I woke up to the second morning of my Kanto sauna journey. Today, I plan to enjoy saunas from morning till night. My destination for the morning is Yunoizumi Soka Health Center. Opened in 1988, Soka Health Center is a famous facility in Saitama Prefecture, attracting sauna enthusiasts from all over the country. It is also known for being a filming location for the drama 'Sa-do'. I was traveling from Chiba Prefecture to visit this sacred place. I took a train at Kita-Senju Station, aiming for Soka Station. After arriving at the station, I boarded a local bus and got off at the nearest bus stop. Transferring between trains and buses adds a sense of travel. Traveling by car is nice, but it's hard to enjoy the scenery while driving, and there's no interaction with people. Riding trains and buses allows me to enjoy the cityscape and observe people, which is why I like this style. I entered the facility right at the opening time of 10 AM. The atmosphere of being loved for many years permeates the place. The building's design also feels somewhat historical. Looking towards the reception, there was a long line. Everyone seemed to be eagerly waiting for the opening. But how far does this line go? It stretched from the reception, through the goods shop, to the restaurant floor in the back. It continued further, reaching the stairs to the second floor. Finally, I managed to find the end of the line. It seemed like it would take a long time to get through the reception. As a side note, in recent times, more facilities have adopted automated check-in systems, but Soka Health Center values 'human service,' so everything at the reception is handled by people. This can take more time and sometimes lead to unpleasant experiences depending on personal interactions, but I read in a magazine that this is all part of the service. You can feel the love from the service providers, and knowing this background, the long line doesn't bother me. Looking at the expressions of those in line, no one seems irritated. Rather, they seem quite relaxed, as if this is their place, with their shoulders nicely relaxed. While I was lost in such thoughts, my turn at the reception came before I knew it. I handed over my shoe locker key and received my indoor wear. After changing in the locker room, I headed to the large bath. First, I cleansed myself and soaked in the outdoor 'Kusatsu no Yu.' This is an artificial hot spring that uses liquid bath additives concentrated with the active ingredients of Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, recreating the authentic Kusatsu bath. The sulfuric hot spring aroma fills the air, enveloping me in a soft texture. My body warms up quickly. With the warm-up complete, it's time to enter the sauna. The sauna room can accommodate about 40 people, with two setups: a far-infrared heater and a stone sauna capable of löyly. The temperature is high, and the humidity is kept constant by a humidifier. The atmosphere carries a Showa era scent. Despite being right after opening, the sauna room is almost full. I sit cross-legged on the wide seating area, enjoying the sauna bath in the same posture as the lead actor in the drama. When visiting a drama filming location, it's customary to mimic the actor's moves. After leaving the sauna, I enter the 15°C cold plunge bath, which uses underground water luxuriously. The use of a vibra makes it feel colder than 15°C as the water film is stripped away. I thoroughly cool my body in the cold bath and sit on the chair for an outdoor air bath. The unique refreshing sensation of the underground water makes my skin tingle. After resting my body on the chair for a while, I enter the sauna for the second set. The sauna room is still full. Thinking calmly, the number of customers must be increasing. There was already a long line when I entered, and many people were waiting behind me. If more people come, a queue to enter the sauna might form. My prediction was correct. As I tried to leave the sauna room after the second set, there was already a line of about 10 people outside. The sauna room was full, and one person entered each time one person left. Lining up to enter a sauna is incomprehensible. It might be normal in the city, but it's unimaginable in my common sense. While cooling my body in the cold bath, I decided to finish after just two sets. I don't want to line up to enter a sauna, and it's cold outside, so I might catch a cold while waiting. The important thing for a pleasant experience in a sauna or hot spring is to move smoothly along a smooth flow. Lining up to enter a sauna restricts movement and loses smoothness. In such a state, stress accumulates even though I came to relax. Although it's a famous facility and I wanted to enjoy one more set, I decided to end my sauna activities here.

Choosing the meal was a complete failure. Driven by the impulse to try something I've never eaten before, I ordered Tomato Sanratanmen and Curry Fried Chicken. They seemed to be specialties, and the photos looked delicious. In conclusion, both were extremely spicy. Eating spicy food while the sweating effect from the sauna is explosively enhanced causes a lot of sweat to gush out. Sweat was pouring from every pore on my face and body. Putting that aside, looking around the spacious restaurant, everyone seems genuinely happy. Group guests are also filled with smiles and surrounded by a positive aura. Seeing such scenes makes even a lone guest like me feel enriched. Although the sauna was crowded and not very relaxing, in terms of the overall comfort of the facility, it feels very homey and nice. If I lived in Soka City, I might come here every day, I thought as I left Soka Health Center. The journey is not over yet. The next destination is, of course, a sauna. Heading to a famous sauna facility towering in the center of one of Japan's busiest districts, Ikebukuro. The facility that every sauna enthusiast wants to visit at least once is 'Karu Maru Ikebukuro.'