Why no updates?

I'm making a website to host my reviews, along some other ofuro goodies. It's been taking me longer than I thought, but it should be up by the end of fall. I've got I whole bunch of new reviews coming too. I know this is taking much longer than I thought, but when it's done I think you'll all like it.

Thanks,

David


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#52 灘温泉 水道筋店 Nada Onsen Suidosuji

灘温泉　水道筋店
Nada Onsen Suidosuji


Location:
神戸市灘区水道筋１丁目２６番地
Hyogo-ken, Kobe-shi, Nada-ku

Access:
10 minute walk from Hankyu Oji-koen station. (阪急 王子公園駅)

Water:
Natural spring water. Sodium, bicarbonate, cloride spring with a neutral pH.
Holiday:
The first Thursday of March, June, November, and December.

Hours:
05:00~24:00

Price:
Baths - ¥410
Baths and Sauna - ¥560

Links:
Nada Onsen Homepage

Baths:
Heated well water, straight spring water, jet baths, electric bath, waterfall bath, rotenbro (outdoor bath)

Sauna:
Dry sauna with TV

Review:

• Water Quality 4/5
  I love the water here it's cool, but it warms your inside. If you go into the luke warm bath with the straight spring water you're body will soon be covered in bubbles from the natural carbonation in the water. It's like bathing in metallic smelling San Pellegrino. One of the most relaxing baths ever.
  
• Baths and Saunas 4/5
  The electric bath is just strong enough, the jets positioned well, the waterfall bath is nice and strong it's just perfect. The rotenbro, and other two spring water baths are well built with nice materials especially the heated spring water bath which has very nice shaped stone walls and benches.
• Building Design 4/5
  The fixtures are pretty basic but there are some high points, the raised stone walkways for example.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 4/5
  I love this place. There are lots of great signs promoting good manners which are fun to read. The chilled water in the changing room is a nice touch. But, and this is out of the control of the staff, its often too crowded. The straight spring water bath is like finding a place in a sardine can. If you go here when it's busy the water might not be as clean as it could be and you might have to wait to find a spot in your favorite bath. There's always a few gangsters here, but they typically are smiling and happy. I've had a few conversations with random people here and enjoyed them
  
• Total 16/20
  

Notes:
While this place is good anytime, I recommend going on a hot afternoon. The lukewarm straight spring water bath might be packed, but you'll know why when you get in.

There is a great old beer vending machine across from the onsen. They sell Asahi Black in cans which tastes great after a nice bath.

Parking in the lot next to the onsen is free if you get it validated inside.

They have two onsen in their group the smaller second one is near JR Rokkomichi station. I have reviewed it here

Additional Photos:

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#14-2 花山温泉 Hanayama Onsen (Second Look)

花山温泉
Hanayama Onsen
(Second Look)

Location:

和歌山県和歌山市鳴神574
Wakayama-shi, Wakayama-ken

Access:
A 10 minute taxi ride from JR-Wakayama station

Water:
Natural spring water with carbon dioxide, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and bicarbonate. pH 6.4

Holiday:
Every Thursday

Hours:
08:00-23:00

Price:
Baths and Sauna: ¥1000
After hours (18:00~close): ¥600

Baths:
Spring water bath 26c, spring water bath 36c, Spring water bath 41c, Spring water rotenbro, jet bath, waterfall bath

Sauna:
Dry sauna


Review:

• Water Quality 5/5
  In my top 5 for water quality the brown claylike water here makes you feel perfect. I can't recommend it more. People go there for the water.
  
