When I was a child, I went on a family trip. We visited temples in Kyoto, ate kushikatsu at Tsutenkaku in Osaka, and stayed at a nearby hotel. That hotel was a resort hotel with a huge pool and hot springs. I played in the pool with my father and also enjoyed the large bathhouse with hot springs from around the world. I remember it as a very fun trip. In fact, this memory was from SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT. It's quite emotional to revisit this memorable place on a sauna trip. I arrived at Shin-Imamiya Station using the Osaka Loop Line from Tsuruhashi Station, where I was staying. From there, it's just a few minutes' walk to SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT. From near the facility's entrance, you can get a panoramic view of the main street of Osaka's famous Tsutenkaku. I remember eating kushikatsu here as a child. With those memories, I entered the facility. While waiting for my turn at the automatic check-in, two women came in after me. They seemed to have arranged to meet, as Woman A said, "Let's go!" and Woman B replied, "Let's go, let's go! You know, I'm about to explode!" Woman A asked, "What's wrong?" Woman B continued with an angry rant about her husband, "He's really done. He cares more about his mom than me. He doesn't even look at me. Whenever something happens, he listens to his mom's opinion. No matter what I say, what his mom says is absolute. The other day, our child caught a cold..." She concluded with, "That's why I want to feel refreshed today! Ah, I want to feel empty!" I think it's a great choice for refreshment. When something unpleasant happens, thinking about it doesn't help. Repeating sauna and cold plunge baths is the best solution. This woman seems to understand that. As I was musing about how life has its ups and downs, my turn came. I completed the automatic check-in process and went inside. It was time to part ways with the women. The large bathhouse at SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT has different floors available each month. There are two floors, "Europe" and "Asia," and this month (January 2026), men can use the Europe zone. This means I can experience the theater sauna in the German area, which can accommodate 140 people. I undressed in the locker room and entered the large bathhouse, feeling a sense of familiarity. I saw a bath modeled after a Roman temple. I think I went in there with my father as a child. As I walked further, I found areas themed after various countries' bathhouses, such as the German area and the Finnish area. Honestly, I was surprised by the scale. You probably won't find a bathhouse this large anywhere else in Japan. I moved to the German area, where the theater sauna is located, and entered the sauna immediately. For a moment, I thought I had entered a concert hall. However, the heat brought me back to reality. This is a sauna. It's that spacious. It's by far the largest sauna I've ever been in. I had heard it could accommodate 140 people, but it was beyond my imagination. Despite being a large sauna, the heat circulation is excellent. You can feel significant heat no matter where you sit. I've been in saunas that can accommodate around 100 people before, but due to their size, the heat didn't reach the entire room, leaving me feeling unsatisfied. However, SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT is different. It's quite hot. The vastness means there's no feeling of confinement in the sauna room. You can sit with plenty of space and relax in any position you like. After thoroughly warming my body, it was time for the cold plunge bath. I was shocked by the scale of the cold plunge baths as well. First, upon exiting the theater sauna and opening the door in front of me, I found three types of cold plunge baths in the open-air area. The temperatures are 8°C, 15°C, and 20°C. Each has sufficient depth and width, and at a glance, they could accommodate about 30 people. I jumped into the 15°C cold plunge bath, cooling myself from head to toe. After the cold plunge bath, it's time for an outdoor air bath. The open-air area is equipped with plenty of chairs, ensuring no one gets lost even if there are many guests. In addition to chairs, there are beds where you can lie down. The outdoor air bath space is also one of the largest in Japan. For the second round, I headed to the Finnish area. The space, themed after a Finnish forest, is unified with dim lighting, featuring log cabins and birch trees, with a pleasant aroma in the air. The sauna room, consisting of two units with far-infrared heaters and stone types, enveloped me in gentle heat. While the theater sauna had powerful heat, this one felt gentle. There are various types of saunas, and being able to choose the space you like is unique to a facility of this scale. I warmed my body thoroughly. The Finnish area also had its own dedicated cold plunge bath. Set at 16°C, it was as large as a pool. Since there were no other users, I floated in the water, spreading my arms and legs, imagining floating in a Finnish lake. After leaving the cold plunge bath, I moved to the rest area. However, there were no chairs; it was a space to lie down on the ground. This felt great too. Instead of sitting in a chair, I chose to lie down. This wild act deepens the memory of the sauna experience. Personally, I liked the theater sauna, so for the third and fourth rounds, I heated my body in the theater sauna, repeating the loop of cold plunge bath and outdoor air bath. It combined overwhelming openness, spaciousness, and comfort, allowing me to relax greatly. Since it's a place of childhood memories, I fell in love with SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT. I'm really glad I came.

After the sauna, I ordered katsu curry at the facility's restaurant. Curry after a sauna permeates the body. As I savored the deliciousness, I thought about my plans. Since I have tomorrow off, I could stay another night and continue the sauna trip, but how the trip ends is important. As the peak-end rule suggests, it's important to end the trip at its peak. Honestly, I don't think I can have an experience that surpasses SPAWORLD HOTEL&RESORT on this trip. The moment when childhood memories and today's best memories linked is now. My body is in perfect condition. Undoubtedly, now is the peak of the trip. If that's the case, ending the trip at this moment and going home seems like the best choice. I took the train back to Tsuruhashi Station and got into the car parked there. Grateful for the best memories, I drove towards my home in Tokushima. This concludes this sauna trip. I wonder what kind of facility I'll visit next.