So this year I made about 104 New Year’s Resolutions. Most of them, like ‘have 14 pairs of underwear by April’ and ‘just sort it out’, were written in either jest or sincerity and as such were taken with a grain of salt. “Spend less time at onsens” was also on the list and surprisingly, this one has actually been adhered to. It’s also been summer, so, you know…. As such, it’s time to stop fucking around and get back to business. And with Sayano Yudokoro, there is a strong challenger to NIwanoyu as my favourite onsen in inner Tokyo.
Whilst it is a bit of a hop. skip and a jump to get there (I think it took me about 35 minutes from Nakano with 2-3 changes) Sayano ticks a loooot of boxes and has almost all of my favourite onsen features. Salt sauna, the buckets, the neruyu lay down baths, super fluffy white mats in the dry sauna, what I have previously referred to ‘the watery thrones'( and I have since found out that they are called the suwariyu), jet spas….. let’s steal some pictures from Googlesensei shall we? Yes, let’s.
Well, that’s great. In classic onsen style, there are no photos of this onsen’s best baths on the net. Must have a good word to onsen owners some day about this. In any case,just take my word for it that the salt sauna has a vibe very similar to the scene in which Flash Gordon is sentenced to death by gas in the 1980s film of the same name.
(Just a reminder: the Suwariyyu sitting bath from Oedo)
Ok, these crepes won’t cook themselves. I’m gonna let the Scoreboard take care of the rest of this:
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THE SCOREBOARD OF SENTO SUCCULENCE: |
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| Features: | 2 rotenburo, 2 ofuro, 5 massage jets, dry sauna, salt sauna, neyu/neruyu baths (6-7), the watery thrones/suwariyu , 3 bucket baths, mizuburo, ganbanyoku, restaurant, sleeping rooms, rock gardens, tatami room for sleeping, |
| Bath Heat/10 | 8 (41) |
| Sauna heat/10 | 8 (three levels, 70-90) |
| Spatial aesthetic/5 | 4 |
| Water quality/5 | 3 (salt) |
| Variety of bath types/10 | 10 |
| Quality of rotenburo /10 | 8 |
| Mizuburo/10 | 6 (a touch on the small side) |
| Lighting /10 | 9 (all lights were frosted and there are a helluva lot of windows) |
| Cost to value /5 | 5 (830 yen on weekdays, 1030 yen on weekends, extra for ganbanyoko, and extra 300 for more clothes.) |
| Accessibility /5 | 3 (it’s in a strange location from the centre, and about a 10 min walk from the nearest station. But it is open til 1am on almost every day of the year oooohhh yaaaar. ) |
| Little extras /10 | 8. The sleeping room was a touch small. The restaurant looks amazing, especially with the rock gardens, but alas, you can’t see the garden at night due to intense inside reflection. They should open their windows during spring. |
| Overall feeling /10 | 9. It’s all about the puddles, be they vertical or horizontal. |
| OVERALL PROXIMITY TO BOILING POINT/100 | 82. |
82 degrees…. yar, it’s hot. I’ll be back here for sure.
Maenohara Onsen Sayano Yudokoro, Itabashi
http://www.sayanoyudokoro.co.jp
Address: 〒174-0063 東京都板橋区前野町３−４１−１
TEL：03-5916-3826
8-minute walk from Exit A2 of Shimura-Sakaue Station
October 9, 2015
bastubennett
sweatshopping 