• Baths and Saunas 4/5
  The only reason I don't give this a 5 is because I wish the sauna was hotter, otherwise it's great. The bathing area is simple, but well designed. The largest 41c degree bath has some shallow and deep grottos for finding a great little place to go. There are some bars in the bath to lean against or hang on. All of the spring water baths have been calcified by all the minerals in the spring water either making soft wave shapes that looks like clay or chocolate ice cream, or a shaper ridged shape that must be seen to believe. Outside the rotenbro looks out to a simple but pleasing garden.
• Building Design 5/5
  It's a perfect old onsen style building. Some of the floors creak. There are pipes carrying water through out the building. Hallways seem longer then they should be. Once inside the building you forget where you are. It helps make this place seem so otherworldly.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 4/5
  If it's crowded you might have to wait for a space, mostly in the 26c degree bath which people take a long time in, but everyone here is very civil. People, unless they are with a friend or family member, seem to go into a trance here just taking in the great water. I once asked a fellow bather to read a kanji for me and he was very nice when helping me understand what it meant. The crowding and the lack of free lockers for your stuff knocks this down from a 5, otherwise everything here is great.
  
• Total 18/20

Notes:

You can drink the water here. In the hallway leading to the the baths there's a sink and a spigot across from it with the spring water for drinking. It tastes great.

Please splash your self off with clear water before entering the normal baths.

Make sure to look around and check out all the signs they have posted about the onsen, especially the one with the photo of the calcification in one of the pipes carrying the spring water. I hope my arteries don't look like that.

This is also a hotel so you can spend the night here.

Like I said above, there are no keyed lockers for free in the changing room. There is a rack of coin lockers but they cost ¥100 so leave your stuff in your car or make sure you have a ¥100 on you before you enter.

I recently went here for the first time after sunset. I have to say that going here in the daytime is the best. The hotter it is outside makes it better too. Hanayama really shines for a afternoon soak.

The supermarket down the street from Hanayama has some great food.

I originally reviewed this onsen on September 23, 2007. The photos are from that original review.

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#4-2 Arimafuji Onsen Hanayama no Yu 有馬富士温泉花山乃湯 Second Look

有馬富士温泉花山乃湯
Arimafuji Onsen Hanayama no Yu 　
(Second Look)

Location:
兵庫県三田市尼寺835-1
Sanda-shi, Hyogo-ken

Access:
Shinki bus from Sanda station (JR or Shintetsu). Take bus #24 heading to 乙原バレイ

Water:
Natural spring water. Well temp 30.2C. pH 8.

Holiday:
every third Thursday of the month

Hours:
10:00-23:00

Price:
Baths and Sauna - ¥600

Links:
Arimafuji Onsen Homepage

Baths:
rotenbro, waterfall showers, deep and shallow normal bath, jet baths

Sauna:
Dry sauna with TV

Review:

• Water Quality 4/5
  Great soft water in the normal baths leaves your skin slippery soft and the spring water in the rotenbro is just as clear and soft feeling
• Baths and Saunas 5/5
  There are two different bathing areas that change from men to women each day. They have a wooden and stone motif. All of the wood looks fresh and alive while the stones show their age with grace. The tiles on the floor which have just enough grip yet feel smooth are great on your feet. The jets are all my favorite single or sunflower style direct streams.
• Building Design 4/5
  As I said with the baths everything is really nice. It might not seem that way from the outside, and the golf driving range isn't the most beautiful thing, but inside everything seems right to me. It's not the biggest supersento and you might bump into someone on occasion. The sauna can fit 3~4 people max. Also soap from the showers pools up on the tiles and doesn't drain well.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 4/5
  I had a great chat with some of the customers in the sento. Everyone there seemed happy and enjoying themselves. The view from the rotenbro is just a some rice fields and and some forested hills but it's quite refreshing. There always seems to be a nice cool breeze which helps make this place seem fresh. It's easy for me to stay for a while, but for those with kids they might get bored fast here. It's too peaceful.
  
• Total 17/20
  

Notes:

The bathing areas are different and they change daily.

There is a golf driving range in the same building as the sento. They have club rentals if you want to hit a few balls.

I've only been here in the afternoon and I have to say that a lot of the appeal of this onsen is how bright and refreshing it is in the afternoon. I cannot recommend more going there on a nice sunny day.

