Gifu, Nagoya, Mie, and back to Nagoya again. Zigzagging across the map, I finally reached the last stop of my trip. After leaving Shinme no Yu, I returned to Nagoya feeling a touch of fatigue setting in. I ducked into a café, had a coffee, and knocked out some shopping. All that was left was the sauna. I counted up the facilities I'd visited on this trip: Shin-Gifu Sauna, Tennen Onsen Mitsumune, Yudokoro Minori, Shinme no Yu. Every single one had been outstanding. And one more remained. I've come to Nagoya many times, but I had never once stepped inside this long-established institution. I got in a taxi. "Sauna Fuji, please." After arriving and snapping a photo of the exterior, I noticed a hitsumabushi restaurant across the street. A Nagoya specialty, no less. That settled it — that's where I'd eat after the sauna. To cap off the final leg of the trip with a local Nagoya specialty felt almost too perfect. Sauna & Capsule Fuji opened in 1997 and underwent a major renovation in 2022. It's a venerable men's sauna in the Sakae district, with the facility extending four floors underground. There's something inherently appealing about a sauna buried beneath the earth — the excitement of slipping into a secret base. A man's romance, if you will. The relaxation lounge was vast, like a grand hall, and far more upscale than I'd expected. I took the stairs down to the fourth basement floor. The moment I stepped into the main bath area, the sight before me took my breath away. In the center of a space steeped in moody, dark lighting lay a massive pool stretching 20 meters in length. Beyond it, a towering rocky sculpture shaped like a waterfall poured a torrent of water into the pool with a thunderous roar. Along the poolside, rows of reclining chairs were lined up, with men fresh from the sauna draped across them in various states of blissful repose. Everyone looked to be in a state of supreme totonou. I've visited a fair number of facilities with pools, but none in my memory had built such a complete and immersive world. The lighting reflected off the surface of the water, the roar of the falls, the texture of the rock face — it all conspired to make you forget you were four floors underground. Just standing there taking it in, I was already beginning to feel fulfilled. There are three saunas. The main one, Otoko no Sauna (the Men's Sauna), is a large space with a capacity of 40, where a triple-stage auto löyly fires up every half hour. Komorebi Löyly is a tranquil room free of televisions. Nettai Steam is a low-temperature sauna kept at a milder heat. For the cold plunge baths, there's the 13°C Shinkai no Mizu (Deep Sea Water) and the 22°C Asase no Mizu (Shallow Water). The variety is more than satisfying. First set. I headed straight into Otoko no Sauna without a second thought. The interior had a modern feel, and shortly after I sat down, the triple-stage auto löyly kicked in. It goes on for a while. Three rounds of löyly at roughly two-minute intervals, with a fan blowing from the front. The TV switched to footage of a crackling fire, and the lights dimmed. Slowly, steadily, the heat crept through the sauna room. Sweat poured off me like a waterfall, and yet — strangely — it never became unbearable. You might call it the pleasure of being gradually cornered. The triple-stage mechanism is ingenious; the temperature rises in increments. Genuinely interesting. I sank into the 13°C Deep Sea Water, then made my way to the poolside. I took a seat near the waterfall. The roar filled my ears, and the occasional mist of spray brushed against my skin. The sense of openness was overwhelming — an expansiveness you'd never expect from being four floors underground. I had to fight the urge to let out a cry. And this was only the first set. When the last facility of a trip turns out to be a gem, the whole journey shines brighter. For the second set, I chose Komorebi Löyly. A television-free sauna room, with vihta hanging on the wall. In contrast to Otoko no Sauna, a quiet stillness filled the air. As it happened, no other guests were in there, so I stretched out on the top bench and let myself relax. The löyly steam is delivered through three vents in the ceiling, and true to the name Komorebi — dappled sunlight filtering through leaves — the heat drifts down from above. It was close to meditation. After the cold plunge, I returned to the poolside, closed my eyes, and listened to the waterfall. I could repeat this cycle forever. For the final set, I first gave Nettai Steam a try, but aside from the low temperature, the smell bothered me a little. Honestly, it wasn't to my taste. I exited after a short while, gathered myself, and headed back into Otoko no Sauna. A staff-led aufguss session happened to be underway, and the room was thick with glorious heat. A fitting way to close out the trip. One thing did catch my attention, though — a section of the sauna floor had cracked, leaving what amounted to a small pitfall that could easily injure someone who stepped on it unsuspectingly. Staff were already working on the repair, and someone from the front desk had also come down to check on it. I watched that scene out of the corner of my eye as I made a beeline for the cold plunge, and with that, the final set of the trip was done.

