I love the thrill of opening a new door, but there is also something deeply moving about opening a familiar door once again. This week’s hot spring trip was a little different from the usual. Normally, I visit new facilities as part of my explorations, but this time I decided to revisit the hot spring facilities I used to go to often when I lived there long ago. My destination was Meito Takaranoyu. I have lost count of how many times I have been here. When I lived in Hyogo Prefecture 10 years ago, this was the place I thought was the finest of all. Takaranoyu is a renowned hot spring where you can enjoy the same spring water as Arima Onsen, one of Japan’s most celebrated hot spring areas. Golden hot spring water pours out endlessly, and simply soaking in it seems to cure ailments and improve your physical condition. That is the kind of powerful hot spring you can experience here. Even 10 years ago, whenever my body felt tired, I would always come here, soak in the bath, and let it heal me. Time passed, and this was my first visit in about 10 years. I parked my car with my heart full of anticipation. When I arrived at the facility, it seemed that the sauna and other areas had been renovated, but both the exterior and interior were unchanged. While many facilities now use automatic check-in systems, this one still used the same ticket-vending machine style as back then. It filled me with nostalgia, and a warm feeling slowly spread through my chest. And the superb hot spring was still flowing just as before. As I read the facility’s description, I learned that in the case of Arima, seawater from 70 million years ago has been erupting for 6 million years. The place where it erupts is precisely along the Arima-Takatsuki Tectonic Line, and the Takaranoyu source called Kogane-sen above it has nearly the same quality as Arima Onsen. This is a blessing of nature that took a span of time incomparable to our own lives. I feel a sense of awe toward hot springs. Unable to suppress my eagerness to soak in this miracle bath that gushes naturally from 800 m underground, I headed quickly to the bathing area. After changing, I entered the bath area. Nothing had changed. I had also loved the atmospheric open-air bath. It still has that same charm today. As for the sauna, it seems to have been renovated as well, and it had become a Finnish-style sauna with automatic löyly. It was a wonderful change, allowing me to sweat comfortably in a room kept at 80°C to 90°C. However, since I had come all the way here, the main event was to enter the famous hot spring in the open-air bath. First I cleansed myself, then headed to the open-air source bath. The golden hot spring water is rich in minerals, and you cannot see the bottom of the tub at all. To avoid bumping into other guests, it feels almost like groping your way through a pitch-black cave. The instant I sank into the famous bath, I was struck by the illusion that my body had become part of nature. It almost felt as if it were whispering, You belong here. All the tension left my body, and the fatigue stored in my cells seemed to drain away (or at least it felt that way. I go to saunas and hot springs so often that, honestly, I am not all that tired to begin with, haha). Just a few minutes of soaking and my body grew warmer and warmer, and my pulse began to quicken. Because the spring water is so mineral-rich, you can fully enjoy its benefits without staying in too long. When you soak in a good hot spring, your body gets warm enough that you can head straight to the cold plunge bath without even going into the sauna. This reminded me of a similar experience I had in Arima Onsen. Last year, when I visited Taikono Yu, one of Arima Onsen’s premier facilities, I went into the sauna only once and spent the rest of the time rotating between the hot springs and the cold plunge bath. I moved directly from the hot spring to the outdoor cold plunge bath and cooled my body down. The cold plunge bath was spacious and deep enough to snap my overheated body right back into shape. Then I settled into a chair in the open-air area. As I gazed at the atmospheric open-air bath, I saw airplanes passing overhead. I had not even entered the sauna, yet an even greater sense of bliss seemed to wash over me. That is the power of hot springs. For sauna enthusiasts, the sauna → cold plunge bath → rest cycle is something that must always be carried out, but I also carry the title of hot spring enthusiast (self-proclaimed), so I have created my own hot spring → cold plunge bath → rest cycle as well. And at places worthy of being called famous hot springs, my approach is to prioritize the hot spring over the sauna. So for the second set, I again skipped the sauna and soaked once more in the golden hot spring water. Then I warmed my body and went to the cold plunge bath. I repeated this four times in complete emptiness of mind. Sauna enthusiasts may be angry with me, but at Takaranoyu, I did not enter the sauna even once. That is how incredible the hot spring was. It was a time to revisit after 10 years, feel nostalgic, and rediscover just how amazing the hot spring truly is.

