Shinsegae Centum City Spaland, Busan, Korea

The Spaland located 1-3F of the glass walled building. The backside tall bldg is the Shinsegae Department Store.

Made a very short trip to Busan, the second biggest city in Korea. I stayed only 49 hours there, as a typhoon attack stopped ferries and shortened my trip, but I could visit three hot spring bath houses. Shinsagae Centum City Spaland is the newest and most recommendable.

It annexed to the Shinsegae Department Store, just next to the Centum City Station of the subway line 2. Opened in March 2009, it's spotlessly clean with gorgeous atmosphere.


The open-air baths are for ladies only.

The big bath rooms are gender separated. They supply tow types of hot springs, one is Sodium chloride, and the other is Sodium bicarbonate. There are open-air baths for ladies only (Why not for men?).

Their Jim Jil Bang or Sauna is worth visiting. There are many hot rooms and an ice room. All of them are gender mixed, you need to wear in house cloths, and you can enter any room you like. Some new bath houses in Japan are equipped with Jim Jil Bang, but its standard is far inferior to this spaland.


Enjoy sauna hopping at their huge Jim Jil Bang. This is what we don't have in Japan.

You don't have to carry cash inside. The IC-chip attached locker key records all in house expenses, and you pay the balance when you leave the spaland.


There are big foot baths out side of Jim Jil Bang space.

◆Shinsegae Centum City Spaland

Type: Gender Separated bath rooms (open-air bath for ladies only), gender mixed Jim Jil Bang (complex of sauna rooms)

Address: 1495 U-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan, Korea

Location: 35.168046,129.12920

Telephone:　051-745-2900

Business hour: 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (Until midnight on weekends)

Holiday: Same as Shinsegae Department Store (once a month)

Admission fee: you can stay up to four hours
12,000(weekday), 14,000(weekend and holiday)
7,000(6-8AM on weekday, and after 9PM on Sun-Thurs)
9,000 (6-8AM on weekend & holidays and after 9PM on Fri & Sat)

Access: Exit 12 of the Centum City Station, Subway Line 2

My rating (A to E): B


Why not take a nap after taking bath and Jim Jil Bang?

Taki-no-yu, Naruko Onsen, Miyagi Pref.

Although it is rebuilt many times, the Taki-no yu has about 1000 year history. There is an Onsen Shrine nearby.

The "Taki-no-yu" is a traditional Japanese public bath without any located just a stone throw's away from the JR Naruko Onsen Station in Miyagi Prefefture, in Tohoku Region. It's one of my most favorite onsen public baths and attracting many other soaking addicts.

It looks an uninteresting single story house outside, but you'll see how the typical public bath looks like when you enter the gender separated changing room. It makes me wowed whenever I visit there.


Sharpened logs are used as pipes. The left bath is the bigger and hotter. You can try pelting water on your shoulders at the smaller right bath.

The acid hot spring (pH2.8) is slightly whitish, and tastes like a lemon It's not for drinking). It's strange that the hot spring gushing only a few meters away at neighbouring ryokan "Yusaya" is alkaline at pH8.9.  There are no soaps and shampoos. The acid water has some sterilization effects.



◆Taki-no-yu, Naruko Onsen (鳴子温泉　滝の湯）

Type: Gender separated indoor bath

Address: Yumoto, Naruko Onsen, Osaki-city, Miyagi Pref.

Location: 38.74195, 140.717831

Business hour: 7:30 AM to 22:00 PM

Holiday: None

Admission fee: ¥150

Equipment: Small lockers for valuables.

Access: 3 minutes walk from the Naruko Onsen (鳴子温泉) Station. To the Naruko Onsen, take the Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet train) to Furukawa（古川）, about 400km north from Tokyo, then change to Rikuu Tosen（陸羽東線）line to Naruko Onsen.

My rating (A - E): A

Tousen Yokujo, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, closing down

The left bath tub supplies ferruginous mineral spring.

The "Tousen Yokujo （桃仙浴場）" also known as "Tousen Onsen", a small sento located at Ikebukuro （池袋）, one of the busiest commercial areas in Tokyo is going out of business at the end of June 2010, ending 65 years of history. Building deterioration and decrease of mineral spring are blamed for the closure. The Tousen Yokujo is the only bath house supplying ferruginous mineral springs in Tokyo.


Washing space.

◆Tousen Yokujo  (桃仙浴場）

Type:  Sento (gender separated indoor bath)

Address:  3-7-3 Nishi-ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo

Location: 35.727479, 139.704466

Business hour: 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Holiday: Monday

Admission fee: ¥450

My rating (A - E): C



Closing notice and shoes lockers.

Miharashi-no-yu, Sueyoshi Onsen, Hachijojima, Tokyo

The hachijojima-shaped open-air bath is for ladies on every even-numbered day.

Hachijojima(八丈島） is the southernmost island of the seven Izu islands, located 300km away from central Tokyo. "Miharashi-no-yu" (みはらしの湯） is proud of the best view among six onsens in the island.

Mens bath and ladies' bath are separated, and swim suites bathing is prohibited. The grey-greenish muddy onsen is rich with sodium and a bit sticky.



There are sporadic bus services to the Miharashi-no-yu from town center, taking about 30 minutes. Get off at the "Sueyoshi Onsen mae" (末吉温泉前） bus stop. Or you can rent a car or a motorcycle at the airport or in the town. An overnight ferry of the Tokai Kisen or a 45 minutes flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo takes you to the island. There isn't a restaurant in the onsen and around, but you can bring in your own foods and drinks.


The indoor bath.

◆Miharashi-no-yu, Sueyoshi Onsen (末吉温泉みはらしの湯)

Type: Gender separated indoor and open-air baths

Address: 581-1 Sueyoshi, Hachijo-machi, Hachijojima, Tokyo

Location: 33.079109, 139.850684

Business hour: 10:30 AM to 9:30 PM

Holiday: Tuesday (except national holidays, during summer, year-end and new year)

Admission fee: ¥500

Bus timetable: (as of June 2010)
Depart "Town Office"
9:45
12:00
13:45
15:15

Depart "Sueyoshi onsen mae"
12:50
14:50
16:32

* takes about 30minutes each way.

References:
Hachijo.info (Travellers guide to Hachijojima)
Tokai Kisen (Overnight Ferry)

My rating (A - E): B


View from the open-air bath.

Useful Site: The Sento, Japanese Public Bathhouses in Kyoto

I know many visitors from abroad visit Kyoto while traveling in Japan. If you want an experience at a Sento, public bath house in Japan, you"ll find "The Sento: Japanese Public Bathhouses in Kyoto" is handy.

The site is managed by students of College of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University. It provides all info you may need including maps, manners, and history. Please note Sentos usually supply heated tap or well water, not necessarily onsen. Some of the Sentos in the site are named "Onsen", but actually none of them supply hot springs.