Day two of my Kanto sauna trip began. Today's plan was the same: sauna from morning till night. My morning destination was Yunoizumi Soka Health Center. Established in 1988, Soka Health Center is a famous facility in Saitama Prefecture that draws sauna enthusiasts from all over the country. It's also well known as a filming location for the drama Sadou.
I was making my way from Chiba Prefecture to visit this sacred ground. I boarded a train at Kita-Senju Station and headed for Soka Station. From there, I hopped on a local bus and got off at the nearest stop. Train, then bus — there's something about this kind of journey that stirs a sense of travel in me. Road trips are fine, but you can't really enjoy the scenery while driving, and there's no human element. When you're on a train or bus, you can take in the streetscape, watch the people around you — I've come to love this way of traveling.
I stepped inside right as the doors opened at 10 a.m. The atmosphere spoke of years of devoted patronage. The building itself had that unmistakable patina of history. When I glanced toward the reception desk, I saw a long line snaking back from it. Everyone seemed to have been eagerly waiting for the place to open. But just how far did this queue go? It stretched from the reception desk, through the merchandise corner, all the way back to the restaurant floor. And then further still — up the staircase to the second floor. I finally found the end of the line and claimed my spot. It looked like reception was going to take a while.
A brief aside: while more and more facilities these days have adopted automated check-in systems, Soka Health Center holds firm to the belief in service delivered by human hands — every step of reception is handled by a person. I once read in some magazine that this means things take more time, and that mismatched personalities can occasionally lead to an awkward experience, but that all of that is part of what service means. You can feel the warmth and care of the people providing it. Knowing that background, I didn't mind the long queue at all. Looking at the faces of everyone in line, I didn't see a single person who seemed irritated. If anything, they looked remarkably relaxed — shoulders loose, completely at ease, as if they were exactly where they belonged.
Lost in these musings, I suddenly found myself at the front of the queue. I handed over my shoe locker key, picked up my facility wear, changed in the locker room, and headed to the main bath area. First things first — I rinsed off and soaked in the outdoor Kusatsu no Yu. This is an artificial hot spring that recreates the real Kusatsu waters using a concentrated liquid bath agent derived from the active components of Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture. The scent of sulfurous spring water drifted through the air, and the water had an incredibly gentle feel against the skin. My body warmed up quickly. Warmed up and ready to go — time for the sauna.
The sauna room fits around 40 people and has two heat sources: a far-infrared heater and a stone sauna capable of löyly. The temperature runs high, and humidity is kept steady by a humidifier. The vibe has a distinctly Showa-era feel to it. Even right after opening, the room was nearly full. I crossed my legs on the wide bench in the same position the lead actor struck in the drama, and enjoyed my sauna session. Whenever I visit a filming location, imitating that actor's moves has become something of a ritual for me.
After the sauna, I slipped into the cold plunge bath — a generous supply of groundwater kept at 15°C. The jets stripped away the warm vapor layer clinging to my skin, making it feel even colder than 15°C. I cooled my body down thoroughly and settled into an outdoor chair. The groundwater gave my skin that crisp, tingling sensation unique to natural sources.
After a proper rest, I headed in for my second set. The sauna room was still packed. Thinking about it calmly, the number of guests must have been steadily growing. There was already a long line when I arrived, and plenty more people had been waiting behind me. If this kept up, wouldn't there eventually be a queue just to get into the sauna? That prediction turned out to be exactly right. When I went to leave after my second session, there were already about ten people lined up outside the sauna door. The room was at capacity, and it was one in, one out. Having to queue just to get into a sauna — I couldn't wrap my head around it. Maybe that's just the reality in a big city, but it was beyond my comprehension.
As I cooled down in the cold plunge, I made up my mind: two more sets and that would be it. I had no desire to stand in line for a sauna, and it was cold enough outside that waiting around might get me sick. The key to a great sauna and hot spring experience is being able to move smoothly through the whole flow. The moment you're stuck in a queue, your movement is restricted and that smooth rhythm is gone. You came here to relax, and instead you're just accumulating stress.
I would have loved one more set at such a legendary facility, but this was where my sauna session ended.
Choosing what to eat was a complete miscalculation. Driven by the urge to try something I'd never had before, I ordered the tomato sour soup noodles and the curry fried chicken. They looked like house specialties, and the photos made them look delicious. The verdict: both were extremely spicy. When your body is in full sweating mode after a sauna and you eat something that spicy, the perspiration just erupts out of you. My face, every pore on my body — all of it was pouring sweat.
That aside, when I looked around the large restaurant, everyone seemed genuinely happy. Groups of customers were full of smiles, radiating a kind of positive energy. Just watching them, even I — dining alone — felt a warmth spread through me. The sauna had been too crowded to really relax, but in terms of the overall atmosphere of the place, it had a wonderfully homey, welcoming feel. As I left Soka Health Center, I thought to myself: if I lived in Soka, I might come here every single day.
But the journey wasn't over yet. My next stop was, of course, another sauna. I was heading to a famous sauna facility that stands at the heart of Ikebukuro — one of Japan's premier entertainment districts. The place that every sauna enthusiast dreams of visiting at least once: Karumaru Ikebukuro.