I love the thrill of opening a new door, but there is also something deeply moving about opening a familiar door once again. This week’s hot spring trip was a little different from the usual. Normally, I visit new facilities as part of my explorations, but this time I decided to revisit the hot spring facilities I used to go to often when I lived there long ago. My destination was Meito Takaranoyu. I have lost count of how many times I have been here. When I lived in Hyogo Prefecture 10 years ago, this was the place I thought was the finest of all. Takaranoyu is a renowned hot spring where you can enjoy the same spring water as Arima Onsen, one of Japan’s most celebrated hot spring areas. Golden hot spring water pours out endlessly, and simply soaking in it seems to cure ailments and improve your physical condition. That is the kind of powerful hot spring you can experience here. Even 10 years ago, whenever my body felt tired, I would always come here, soak in the bath, and let it heal me. Time passed, and this was my first visit in about 10 years. I parked my car with my heart full of anticipation. When I arrived at the facility, it seemed that the sauna and other areas had been renovated, but both the exterior and interior were unchanged. While many facilities now use automatic check-in systems, this one still used the same ticket-vending machine style as back then. It filled me with nostalgia, and a warm feeling slowly spread through my chest. And the superb hot spring was still flowing just as before. As I read the facility’s description, I learned that in the case of Arima, seawater from 70 million years ago has been erupting for 6 million years. The place where it erupts is precisely along the Arima-Takatsuki Tectonic Line, and the Takaranoyu source called Kogane-sen above it has nearly the same quality as Arima Onsen. This is a blessing of nature that took a span of time incomparable to our own lives. I feel a sense of awe toward hot springs. Unable to suppress my eagerness to soak in this miracle bath that gushes naturally from 800 m underground, I headed quickly to the bathing area. After changing, I entered the bath area. Nothing had changed. I had also loved the atmospheric open-air bath. It still has that same charm today. As for the sauna, it seems to have been renovated as well, and it had become a Finnish-style sauna with automatic löyly. It was a wonderful change, allowing me to sweat comfortably in a room kept at 80°C to 90°C. However, since I had come all the way here, the main event was to enter the famous hot spring in the open-air bath. First I cleansed myself, then headed to the open-air source bath. The golden hot spring water is rich in minerals, and you cannot see the bottom of the tub at all. To avoid bumping into other guests, it feels almost like groping your way through a pitch-black cave. The instant I sank into the famous bath, I was struck by the illusion that my body had become part of nature. It almost felt as if it were whispering, You belong here. All the tension left my body, and the fatigue stored in my cells seemed to drain away (or at least it felt that way. I go to saunas and hot springs so often that, honestly, I am not all that tired to begin with, haha). Just a few minutes of soaking and my body grew warmer and warmer, and my pulse began to quicken. Because the spring water is so mineral-rich, you can fully enjoy its benefits without staying in too long. When you soak in a good hot spring, your body gets warm enough that you can head straight to the cold plunge bath without even going into the sauna. This reminded me of a similar experience I had in Arima Onsen. Last year, when I visited Taikono Yu, one of Arima Onsen’s premier facilities, I went into the sauna only once and spent the rest of the time rotating between the hot springs and the cold plunge bath. I moved directly from the hot spring to the outdoor cold plunge bath and cooled my body down. The cold plunge bath was spacious and deep enough to snap my overheated body right back into shape. Then I settled into a chair in the open-air area. As I gazed at the atmospheric open-air bath, I saw airplanes passing overhead. I had not even entered the sauna, yet an even greater sense of bliss seemed to wash over me. That is the power of hot springs. For sauna enthusiasts, the sauna → cold plunge bath → rest cycle is something that must always be carried out, but I also carry the title of hot spring enthusiast (self-proclaimed), so I have created my own hot spring → cold plunge bath → rest cycle as well. And at places worthy of being called famous hot springs, my approach is to prioritize the hot spring over the sauna. So for the second set, I again skipped the sauna and soaked once more in the golden hot spring water. Then I warmed my body and went to the cold plunge bath. I repeated this four times in complete emptiness of mind. Sauna enthusiasts may be angry with me, but at Takaranoyu, I did not enter the sauna even once. That is how incredible the hot spring was. It was a time to revisit after 10 years, feel nostalgic, and rediscover just how amazing the hot spring truly is.