in the car. Basking in the morning sun, I drove across Awaji Island and headed to my destination: Sanda City.
In my research beforehand, I'd identified two facilities in Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture that caught my attention. The first was Mita Tennen Onsen Kotobuki-no-Yu, my destination today. The second was Tennen Wakiyu Ginto Toji Shuraku. Both facilities feature high-quality natural hot springs and offer excellent saunas, cold plunge baths, and outdoor baths to match.
I arrived at Mita Tennen Onsen Kotobuki-no-Yu around 11 a.m. After checking in at the front desk, I made my way to the main bath area. Walking down a long corridor, I found the men's locker room at the far end. It was impressively spacious — always a good sign. In facilities with cramped locker rooms, you end up awkwardly pressed against other patrons, which is stressful. Being squeezed skin-to-skin with other men is just uncomfortable, and nobody enjoys it. A roomy locker area means none of that, which is a relief.
In keeping with the generous locker room, the main bath area was equally spacious — almost more room than they needed. Since it was still morning, there weren't many other guests around.
I started by washing up, then warmed my body in the indoor jet bath, set in a wooden tub reminiscent of a hinoki cypress bath. The water was constantly overflowing, and the quality was crystal clear. I could already tell this was a seriously good facility. After warming up in the indoor bath, I moved to the outdoor area. The outdoor space made equally lavish use of the available area, with a large natural stone hot spring bath, multiple private tub baths (also natural spring water), a high-concentration carbonated bath, a barrel sauna, and a cold plunge — a truly ideal layout. Since I was saving the sauna for later, I took my time soaking in the natural stone bath.
The rich brownish natural hot spring water enveloped my body gently, warming it through at a leisurely pace. I scooped some water in my hands and splashed it on my face. Being a salt spring, I could taste a hint of saltiness. Salt springs are said to have exceptional heat-retaining properties, keeping you warm long after you get out. The antibacterial nature of the salt is also said to be effective for cuts, burns, and chronic skin conditions — which is why they're sometimes called "healing waters." The cool autumn breeze made the outdoor soak feel even more wonderful. There's a sense of comfort that comes from slipping into a warm hot spring in cold open air that really can't be put into words. After soaking in the natural spring for a good while, I finally headed into the sauna.
Mita Tennen Onsen Kotobuki-no-Yu has three saunas. The first is an indoor dry sauna with sauna stones, where you can watch TV while you sweat. The second is a salt sauna — a rocky-style sauna where löyly is offered. The third is the barrel sauna in the outdoor area. Cold plunge baths are available both indoors and outside. For a super sento, having this level of sauna and cold plunge variety is genuinely rare. It's clear that this place puts as much care into its saunas as it does its natural hot springs.
I worked my way through the saunas in this order: dry sauna → barrel sauna → salt sauna. In the dry sauna, I sweated it out slowly while watching TV. Since I had the whole space to myself, I spread out luxuriously and did some stretching while I soaked in the heat. It's something I've recently started doing — whenever the sauna is quiet, I do stretches inside. It helps you sweat more efficiently, and with your body already warmed up, your flexibility improves noticeably. I picked up the idea from someone at my local sauna.
The second set was the barrel sauna, which fits around six to eight people and has a self-löyly option. The compact space means the steam from the sauna stones circulates quickly, creating a highly humid environment where you pour out sweat in no time. The barrel sauna seemed to be popular — it was nearly full. Not exactly my ideal situation; I prefer having some breathing room when I sauna. To make matters worse, the person sitting next to me kept inching closer until we were practically touching, and on top of that, they repeatedly splattered sweat around noisily while continuously breathing out a foul-smelling breath. The barrel sauna itself was excellent, but the second set left me feeling unsatisfied.
For the third set, I finished with the salt sauna — and it was incredible. The temperature was set at 60°C, which is gentle on the body and lets you sweat gradually over a long period. Midway through, I rubbed salt into my skin to absorb the minerals through my pores. My circulation steadily improved, and my pulse gradually climbed. Even at 60°C, staying in long enough gets your body seriously heated up. After thoroughly sweating it out, I headed straight for the cold plunge.
The cold plunge at Mita Tennen Onsen Kotobuki-no-Yu was also outstanding. The indoor cold plunge used a continuous overflow system, keeping the water clean and fresh, with a temperature of around 16°C — ideal. It was also spacious enough to fully stretch out and relax in. The outdoor cold plunge was considerably colder, probably around 11°C I'd guess, and deep enough to rapidly cool a body that had been thoroughly heated in the sauna. The fact that they maintain multiple cold plunge baths at different temperatures is exactly the kind of detail you only find at a facility that truly cares about the sauna experience.
After enjoying the natural hot springs and sauna from the morning, I walked out of the main bath feeling on top of the world. As I strolled down the corridor toward the restaurant, a flyer caught my eye. It read: "Members of our affiliated fitness gym can use the main bath for free." I couldn't believe it. This quality of hot spring facility, available at a gym membership rate? Remarkable. For a brief moment, I seriously considered moving to Sanda City. Thinking to myself how lucky the people of Sanda City, Hyogo must be, I stepped into the restaurant.
At the restaurant, I ordered the Wagomzen — a luxurious traditional Japanese set meal. One look at the photo and you can probably imagine how it tasted: absolutely exquisite. Pure happiness washed over me. At the table next to mine, an elderly couple was having beer with their lunch, clinking glasses and laughing, saying "This is the best." It was a genuinely heartwarming sight. Looking around further, I noticed that everyone dining there had clearly spent the morning enjoying the natural hot springs and sauna, just like me — and every single person had a blissful, satisfied look on their face as they savored their meal. The look of someone genuinely grateful to be alive. I was probably wearing the exact same expression.
Feeling deeply grateful for such a wonderful morning, I got back in the car and drove on toward my next destination.
