Like most Gokuraku supersento I was expecting something middling to not worth the trip. This time I got something better than expected, however it also had Gokuraku’s downsides. This is ¥450 to get in and that is for a larger supersento with a wide selection of baths and a fairly decent natural hot spring. Now the downside of that is you will need to bring your own soaps and shampoos. For frequent bathers like our family that does not matter much as we bring our stuff every time. If you are more casual the nickel and diming that goes on for some single-use hotel pouches of soap and rental towels can make your experience less economical. It is good to know that if you forget your soap there is no need to worry because they have a 100 gachagacha with soap in the changing room! Haha!
The price and what seems to be Gokuraku’s business plan, this place is packed. Charge less and get as many people as possible using the baths. It costs the same to run them if one person is using it or 100 so the economics are similar to airlines . During the COVID pandemic it felt a bit weird being around so many people, and this is the busiest sento I have been since the start of COVID. I can only hope that the hot wet air had an antiviral effect!
Not sure if this was to recirculate the water because of COVID or typical for this supersento but the cold water bath was being filled (flooded might be a better word) from a 2 tier fountain running at full speed. Perhaps thanks to the movement of the water the bath was not too cold either. Seriously, this was one of the best cold water baths I have been in.
The spring water here is not too bad either. It had a pencil eraser feel on the skin in the bath but much of an after effect. Still it was enjoyable and more apparent than some other “hot springs” some supersento offer.
One last thing of note was the somewhat beat-up but still strong steam bath. It is a cavernous style one you have to duck to get into.
If you do not mind how busy this place is or can visit during the off peak hours, I would recommend checking it out. I took a bus from Kuzaha Station but there also is a free shuttle to Keihan Kuzuha and JR Matsui-Yamate during the morning hours.