Drop by a public bathhouse in Tokyo and enjoy a taste of hot spring

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    • Kanto
    • Tokyo

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    • Region
    • Japanese culture
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  • Update date

    • 2019-09-05

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Sento is a public bathhouse established for bathing the locals in the days when having a private bath was not common. Although most houses in Japan today come with bath, there still are many public bathhouses that have been popular with the local people since olden days, that have become focal points of interaction beyond generations. A Sento is a wonderland where you can get a taste of daily life in Japan from decades ago, with the features like the huge bathtub, of course, in which you can stretch out your arms and legs as if being in a hot spring, and the building itself which is of classy wooden construction in many cases, the magnificent painting on the bathroom wall, bath water with various health benefits, the retro weight scale, the view from the quaint Engawa, the smiling bathhouse owner on the watch stand, and so on. Many of them use tap water for the bath water, but some of them use water from hot springs pumped up from underground. Here are some of the historic public bathhouses that have been popular with the local people for many years. Why not lift the Noren curtain and experience a Japanese public bathhouse where young and old can relax their minds?

Takara-yu

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Eye-catching Miya-zukuri construction. Preserving the original features of the building constructed in1938, "Takara-yu" boasts a Japanese style garden which is acclaimed as the best bathhouse garden in the country. It is also called "King of Engawa", as you can enjoy watching the view of the garden with Nishikigoi carps and seasonal flowers, from the wooden deck called "Engawa" next to the bathroom. Another appealing feature is that you can enjoy many kinds of bath water, such as medicinal bath with crude drugs that relieves fatigue, and germanium hot spring which is good for beauty.

Kosugi-yu

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The specialty at “Kosugi-yu" is gentle-to-the-skin "Milk bath", using “return to nature water” which is well water pumped up from 90 meters underground and then purified which is believed to be good for skin, with an added additive-free milk component and natural oils. Amidst the sweet scent in the bathtub, you can enjoy a relaxed and luxurious time admiring the magnificent Mt. Fuji painted by Mr. Kiyoto Maruyama, a maestro in the world of Sento wall painting. The building gets lit up at night. You can enjoy a fantastic atmosphere as the gently curving Karahafu-roof and the sculpted carps and Mt. Fuji emerge in the light as they are lit up.

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https://www.tabido.jp/en-us/article/971/