There is often a tent set up in the parking lot selling fruits and vegetables. I've gotten some great mikan there and some very good and very cheap strawberries.

I originally reviewed this sento on June 4, 2007 where I gave it a much lower score. What was I thinking!

The photo above is from the original review.
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#51 Yu~Bath Sakai Hamadera ユ〜バス 堺浜寺店

ユ〜バス　堺浜寺店
Yu~ Bath Sakai Hamadera



Type: Onsen Supersento

Location:
堺市西区浜寺船尾町東１丁１０８番
Osaka-fu, Sakai-shi

Access: 10 minute walk from the Hankai streetcar Ishizu station. (阪堺　石津)

Water: Natural hotspring. Sodium and calicum high temperature spring. Well temp 51.2C

Holiday: The 1st Monday of the month

Hours: 06:00~03:00 (The next day)

Price: All Baths - ¥700 Morning bath (6:00~12:00) - ¥500 Normal baths (no access to the spring water) - ¥420

Links: Onsen Homepage

Baths: Shallow and deep normal baths, showers, jet baths, bubble baths, rotenbro, spring water bath

Saunas: Dry sauna, salt sauna

Review:

• Water Quality 2/5
  The spring water was quite nice and obvously from a nice well, but it was only one bath. The normal indoor baths were nice, but the "Royal" baths all felt dirty.
  
• Baths and Saunas 1/5
  There was a lot of diversity in the baths, but they all seemed dirty, the rotenbro especially. The salt sauna had a very strong unpleasant smell and the dry sauna, while nice and hot, was dirty and had holes in the walls.
• Building Design 2/5
  If you supersized a typical sento you'd get this place. The design in the normal bath area was stoic, while the "Royal" area had a bit more thought given to the design--but not much. The rotenbro was all white in a Greco-Roman theme. The palm tree out there was half-dead with fake palms attached to the trunk. The indoor spring water bath had a rocky theme with a geometric waterfall which I did enjoy.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 3/5
  Located next to a freeway onramp, a few love hotels, chain restaurants, this was the most truckstop-esque of all the supersento I've been to. The staff was pleasant and the costumers all seemed to mind their own business and not interact much with each other. The beer I had tasted rancid.
• Total 8/20
  

Notes:

This is the worst grade I've ever given a place on this blog. I feel bad, but I really didn't enjoy my time here. This chain has 3 more supersento in Kansai and I hope they are better than this one. The spring water was very nice, I wish they exploited it better.

The men's and women's sides at this supersento are different. They change each week. I went to the right hand side bath, closest to the door.

Additional Photos:

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#50 Tokiwa Onsen トキワ温泉

トキワ温泉
Tokiwa Onsen

Type: Onsen Sento


Location:

大阪府堺市神明町西3-129

Osaka-fu, Sakai-shi

Access: 3 minute walk from the Hankai streetcar Shinmecho station (阪堺 神明町)

Water: Natural Hotspring: weak alkaline

Holiday: The 1st, 3rd, and 5th Monday of every month

Hours: 15:00~23:00

Price: Baths: ¥410 Bath and Sauna (incl. towel rental): ¥510

Links: Onsen News Blog (Great photos of the inside and a poster from the onsen) | Onsen Hopper

Baths: Deep, shallow and jet baths all 100% spring fed, cold water bath

Saunas: Dry Sauna

Review:

• Water Quality 4/5
  Opening the door to the bathing area the smell just hit me. Wow, this is exactly the kind of place that I love. A great old sento that looks like it's been here for years, filled with local history and just enough dust. The water was decent, but it was straight from the ground. No heating, cooling or mixing with municipal water. That's what this place is: a hotspring fed into a few baths. The smell was nice and the feel was good. Not the best water, but worth going back.
  
