The Nagoya sauna trip had finally reached its last destination. It was bittersweet, but all I could do was give this final spot everything I had. My warm-up was already done — I'd stopped by Canal Resort before coming here and knocked out one set.
I arrived around noon, and the parking lot was packed. The fact that a place draws this kind of crowd before noon only cranked up my expectations. I checked in and took a stroll around the facility. The first floor is mostly restaurant space, the second floor houses the large communal baths, and the third floor has a rock sauna and a lounge with reclining chairs. The place is huge — it could easily accommodate a massive crowd. The rock sauna seemed especially popular, buzzing with activity, mostly women.
I stripped down at my locker and stepped through the entrance to the main bath area. The first thing that hit me was a neon sign that read "Zero-Second Sauna Room." This is the signature sauna of Yunoya Natural Hot Spring Yukichiro. I'd save that for later. The indoor bath area centers around a tub mixing natural hot spring water with carbonated spring water, plus a sauna. I noticed there was no cold plunge bath indoors, but I'd find out why soon enough. Moving to the outdoor area, the layout featured a rock bath using natural hot spring water, a mist sauna running on the same spring water, and a cold plunge filled with source water — a setup that made lavish use of the abundant hot spring water bubbling up from below. The outdoor relaxation space was well-equipped too, and plenty of people were already zoned out in the middle of the day. I planned to join their ranks in a few minutes.
After rinsing off, I headed into the main attraction: the Zero-Second Sauna Room. The moment I stepped inside, I burst out laughing. There were two cold plunge baths right inside the sauna room. The temperatures — 15°C and 20°C — were ideal, and it was natural spring water at that. So you could cool your body down on the spot right after heating it up. It's the same concept as the forest sauna at Wellbe Imaike.
The sauna room itself was enormous — easily enough room for 40 people. The heating setup was a dual configuration with far-infrared heaters and a stone stove, and there was regular automatic löyly. The humidity was high, which made it very comfortable. After warming up for a while, it was time to get into the cold plunge. And yes, the cold plunge is inside the sauna room. I rinsed off the sweat right there and sank into the natural spring water. It felt good — genuinely good — but honestly, a cold plunge is best when it's outside the sauna room. My body from the neck down was getting cold while my head stayed hot. It's a novel experience, but it lacks that exhilarating rush. The heat on my head was distracting and made it hard to fully relax. Given how nice the natural spring cold plunge was, that was a bit of a shame.
I moved to the outdoor relaxation area and rested for a while. For the second set, I went into the mist sauna. The mist at Yunoya Natural Hot Spring Yukichiro uses actual natural hot spring water. I was blasted with intense steam in a sauna room filled with the scent of the hot spring. I was thoroughly cooked in no time and quickly felt my limits approaching. I stepped out of the mist sauna and slipped into the cold plunge right outside. This one appeared to be natural hot spring water that had been chilled. The feel on the skin wasn't bad, but the chlorine smell was pretty strong — strong enough to make you forget you were soaking in a gift from nature.
As I lounged in the outdoor air, I looked back on this sauna trip. It started with a pre-trip eve outing, hit an unexpected massive traffic jam along the way, but I made it to every facility I'd planned to visit. That said, it looks like I'll be coming back to Nagoya. There were places I had on my radar that I didn't get to this time around:
- Natural Hot Spring Urban Cua SPA & LIVING
- Sauna & Capsule Fujisaka
- Apeze
- KIWAMI SAUNA
Those four I'll save for the next trip. I'm already thinking about planning something that tops this one.
I had a meal at the restaurant in the facility, then bid farewell to Yunoya Natural Hot Spring Yukichiro. It would be a long journey home — Nagoya to Mie to Shiga to Kyoto to Osaka to Hyogo to Tokushima — so I planned to soak in the memories of this trip while letting my imagination run wild about the next one. Three nights, four days, seven facilities total. The Nagoya sauna trip is officially a wrap. Thank you, Nagoya.
