At night, Hakata's streets carry the scent of desire, but in the morning they are completely quiet. The whole neighborhood seems asleep. I was walking through that morning Hakata on my way to the morning sauna venue, Sauna Yogan Fukuoka Tenjin. Sauna Yogan Fukuoka Tenjin is located on the 9th floor of Heiwadai Hotel Tenjin, which also functions as a business hotel. There are two saunas, a public sauna and a private sauna; the public sauna is men-only, while the private sauna is reservation-only and can be used regardless of gender. I arrived right when it opened at 7:30 AM. While changing I noticed the lockers are small. There weren't many people so it wasn't a problem, but it would feel cramped if three people tried to use the same locker at once. From there I moved to the large bathing area with the saunas to check the layout and flow to the sauna, cold plunge bath, and rest space. Making a quick map of where things are is very important to enjoying a sauna, because getting lost while bathing ruins the experience. I rinsed off in the shower booth and entered the sauna. Because Sauna Yogan Fukuoka Tenjin specializes in saunas, there is no warm bath like in a typical sento. That means you enter the sauna without warming your body in hot water. There are two types of saunas available: 1. Yogan The room temperature is nearly 100°C. The walls are made of lava stone with high heat retention, and two stoves — a far-infrared stove and a Finnish sauna stove — deliver powerful heat. 2. Yakyo A sauna focused on sound using high-end speakers. Self-loyly is possible. I decided to enter Yakyo first. It's a compact sauna that fits about five people. Since it was early morning I had it to myself. I increased the humidity with a self-loyly. The room was around 85°C, just right for the first session of the day. There was no TV, so concentrating on the sound from the high-end speakers helped me work up a good sweat. I felt like every cell in my body was waking up. After the sauna I went into the cold plunge bath. The water temperature was 9°C and extremely cold. Jumping into a 9°C plunge first thing in the morning is quite intense, but I braced myself and entered. I could only manage about 10 seconds. I should note a concern about the cold plunge: the handrail intended to help you enter the bath is not connected to the tub and is mounted unstably, which is very dangerous. When I grabbed the handrail to step into the cold plunge and put my weight on it, I nearly tipped backward. The same instability applies when exiting the bath; the handrail wobbles as you descend the steps and could cause someone to fall. I rested in the rest area for a while, then did a second set in Yogan. This sauna can hold about 15 people and is extremely hot. The heat convection and humidity control are excellent. It seems a steam generator keeps the humidity consistently high. With lava stone used on the walls and other careful material choices, the space feels very thoughtfully constructed. The sauna room is comfortable, with benches where you can stretch your legs, so there are various ways to enjoy a single sauna room. There is no TV here either. In the quiet space you can fully feel the heat and face yourself, which makes this a favorite sauna of mine. I returned to the 9°C cold plunge. Taking a sub-single-digit plunge in the morning jolts you fully awake. Feeling completely refreshed, I ended my morning sauna session.

Today I planned to visit three facilities — morning, noon, and night — and I was about to head to the venue for the midday sauna. That venue is in Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture. They luxuriously use natural water that wells up from the earth, and it is one of the top super sento facilities in Fukuoka. The name of the facility is Ito Bathhouse (Ito no Yudokoro).