Question 1

Where can you do “gaikiyoku” (outdoor rest) at a sauna?

Accepted Answer

On rooftops, in outdoor spaces with plants, in semi-outdoor lounges and so on. Even in the city centre, saunas create outdoor rest areas from rooftops, storerooms and former car parks.

Question 2

What is the difference between a solo private sauna and a sauna you book for a group?

Accepted Answer

A solo private sauna is a room for one person with everything from changing to resting inside it. A booked private sauna is one you reserve for a set time and use only with your companions. Neither has a queue.

Question 3

How have the saunas at sentō bathhouses changed through renovation?

Accepted Answer

Some sentō have enlarged their sauna rooms and added places to rest. Kairyoyu turned a storeroom under the stairs into an outdoor rest area, and Bunka Yokusen turned a car park into a semi-outdoor lounge.

Question 4

What is the difference between löyly and auto löyly?

Accepted Answer

Löyly is pouring water on the stones of the sauna stove to make steam. When a machine pours it automatically it is auto löyly; when you pour it yourself it is self-löyly.

Question 5

What kinds of cold bath are there?

Accepted Answer

There are deep cold baths, single tubs, cold baths of well water and more. Some places cool you down in a very cold room instead of a cold bath.

Question 6

Are there saunas where you can work before or after?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Some sauna facilities have workspaces, meeting rooms, a library or desks.

Question 7

Are there saunas open late at night?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Corridor no Yu is open from 11:00 to 9:00 the next morning, Shibuya SAUNAS from 8:00 to 24:00, and Sauna Ohashi Kaikan from 10:00 to 23:00.

Question 8

Which saunas have good facilities for women?

Accepted Answer

Some have a women-only floor or a steam sauna. TOTOPA has a steam bath on its women-only floor, and the women's bath at Corridor no Yu has a steam sauna.

Question 9

What is “kelo” wood in a sauna?

Accepted Answer

It is a wood favoured in Finland as a sauna material. Some facilities have finished sauna rooms and huts with kelo imported as whole logs or with old kelo wood.

Question 10

How are Aufguss and “neppa” (heat waves) different from löyly?

Accepted Answer

Löyly is pouring water on hot stones to make steam. Aufguss or neppa is a session in which staff fan that heat towards you, and many places hold it at set times.

Question 11

How cold are the cold baths?

Accepted Answer

Many are around 15–17 °C, and some are below 10 °C or as cold as 7 °C. Some places have two or more cold baths at different temperatures so you can choose.

Question 12

What is a meditation sauna?

Accepted Answer

A sauna room with low light and little sound, for spending time quietly. There are rooms lit by a single shaft of light, rooms where wood blocks the view, and rooms with self-löyly.

Question 13

How are herbal saunas and steam baths different from ordinary saunas?

Accepted Answer

They are lower-temperature saunas filled with the steam of herbs or medicinal plants. Herbs and kampo are combined so you can also relax with the scent.

Question 14

Where can you try a wood-fired sauna?

Accepted Answer

Saunas heated by a wood fire are found at hot spring inns, in city-centre facilities and in sauna huts by a lake.

Question 15

Are there hotels with a sauna in the guest room?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There is a hotel with a sauna and cold bath in every room, special rooms with a view sauna, and a guest room with a sauna bench.

Question 16

Where can you enjoy a natural hot spring and a sauna in one visit?

Accepted Answer

Facilities with both a hot spring bath and a sauna are found in the city and in the regions. The water varies: a golden, strongly salty spring, a black hot spring, moor hot spring that is a Hokkaido Heritage, and more.

Question 17

Which sauna rooms are easiest for a first-timer?

Accepted Answer

Rooms with a low temperature and high humidity. Some places have gentle rooms to warm up in, such as a steam salt sauna, a steam sauna or ganbanyoku stone beds.

Question 18

Are there saunas you can book privately with friends?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Some places let you choose a room to suit your group: a room for up to eight, private rooms for two to six, or a tea-room sauna where four can relax.

Question 19

Which hotels and hot spring inns in Hokkaido have good saunas?

Accepted Answer

Sapporo, Jozankei, Obihiro, Hakodate and Noboribetsu have hotels and hot spring inns with new saunas. Many cold baths use groundwater or river water, which is typical of Hokkaido.

Question 20

Where are the sauna huts and barrel saunas?

Accepted Answer

There are huts standing by a lake, a log hut standing inside the bathroom, barrel-shaped saunas placed in outdoor areas, and more.

Question 21

What is a salt sauna?

Accepted Answer

A lower-temperature, high-humidity sauna where you rub salt on your body. Some places have one in the men's bath, some in the women's, some in both.

Question 22

Are there saunas where you can do löyly yourself?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In a self-löyly sauna, you can pour water on the sauna stones whenever you like. Some places combine it with a meditation sauna.

Question 23

What is “bazooka löyly”?

Accepted Answer

It is the löyly system in the saunas at Ryusenji no Yu that releases a large amount of steam at set times. It starts when the time comes, such as at :00 and :30 every hour.

Question 24

How is a tower sauna different from an ordinary sauna?

Accepted Answer

It is a sauna with a high ceiling and tiers stacked high. The higher the tier, the hotter it is, so you choose the heat by where you sit.

Question 25

Which bathing facilities in Tohoku, Niigata and Hokuriku have good saunas?

Accepted Answer

Aomori, Miyagi, Niigata, Ishikawa and Fukui have facilities with both a sauna and a cold bath. Some have baths with a local character, such as tubs of Aomori hiba, a storehouse bath and a sake bath.

Question 26

Which bathing facilities in Yokohama and Kanagawa have good saunas?

Accepted Answer

There are different kinds: a löyly sauna in Shonan, a sauna on top of a station building, a sauna paired with black hot spring water, and more.

Question 27

Are there saunas men and women can use together?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Some saunas let men and women go in together wearing swimwear or the loungewear provided. There is a sauna garden for more than 30 people and a sauna theatre for about 70.

Question 28

What are saunas in old Japanese houses like?

Accepted Answer

They are Kyoto machiya or farmhouses over 150 years old renovated into saunas. They add sauna rooms and cold baths while making use of the old building's materials and form. Many can be booked privately or by reservation.

Question 29

What kinds of sauna stove are there?

Accepted Answer

There are stoves from different makers, such as iki, MISA and HARVIA from Finland and EOS from Germany. Some facilities install a stove they had made themselves.

Question 30

Are there saunas where you rest with a view?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Some places let you rest after the sauna looking at Mt Fuji and Lake Yamanaka, the Sea of Japan, Lake Biwa or Tokyo Bay. At some, you can see the mountains from the sauna room's window.

Question 31

Are there saunas with ganbanyoku stone baths too?

Accepted Answer

Yes. One place has four named stone-bath rooms, and a private sauna has a stone bath for two. There is also a hammam, a Turkish-style stone bath where you sweat on warm marble.

Saunas in Japan, answered