Immerse yourself slowly in the natural hot spring, sweat in the sauna, cool your body in the cold plunge bath, and enjoy a supreme relaxation time on the outdoor air bath chair. Repeating this cycle makes everyday worries and past unpleasant experiences seem trivial. By the time you leave the facility, you've completely forgotten them. What remains is an incredibly pleasant sensation and a positive mindset. Visiting the sauna daily allows you to experience this feeling every day. People often ask, "Don't you get bored going to the sauna every day?" or "Is it okay financially to travel every week?" but it's none of their business. I do it because it's fine. Moreover, I don't think about the sauna from a financial perspective. As mentioned above, the sauna has the power to transform a negative life into a positive one. In Japan, you can experience this wonderful feeling at a super sento for about 1000 yen, so going every day is quite affordable. No matter what anyone says, I intend to continue going to the sauna every day. Now, the sauna journey begins again this week. On Saturday morning, after waking up feeling great, I completed my usual morning walk and breakfast before getting into the car. I drove through Awaji Island under the morning sun and headed to my destination, Sanda City. In my preliminary research, I focused on two facilities in Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture. The first is the "Sanda Natural Hot Spring Kotobuki-no-Yu" where I am heading now. The other is a facility called "Natural Spring Bath Gintou Touji Shuraku." Both facilities offer high-quality natural hot springs, and the quality of the saunas, cold plunge baths, and open-air baths is also high. I arrived at "Sanda Natural Hot Spring Kotobuki-no-Yu" around 11 a.m. After checking in, I headed to the large bath. Walking down the long corridor, I found the men's locker room at the end. The locker room was very spacious, a characteristic of a good facility. In facilities with narrow lockers, you end up in close contact with other users, which can be stressful. Touching skin with another man feels uncomfortable and brings no joy. With spacious lockers, there is no such concern, making it comfortable. The large bath was as spacious as the locker room. It was so wide that there was extra space. Perhaps because it was morning, there seemed to be few users. First, I cleansed myself and warmed up in the indoor jet bath. The bathtub was made of wood, like a cypress bath. The water constantly overflowed, and the water quality was very clear. At this point, I thought it was quite a good facility. After warming up in the indoor bath, I moved to the open-air bath. The open-air area was also spaciously designed, featuring a large stone bath with natural hot spring water, multiple single-person pot baths (also with natural hot spring water), a high-concentration carbonated spring, a barrel sauna, and a cold plunge bath, all laid out perfectly. Since I planned to fully enjoy the sauna later, I leisurely soaked in the natural hot spring stone bath. The reddish-brown natural hot spring water was used luxuriously, and the soft hot spring water gently enveloped my body. I scooped the water with my hand and applied it to my face. Being a saline spring, I could taste the saltiness. Saline springs are said to have excellent heat retention, making it hard to catch a chill. Additionally, due to the antibacterial properties of salt, they are effective for cuts, burns, and chronic skin diseases, earning the nickname "healing spring." The chilly autumn breeze made the hot spring bath even more enjoyable. The sense of security when entering warm hot spring water in a cold open-air bath is indescribable. After enjoying the natural hot spring for a while, I finally decided to enter the sauna. "Sanda Natural Hot Spring Kotobuki-no-Yu" has three saunas. The first is the indoor dry sauna, a stone-type sauna where you can watch TV while inside. The second is the salt sauna, a rocky sauna where löyly is performed. The third is the barrel sauna in the open-air area. There is one cold plunge bath each in the indoor and open-air baths. It's rare to find a super sento with such a well-equipped sauna and cold plunge bath. It's clear that they are particular about not only the natural hot spring but also the sauna. I enjoyed the sauna bath in the order of dry sauna → barrel sauna → salt sauna. In the dry sauna, I sweated thoroughly while watching TV. Since there were no other users besides myself, I used the space luxuriously and did stretches while enjoying the sauna bath. As a new initiative I started recently, I do stretches in the sauna when there are few people. It allows for more efficient sweating, and the body becomes more flexible when warmed up. I took inspiration from someone doing it at a local sauna. The second set was the barrel sauna. It could accommodate about 6 to 8 people and allowed for self-löyly. The space was small, so the steam from the sauna stones circulated quickly, creating a high-humidity environment where I sweated profusely. The barrel sauna was popular, and it was almost full. This situation was not very favorable for me. I prefer to enjoy the sauna bath in a space with room to spare. Unfortunately, the person sitting next to me was so close that it seemed like they were about to touch me, and they repeatedly made noise by splashing sweat and constantly exhaled smelly breaths, showing poor manners. The barrel sauna itself was excellent, but the second set was unsatisfactory. The third set concluded with the salt sauna. This set was the best. The temperature setting of 60°C was gentle on the body, allowing me to sweat slowly over time. Partway through, I applied salt to my body, absorbing minerals through the skin. Blood circulation improved, and my pulse gradually increased. Even at 60°C, staying in for a long time warmed the body considerably. After sweating, I headed straight to the cold plunge bath. The cold plunge bath at "Sanda Natural Hot Spring Kotobuki-no-Yu" was also excellent. The indoor cold plunge bath was a continuous flow type with water constantly overflowing, giving it a clean feel, and the water temperature was around 16°C, an ideal temperature. It was also spacious enough to stretch out and relax in the cold plunge bath. The other outdoor cold plunge bath was quite cold, probably set at around 11°C. It was deep, allowing for rapid cooling of the body heated in the sauna. Providing multiple cold plunge baths with different temperatures is a testament to a facility that is particular about its sauna.

After enjoying the natural hot spring and sauna from the morning, I left the large bath feeling fantastic. As I walked down the corridor to the restaurant for a meal, a flyer caught my eye. It stated, "Become a member of the fitness gym and use the large bath for free." What a surprise. To be able to use a hot spring facility of this quality at the monthly membership price of a fitness gym is astonishing. I seriously considered moving to Sanda City for a moment. Thinking, "People living in Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture, must be happy," I entered the restaurant. In the restaurant, I ordered the "Japanese Set Meal," which allows you to indulge in Japanese cuisine luxuriously. As you can imagine from the appearance in the photo, the taste was also exquisite. I was enveloped in a feeling of utmost happiness. An elderly couple at the table next to me was drinking beer from noon. They toasted each other and laughed, saying, "This is the best." It was quite heartwarming. Looking around further, I noticed that people who had enjoyed the natural hot spring and sauna from the morning, like myself, were eating, all with happy expressions, savoring their meals. Their faces reflected the joy of being human. I probably had a similar expression. Grateful for having spent the best time since morning, I drove to the next destination.