• Baths and Sauna 4/5
  The design is quite simple, but classic for a little sento like this one. It appeared to me that the jet baths were added on in a remodel, but I could be wrong about that. The center bath has a two level design with the upper bath being hotter and shallower. The cold bath is small, but enough space for one to sit in. Sitting at the kake-yu to rinse off was very refreshing. The sauna is accessed from the changing room. Not much to it, but good enough.
  
• Building Design 4/5
  The whole place is super small in comparison to most sento. The reason for this place being here is the hotspring--that's it, but that's all that it needs. The main bath is well built and full of good places to sit. There's a nice mosaic of Mt. Fuji on the back wall and the mirrors have old advertisements for nearby businesses. The men's bathroom is outside in an enclosed patio that is accessed from the changing room. There's a little sitting area there with an ashtray that in the summer would be a great place for a nice post bath smoke.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 4/5
  This old building has a very utilitarian feel to it. Lots of old exposed wood and notices written on old sheets of paper. The customers seemed part of a large family that have been coming here for years many of them greeting each other when they came and left. I loved how busy the place was and all of the buckets filled with soap and shampoo placed around the bathing area. The entire place had a sense of agelessness that really made the entire experience special.
• Total 16/20
  

Notes:

Getting here you can ride the great Hankai streetcar line which, like this sento, has a living history feel. Tokiwa Onsen is a perfect place to really experience what day-to-day life in postwar Japan might have looked like.

I couldn't have picked a better place for my 50th review. Tokiwa Onsen is the kind of little sento that represent a living history and a way of life that is in danger in Japan, and also not so well known among foreigners.

Additional Photos:

The ticket vending machine

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#49 Ogo Onsen 大箇温泉

大箇温泉
Ōgo Onsen

Type: Onsen Sento


Location:

兵庫県西宮市津門大箇町7-17

Hyogo-ken, Nishinomiya-shi

Access: 5 minute walk from Hankyu Hanshinkokudo station (阪急 阪神国道) or 10 minutes from Hankyu or Hanshin Imazu station (阪急 今津 or 阪神 今津)

Water: Natural Hotspring: weak alkaline

Holiday: Thursday

Hours: 15:30 - 23:30

Price: Baths: ¥410 Bath and Sauna (incl. towel rental): ¥510

Links: Homepage

Baths: Deep bath, shallow jet baths*, deep jet baths, cold water bath x2, big shower, waterfall bath, rotenbro*
*hot spring water used

Saunas: Dry Sauna

Review:

• Water Quality 4/5
  Not only does Ogo onsen offer a great natural hotspring, but it's normal baths and showers have the greatest soft water. I love soft water, it makes you feel slippery, as if you didn't rince the soap off well enough. The main, always piping hot soft water bath is more enjoyable for me than the spring water rotenbro (outdoor bath) even! This isn't to say that the spring is bad. I quite like it. It's slimilar to Futaba and Hamada near by.
  
• Baths and Sauna 4/5
  While small over all, everything is fit in quite well and it acutally seems much bigger. The rotenbro is triangle shaped with a nice view of the sky. The main indoor bath is quite deep and always piping hot. They have a great super srong jet that I always use. There are two showers, both cold water, that are agreat in the summer. The sauna has a seprate cold water bath. The only thing missing is a good place to sit. There are two seats outside, but I never find them that comforatable.
  
• Building Design 3/5
  The bathing areas were remodeled sometime in 2005 or 2006, so much of he tile and the fixtures at the showers are new. There is a small, inch high step going into the larger cold water bath that I have stubbed my toe rather painfully on twice to watch out for.
  
• Atmosphere-Other 4/5
  I always have a good time here and I've bumped into people I've met while bartending near-by. There are a fair share of yakuza that go to Ogo but they all seem to interact well with the customers. Many of the people here seem to know eachother. The front staff is always very nice. They have a free computer with internet for people to use and a giant TV in the lobby.
  
  
• Total 15/20
  

Notes:

This is my place to go on Wednesdays because many sento in the Nishinomiya area take Wednesdays off.

Additional Photos:

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