A beautiful little bathhouse hidden in a small neighborhood next to Kobe's Harborland shopping and entertainment district, going to Yanagi-yu, like many sento, is like taking a step back in time. It’s located down a street barely wide enough for a bicycle or small delivery truck. Many stray cats meander around the maze of small paths and streets that serve this densely packed residential and commercial neighborhood. Walking around It's easy to forget that the massive Harborland area of Kobe is just down the street. The bathhouse itself is the old bandai style where there are two doors in the front, one for men (男) and one for women (女). As with most sento, make sure you choose the right one as they are only labeled in kanji.

Inside the bathhouse the building is old and in need of some maintenance, but still very clean. The changing room and bath fixtures seemed to be from the buildings original construction. A highlight of the design is the tile mosaic of a European style lake scene with a rock feature on the far side of the back wall. The baths were fairly normal. The herbal bath was not too hot and constantly refilled from a waterfall spout that was very refreshing in the summer heat. In a separate room that I originally thought was a sauna, there was another bath that appeared to be filled with the same water as the rest of the baths. Exploring the neighborhood and Yanagi-yu’s wonderful old building make this sento worth going to.