I don’t even recall how we got talking about it, but last Wednesday I asked Ayumi to start googling sentos with ‘minus saunas’ again. It had been a while since I had thought about them. Matter of fact, discovering that Yukari Onsen (now known as Jindaji no Yu…. I was back there last week… more later) had stopped running theirs pretty much turned me off the idea. I don’t usually give up easily, but thanks to the onset of summer, the search was back on. Almost instantaneously Ayumi found one about 30 minutes way, and just as quickly I endeavoured to be at Soshigaya Onsen 21 before the week was over.
The journey was easy and harmless enough. Well actually it was two trains over 30 minutes, but who’s counting? All it took was a simple 5 minute walk from Soshigaya Okura Station and the guiding hand of Google Sensei. Discovering the sento was exciting, so exiting in fact that I would, post-bathing, find out that I left my tablet on top pf the ticket machine for 90 minutes. In any case, the Sento-master was a kind old lady who ushered me in, confirmed that there was in fact a ‘frozen sauna’ (‘reito sauna’) and sent me on my merry way.
{FYI: Insert beginner’s guide to how to get undressed and wash here. I keep reading it in every onsen and sento review I come across, suggesting that there is indeed no such thing as a English-speaking sento readership. Having said that, I also noticed on the way out that Soshigaya Onsen has some pretty sweet sento books in the lobby}
Walking through the changerooms, you immediately notice a few things. First, there is some of that serious black Tokyo water on the baths to the right. Oh yes. I believe is this is why Soshigaya is considered an onsen, although the set up is clearly classic sento bath house material. The bathouse is a domed/tunnel shape, and when you look down to the back you see three kinds of saunas. That’s the light at the end of the tunnel alright: the mist sauna, the classic sauna, and the frozen sauna.
Now like most people I have mentioned this to, I also do not quite comprehend why it is called a sauna, as it is clearly just a small room maintained at 0 degrees. I had been lead to believe that this sauna would be maintained at -10 degrees, so I will have to venture back to inspect this. When I say it is a small room, I mean small. Standing room only, in that it is less than 1m squared space. I wasn’t entirely sure of the etiquette here and if it was a shared space or not. Even though I later told a guy that I didn’t care if he joined me in there, after all, it’s a just a couple of dudes standing in a freezer, I’m still no less clear about the manners of this, although this friendly Filipinjo fella explained some of the signs for me. Here: look at these ominous doors. Not sure what the red light is for:
Let’s hope that if I find another frozen sauna, it is big enough for some sittin’. Although I don’t think they’re intended for long term usage, and my sore throat a few days later might have something to do with the fact that I was spending 10 minutes at a time in there. But I’ll still say not a bad word about the sento, and my official line is that “blame the air conditioning”.
Now, as for the regular sauna, there were some tasty surprises in there. For starters, no TV. Now that’s amore. The last few saunas I’ve been in have been playing absolute gibberish in them. I swear someone should put the memo out that appropriate sauna viewing is either curling, sumo, baseball or women’s diving. It’s that simple. Heck, I”d even allow the Tour de France. Basically anything where there’s very little talking. Which brings us back to this sauna: pink sitting mats, a multiude of signs explaining how to use the sauna, decent lighting and gas operated but somehow the air was also not that dry in there (as opposed to my local). There was also a sign explaining how with each increase in level/step that you sit on, there is an increase of 20 degrees. I noticed this earlier last week at Gokuraku, where a thermometer on the first step said 70 degrees but the top level said 90. Intriguing.
But the treats don’t stop there my friends let me tell you: this bathouse also features a 10 metre swimming pool, which on this day was being dominated by small children and fathers. One child in particular seemed to be taking great amusement at throwing his towel at his dad and counting it off. The father too seemed to be getting his rocks off. Not only that, but in the middle of this pool are what I would like to call “taki taps” (I’m sure they have a proper name). Basically powerful taps dropping water back into the pool, great for massaging the head and shoulders. Also for massaging my disappointment that the monks at the Takao waterfalls won’t train me in waterfall meditation because I don’t speak fluent Japanese. Wah wah wah. So this was a nice surprise. In this area the roof is also transparent, and you know how much I love that. (Maybe you don’t… I love that a lot). The photo below really, really does not do the place justice:
Soshigaya also seems to have a real hard on for tenkiburo (the electric baths). I wandered into at least two by accident and realised my mistake pretty quickly when my fist started curling up. Can’t say I’m the hugest fan of the old tenkiburos, but for what it’s worth these ones seemed pretty sweet. And, just in case you felt that no bathhouse would be complete without a tv, there is indeed a massive flatscreen playing at the top of the tunnel to be viewed from all the baths, albeit with the sound down. My god these guys have class.
Let’s see how much class:
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THE SCOREBOARD OF SENTO SUCCULENCE |
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| Features: | Small 2 levelled tower sauna, three black water baths, one silk (white) bath, three tenkiburo, 10 m swimming pool, taki taps, mist sauna, frozen sauna, nice lobby. |
| Bath Heat/10 | 8 (42 was the hottest) |
| Sauna heat/10 | 10 (94 degrees, gas, no TV) |
| Spatial aesthetic/5 | 4 |
| Quality of Chit chat/5 | 3 |
| Variety of bath types/10 | 8 |
| Quality of rotenburo /10 | 7 (I;m counting the swimming pool here) |
| Mizuburo/10 | 8 |
| Lighting /10 | 8 |
| Cost to value /5 | 4 (680 yen for 2 hours + sauna, 450 otherwise) |
| Accessibility /5 | 5 (it’s open 14:00-26:00) five days a week. easy walk from the station. |
| Little extras /10 | 10. Lobby, swimming pool taki taps, frozen sauna. I’ll say no more. |
| Overall feeling /10 | 10 |
| OVERALL PROXIMITY TO BOILING POINT/100 | 85 |
Soshigaya Onsen 21
http://www.soshigaya-onsen21.com/
| Setagaya–ku, Tokyo Soshigaya 3-36-21 | |||
| 03-3483-2611 | |||
| 14:00 to 2:00 | |||
| (Sales of admission tickets to the end 1:30) | |||
| 460 yen for adults in ¥ 180 people (elementary school age or younger) ¥ 80 children (preschoolers) |
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July 19, 2014
bastubennett
sweatshopping 