It was a place like an oasis. If I were told, just before I died, that I could visit one last hot spring, I'd want to sink into the open-air bath here and simply drift away.
About an hour and a half by car from Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, I arrived in Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture. It was my first time in Miki City. Had I not been doing sauna travel, I probably would have gone my entire life without ever setting foot here. Since I had time to kill before evening, I ducked into a nearby café to get some work done. Strangely enough, when I'm traveling for saunas, my writing flows better and ideas come more easily. When you're stuck looking at the same scenery at home every day, your productivity just keeps sinking. Maybe weekend sauna trips are a way of sharpening your performance as a human being.
After about two hours of work, I set off for my destination. Tonight's visit: Noten Spa Jikkai-no-Yu. It's a facility featured in a book called LAST PARADISE: Japanese Saunas to Visit Before You Die, written by Shigeo Takahashi, a comedian well known for his love of saunas. Ever since I read that book, I'd been desperate to come here. And finally, I made it.
I arrived at the facility, passed through an entrance with the feel of a traditional hot spring inn, and checked in. The interior is vast — wander without paying attention and you'd easily get lost. I stepped into the large communal bath on the second floor. The locker room was spacious and spotlessly clean. I slowly undressed and entered the bathing area. It consists of an indoor bath and an outdoor hot spring, with the outdoor section being the clear centerpiece.
First, I rinsed off and warmed up in the indoor carbonated spring. Then I moved to the outdoor area — and was struck speechless by its sheer scale. In all my years, I have never seen an open-air bath this large. It looked big enough for a hundred people with room to spare. Built from natural rock, the atmosphere was exceptional. Natural hot spring water flows endlessly into that vast expanse. The word oasis felt perfectly fitting.
As I slowly sank into the natural hot spring, every ounce of tension drained from my body without any effort on my part. It was as if a gentle voice was whispering in my ear: You worked hard today. Now rest. My small body floated alone in that immense open-air bath. Wrapped in an overwhelming sense of freedom, I found myself reaching totonou just from soaking in the hot spring. Just as I wrote at the beginning — I found myself thinking, I want to come back here one last time, right before I die.
The outdoor area of Noten Spa Jikkai-no-Yu is built on two levels. On the first floor there is a huge open-air bath and a salt sauna; on the second floor you'll find a dry sauna, a cold plunge bath, an outdoor relaxation space with a bonfire, natural hot spring tub baths, and a rock bath.
I headed up to the second floor and decided to start with the dry sauna to work up a sweat. Inside the sauna room, an iki stove made by Sawo sat commanding at the center, and the room was large enough to hold over thirty people. The temperature was around 90°C, and the gentle heat radiating from the iki stove wrapped around me. I was lucky enough to have the whole room to myself, so I decided to lie down and enjoy the sauna that way. Even if someone else had come in, with a room this big it wouldn't have mattered at all. I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of the wood, and let myself slowly feel the heat. Lying down allows the heat to reach your body evenly, which naturally deepens relaxation and lets you stay longer. It's a completely different experience from sitting up in a sauna.
After warming up thoroughly in the dry sauna, I moved on to the cold plunge bath. It too was enormous — big enough for around twenty people, and quite deep. The water temperature was around 13°C. I plunged in up to my head and let the cold wash over my entire body. With a cold plunge bath this large, there's no waiting around for a spot. Everything here operates on a grand scale.
After the cold plunge, I moved to the outdoor relaxation area with the bonfire. The bonfire is the key element here — you get to enjoy the open air while sitting beside a real fire. It was autumn, and the air carried a slight chill. Adding a bonfire to that experience feels almost unfair. The warmth of the flames, the scent of smoke, the cool outside air, the sounds of nature — all of it stimulates something primordial in us. There are no smartphones, no computers, no television here. It's a place where you can simply focus on being alive.
Gazing into the fire, I felt a quiet happiness. Once again, I had found a truly wonderful place.
Every time I travel for saunas, I'm moved in a new way. Every single time, I think: this is the best facility I've ever visited in my entire life. Even when I think nothing could possibly top it, traveling around Japan reveals that remarkable places are everywhere, and I always seem to be setting a new personal record for the best experience of my life. But there is no hierarchy between these places. The many facilities born from Japan's hot spring culture each carry their own original character. What kind of wonder is waiting for me next? With that thought in my mind, I brought this day's sauna journey to a close.
After the sauna, it was time for a post-sauna meal. I ordered a steak rice bowl at the restaurant inside the facility. Since this was the last stop of this week's sauna trip, I decided to splurge a little on some meat. The steak, cooked to a perfect doneness, replenished my body with energy and spirit after the journey. Not a trace of fatigue remained. If anything, I felt charged up — ready to give everything I have again starting tomorrow.
Give everything to work on weekdays, then head out on a sauna trip somewhere I've never been on weekends. I think there's a certain happiness in filling your life with the feeling of being alive, accumulating experiences, and dying with as many memories as possible. When it comes down to it, the most important thing in life is how many memories you can gather.
With those thoughts in mind, I left Noten Spa Jikkai-no-Yu and pointed my car toward home.
