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Feel The Spirit Of The Past At Takegawara Onsen In Beppu
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At Takegawara Onsen in Beppu, located 10 minutes from Beppu Station, you can experience both the indoor bathing and a special sand bath. We will introduce its remarkable architecture of the past, as well as some manners characteristic of this city.
The Glorious Interior – a True Relic of the Past
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
The entrance noren curtains (short, split curtains) first reveal a wooden hall, with high ceiling and a floor polished to the perfection, seeming almost like a mirror. On the right side you’ll notice usual bathing rooms for men and women and on the left a special sand-bath room.
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
Sunayu, or the sand bath, is a type of a sauna where the sand warmed using the hot spring water is spread all over the visitor’s body. Some other Beppu’s onsens offer the same extraordinary experience – the day-trip onsen Hyotan, a part of Kannawa Hot Springs, as well as at Beppu Kaihin Sunayu, next to the Beppu Kankoko.
At the reception desk on the right of the entrance, the visitors can pay for the service. The bathing fee for the indoor bath is 100 yen per person (one using of the bath) – an unbelievable price cheaper than most of the drinks you can get from a vending machine these days, but this price is nothing unusual for most of the public baths maintained by the community here in Beppu.
Prices for comparison: the fee for public bathrooms in Tokyo is 460 yen (the information is current as of October 2017).
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
The bathing price for the sand-bath room is 1030 yen. At the reception you can also find some of the items you might need (and might have forgotten to bring) and can buy there, such as hand towels, single-use shampoos, soaps, shower caps, razors, and similar.
Items you can buy and the prices (after tax):
- towel: 320 yen
- shampoo: 50 yen
- hair conditioner: 50 yen
- soap: 50 yen
- razor: 50 yen
- shower cap: 110 yen
A Cozy Bathroom Underneath the Dressing Room
Men’s Section
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
Now, first let us take you through the men’s section of this bathhouse.
As soon as you pass the blue noren curtains, you’ll enter men’s dressing room. You’ll also notice there are shelves installed along one of the walls for the visitors’ clothes.
You are free to use any unused space for your things, but if you’re concerned about the safety of your belongings, such as your wallet, and similar, you can look for a coin locker and give yourself peace of mind (there are several coin lockers you can use for that purpose, and the fee is 100 yen).
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
A peculiarity of this bathhouse is that the bathing rooms and the changing rooms are not divided at all – instead, you’re supposed to use the stairs to go underground to the bathing room. Still, this is not only true of Takegawara Onsen, it is a common trait of almost all bathhouses in Beppu, as they were built using the traditional techniques and architecture style.
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
Upon entering the tiled bathroom, you’ll notice one dome-shaped bathtub, positioned at the center of the room and sized to fit around seven to eight people. The water used is chloride-carbonated, saline-type spring water, rich in sodium, calcium, and magnesium. The temperature of the water gushing from the spring is quite high, reaching as high as 53.8 degrees Celsius.
For that reason, you’ll find a faucet installed in the corner of the bathtub, so that the customers can adjust the water temperature to their own preference, by turning it off or adding more water to the tub. The facility staff recommend a temperature around 43 degrees as the optimal one, but this temperature might not be suitable for people who aren’t accustomed to bathing in such conditions.
Women’s Section
The entrance to the women’s section of the bathhouse is on the right side of the lobby, behind the red noren curtains.
The architectural style used for building the bathrooms is the same for both men’s section and women’s section, but it seems that the women’s one is not as old as its counterpart. The water comes from a sodium-carbonated saline spring, but the water temperature is slightly cooler than of the men’s section – 52 degrees Celsius. It is still considerably hot, so keep that in mind when using the bath.
Different Water for Men and Women, but No Choosing
As we’ve mentioned above, the water type for men’s section at Takegawara Onsen is chloride-carbonated, saline-type spring water, enriched with sodium, calcium, and magnesium, and for women is sodium-carbonated saline spring water, so different springs are used for each of the sections.
More than one water types usually tempts one to try and enter each one of them, to compare and enjoy different ambiance, but, unfortunately, here at Takegawara Onsen the sections are separated, thus men and women can only enter their designated bathrooms.
Beppu’s Bathing Manners
Use the Water from the Tub for Washing Up
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
You might have heard about this rule before, but let us point it out just in case – in Japan it is customary and appropriate to clean yourself before entering the bathtub, even when in your own house. That is why in many bathhouses all over the country you’ll find a special washing-up section with shower rooms or faucets installed, for you to wash up before using the bathtub.
Still, here at Takegawara Onsen, we just can’t see anything similar to such washing-up space whatsoever. So what are we supposed to do about the showering part?
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
Actually, the visitors to this bathhouse are supposed to scoop the hot water directly from the bathtub using the bowls provided, and use it to clean themselves before entering the bathtub! This practice is not so unusual for many bathhouses in Beppu, and is not characteristic only of Takegawara Onsen. You are free to use the designated wash bowls and stools left at the corner of the room.
Don’t forget to return the bowls and the chair to their original position before your leave the bathroom!
Don’t Sit on the Edges of the Tub at Public Houses in Beppu
Photo by Maro Miyakawa
One more thing to keep in mind when visiting a bathhouse in Beppu, is to refrain from using the edges of the bathtub as a chair when taking a break or trying to cool down for a moment from all that heat from the water. This rule is shared by all bathhouses in Beppu although it might sound strange and unheard of at other areas in the country.
The reason for creating such a rule is, in fact, quite simple and understandable – when soaking in the water people usually rest their heads on the very edge of the bathtub, so it would be inappropriate to use the same space for sitting.
Lastly
Next time you come to Beppu, don’t miss an opportunity to visit Takegawara Onsen, and admire the architecture and history, as well as experience the one-of-a-kind activity of bathing in the sand. It takes only a few minutes to reach it on foot from Beppu Station, which makes it a perfect place to give yourself a breather whenever you have a little time to spare.
As there is no parking space available at this bathhouse, when you’re visiting the city by car you can use the coin parking lots found in the vicinity, or the Kitahamakaigan parking lot located alongside Japan National Route no. 10.
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