Gifu, Nagoya, Mie, and back to Nagoya again. Zigzagging across the map, I finally reached the last stop of my trip. After leaving Shinme no Yu, I returned to Nagoya feeling a touch of fatigue setting in. I ducked into a café, had a coffee, and knocked out some shopping. All that was left was the sauna. I counted up the facilities I'd visited on this trip: Shin-Gifu Sauna, Tennen Onsen Mitsumune, Yudokoro Minori, Shinme no Yu. Every single one had been outstanding. And one more remained. I've come to Nagoya many times, but I had never once stepped inside this long-established institution. I got in a taxi. "Sauna Fuji, please." After arriving and snapping a photo of the exterior, I noticed a hitsumabushi restaurant across the street. A Nagoya specialty, no less. That settled it — that's where I'd eat after the sauna. To cap off the final leg of the trip with a local Nagoya specialty felt almost too perfect. Sauna & Capsule Fuji opened in 1997 and underwent a major renovation in 2022. It's a venerable men's sauna in the Sakae district, with the facility extending four floors underground. There's something inherently appealing about a sauna buried beneath the earth — the excitement of slipping into a secret base. A man's romance, if you will. The relaxation lounge was vast, like a grand hall, and far more upscale than I'd expected. I took the stairs down to the fourth basement floor. The moment I stepped into the main bath area, the sight before me took my breath away. In the center of a space steeped in moody, dark lighting lay a massive pool stretching 20 meters in length. Beyond it, a towering rocky sculpture shaped like a waterfall poured a torrent of water into the pool with a thunderous roar. Along the poolside, rows of reclining chairs were lined up, with men fresh from the sauna draped across them in various states of blissful repose. Everyone looked to be in a state of supreme totonou. I've visited a fair number of facilities with pools, but none in my memory had built such a complete and immersive world. The lighting reflected off the surface of the water, the roar of the falls, the texture of the rock face — it all conspired to make you forget you were four floors underground. Just standing there taking it in, I was already beginning to feel fulfilled. There are three saunas. The main one, Otoko no Sauna (the Men's Sauna), is a large space with a capacity of 40, where a triple-stage auto löyly fires up every half hour. Komorebi Löyly is a tranquil room free of televisions. Nettai Steam is a low-temperature sauna kept at a milder heat. For the cold plunge baths, there's the 13°C Shinkai no Mizu (Deep Sea Water) and the 22°C Asase no Mizu (Shallow Water). The variety is more than satisfying. First set. I headed straight into Otoko no Sauna without a second thought. The interior had a modern feel, and shortly after I sat down, the triple-stage auto löyly kicked in. It goes on for a while. Three rounds of löyly at roughly two-minute intervals, with a fan blowing from the front. The TV switched to footage of a crackling fire, and the lights dimmed. Slowly, steadily, the heat crept through the sauna room. Sweat poured off me like a waterfall, and yet — strangely — it never became unbearable. You might call it the pleasure of being gradually cornered. The triple-stage mechanism is ingenious; the temperature rises in increments. Genuinely interesting. I sank into the 13°C Deep Sea Water, then made my way to the poolside. I took a seat near the waterfall. The roar filled my ears, and the occasional mist of spray brushed against my skin. The sense of openness was overwhelming — an expansiveness you'd never expect from being four floors underground. I had to fight the urge to let out a cry. And this was only the first set. When the last facility of a trip turns out to be a gem, the whole journey shines brighter. For the second set, I chose Komorebi Löyly. A television-free sauna room, with vihta hanging on the wall. In contrast to Otoko no Sauna, a quiet stillness filled the air. As it happened, no other guests were in there, so I stretched out on the top bench and let myself relax. The löyly steam is delivered through three vents in the ceiling, and true to the name Komorebi — dappled sunlight filtering through leaves — the heat drifts down from above. It was close to meditation. After the cold plunge, I returned to the poolside, closed my eyes, and listened to the waterfall. I could repeat this cycle forever. For the final set, I first gave Nettai Steam a try, but aside from the low temperature, the smell bothered me a little. Honestly, it wasn't to my taste. I exited after a short while, gathered myself, and headed back into Otoko no Sauna. A staff-led aufguss session happened to be underway, and the room was thick with glorious heat. A fitting way to close out the trip. One thing did catch my attention, though — a section of the sauna floor had cracked, leaving what amounted to a small pitfall that could easily injure someone who stepped on it unsuspectingly. Staff were already working on the repair, and someone from the front desk had also come down to check on it. I watched that scene out of the corner of my eye as I made a beeline for the cold plunge, and with that, the final set of the trip was done.