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.

Kappa-no-yu, Oku-yagen Onsen, Aomori Pref. Closed Down

[update] Kappa-no-yu reopened in April 2011. It's no more gender mixed onsen. Available for men from 7AM to 9AM, 11:10AM to 1:00PM, and 3:10PM to 5:00PM. As for wemwn, from 9:10AM to 11:00AM and 1:10PM to 3:00PM. Available until 11:00AM only on every Wednesday.

The Kappa-no-yu, at Oku-yagen Onsen in Aomori Prefecture (see my post dated May 1, 2009) is unavilable now, closed down by the end of March according to a recent local newspaper's report.

Infringement of the public bath law was mentioned in the article. It was an open-air mixed bath without gender separated changing rooms. It said the officials were planning to build gender separated changing rooms, separated baths, and screens to block watchers to reopen the Kappa-no-yu in the future.

I guess increase of WANIs (as for WANI, see my post dated Jan. 23, 2010) in recent years is part of the reason. A friend of mine and I met five or six WANIs there in the summer of 2006, when we were to leave.

The Japanese traditional mixed baths are decreasing. The rotenburo (open-air bath) at Yunokami Onsen, Fukushima Pref. closed down about a year ago (see my post dated May 14, 2009), and swim suites bathing introduced at the Funsenchi, Gero Onsen in Gifu Pref. (see my post dated Jan. 17, 2009) recently.

Hyakkannon Onsen, Kuki City, Saitama Pref.

The big Open-air bath at upper stage.

Saitama is next prefecture of Tokyo, and you can make a half-day trip to the Hyakkannon Onsen (百観音温泉) from Tokyo. Located three minutes walk from JR Higashiwashinomiya (東鷲宮) Station, it's easy to access for visitors from abroad.

It's a basic day-visit onsen without frills, but the sodium onsen is abundant, gushing 1000 litter every minute. The muddy onsen smells a bit like rubber, the temperature is high at 57.3°C and cooled down by heat exchange system. I guess this is the one of the best day-visit onsens in Greater Tokyo Area.


The smaller open-air bath at lower stage.

If you feel a bit embarrassed to share a bath with unknown people, there are five private baths here. One of them is wood made barrel bath, and remaining four are made with stone and tiles. Tatami mat rooms for rest are attached for all private baths. You can order meal delivery from the restaurant. You can see pictures of the private baths on their official site.

They don't permit single use of the private baths, and you have to be a group of two on weekdays, and three or more on weekend and holidays. Their private baths are very popular and usually you have to book about a week in advance for weekends.



◆Hyakkannon Onsen （百観音温泉）

Type: Gender separated indoor and open-air baths, five private baths

Address: 2-10-1 Nishiowa, Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture

Location: 36.091393, 139.67701

Tel: 0480-59-4126 (English unspoken)

Business hour: 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM (from 6:30AM on weekends and holidays)

Holiday: Third Tuesday of every month

Admission fee: ¥700 (three hours), additional ¥3150 per room for the private bath (three hours). If two of you soak yourselves at a private bath, it will be ¥4550 altogether

Equipment: 2 indoor baths, 4 open-air baths and 1 sauna each for men and ladies, 5 private baths, a restaurant (upper floor), snack bar (first floor)

Access: Take Utsunomiya Line (宇都宮線) to Higashiwashinomiya (東鷲宮) from Ueno (上野) or Akabane (赤羽). It takes about 50 minutes from Ueno station, costing ¥820 one way. Some of the trains (limited rapid service) skip Higashiwashinomiya, in the case you have to get off at Kuki (久喜) and change to local train for one station. When you reach Higashi-washinomiya, walk straight from the west exit and turn right at first signals. See the linked map blow.

Links:
Official website of the Hyakkannon Onsen (Japanese only)
Map of the Hyakkannon Onsen in English

My rating (out of five): A-