Finnish saunas in Kagoshima, Japan
ホテル ニューニシノ 天然温泉＆サウナ
The bathhouse of Hotel New Nishino in Tenmonkan is open to non-guests and is men only, with a monthly ladies' day. It has a Finnish sauna lined with Finnish kelo wood, where staff pour aroma löyly several times a day, and a binchotan charcoal steam sauna, plus a large bath, reclining room and izakaya. The hotel notes the bath is not natural hot spring water while a new well is drilled. General entry is ¥2,200; a morning rate is ¥1,400.
繋がるサウナ THE BARREL
THE BARREL is a sauna in Yojiro with four rooms: CABIN, a main cabin with benches stepped from 20 cm to 140 cm and staff-led Aufguss and Kugel sessions, and three barrel saunas, VIHTA at 100°C, PINE at 90°C and KELO at 72°C, each with self-löyly aromas. A chiller-cooled cold bath, a forest-style outdoor rest deck and a silent meditation room complete it. Weekday entry starts at about ¥1,000; women can visit on ladies' days announced on Instagram. Open 10:00 to 24:00.
かいせい乃湯
Kaisei-no-yu is a hot-spring sento in Tagami fed by sodium chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate spring water. It has an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and a bubble bath, with lockers and parking for 66 cars. It keeps long hours, 6:00 to midnight, with irregular closing days, which makes it an easy late soak on the western side of the city.
かごっま温泉
Kagomma Onsen is a nostalgic downtown sento three minutes' walk from City Hall, with free-flowing chloride spring water and enka on the speakers. It has an electric-heated sauna, a cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, electric and bubble baths, a mori-shio salt scrub, retro massage chairs and coin laundry. It also rents rooms. Open 8:00 to 24:00, closed on the 5th, 15th and 25th of each month.
みどり温泉
Midori Onsen is a leisure-style hot-spring bathhouse in Okanohara-cho with free-flowing spring water. It has three saunas: a low-temperature rock-salt sauna, a herbal steam sauna and a high-temperature sauna, plus a cold bath, an eight-herb medicinal bath, a lie-down bath, an open-air bath and a snack corner. Open daily 5:30 to 23:00 with parking for 300 cars; adult entry ¥460.
亀乃湯
Kame-no-yu is a neighbourhood sento founded in 1953, its yellow walls standing out in an old downtown street near the Kamoike ferry. Unlike most Kagoshima bathhouses it is not a hot spring: the main bath is iron-rich groundwater heated and passed over bakuhanseki mineral stone. It has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths and a herbal bath. Open 14:00 to 22:30, closed Mondays.
新とそ温泉
Shin-Toso Onsen is a hillside hot-spring sento in Toso with a postcard view across the city to Sakurajima and down onto the JR Kyushu rail depot. It is known for a properly hot sauna and one of the coldest cold baths in the city, and has a pool about nine metres long for swimming or walking. It opens at 4:00 for its regular early-morning bathers and closes at 22:30, except the 4th Monday.
温泉お乃湯
Onsen Ono-yu is a bright hot-spring bathhouse in Ono, its large bath lit through a translucent roof, with subtropical plants dividing the men's and women's sides. Facilities include an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, ganbanyoku hot-stone bathing and five types of private family baths bookable by the hour. Open 6:00 to 22:00, closed the 1st Monday.
温泉錦湯
Onsen Nishiki-yu is a hot-spring sento near the Arata Hachiman tram stop, renovated in 2016 as it approached its hundredth year, with the men's bath on the ground floor and the women's upstairs. It has a sauna, cold bath, two depths of electric bath, sleeping and rock baths, and a germanium-plated floor; in midsummer the cold bath becomes an ice bath. It keeps long hours, 5:00 to 1:00, closed on the 26th.
神之川温泉
Kaminokawa Onsen is a quiet hot-spring bathhouse in the former Koriyama town area, with gentle weakly alkaline spring water running free-flowing into the large bath. It has a sauna, cold bath and open-air bath, family baths including a wheelchair-accessible welfare bath and rooms with tatami lounges, and the Yuyutei restaurant. Open 10:00 to 21:00; from April to October weekday hours start at 15:00.
福助温泉
Fukusuke Onsen is a neighbourhood hot-spring sento in Ishiki with a big main bath, strong massage jets, an electric bath, a sauna and a cold bath. Five family baths with four-and-a-half-mat tatami rooms can be used until midnight. The clear spring water is plentiful enough that bathers may take drinking water home for free. Open every day from 5:30 to 22:30.
薬師温泉
Yakushi Onsen is one of the oldest hot-spring sento in Kagoshima, close to a hundred years old and renovated in May 2023. Spring water flows straight from the source into the baths. The men's sauna has sauna stones and aroma-water löyly, and there is a cold bath, electric bath and jacuzzi, with breezes from the neighbouring park. Open 6:00 to 23:00.
轟温泉
Todoroki Onsen is a hot-spring bathhouse among the farmland of Kawada-cho on the city's rural edge, with bright, wide-windowed bathrooms. It has an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, a jacuzzi, family baths and a restaurant, with a full-day 'yuttari' course for those who stay. Visitors can take spring water home. Open 8:00 to 21:30, except the morning of the 3rd Thursday.
郡元温泉
Korimoto Onsen is a hot-spring sento with a distinctive exterior right by the Namidabashi tram stop. Its signature is a floating bath where jets lift the body while ultrasound and bubbles wrap around it, and it also has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jacuzzi, sleeping and rock baths and a rest area. A slope and a half-basement car park make it easy to reach. Open 5:30 to 22:30, closed the 2nd and 4th Thursday.
霧島温泉
Kirishima Onsen is a Showa-era hot-spring sento ten minutes' walk from Tenmonkan, in a 1946 building that is the oldest wooden bathhouse in the city, on the site of a Shimazu samurai residence. Akita cedar lines the changing-room ceiling and Arita tiles the bathroom, with a 1950 tile mural of a beauty. Facilities are a sauna, cold bath and ultrasonic jet bath. Adult entry ¥460; open 6:30 to 22:30, irregular holidays.
鹿児島温泉時之栖
Kagoshima Onsen Tokinosumika is a modern hot-spring bathhouse in Tagami, opened in April 2020. Both the men's and women's baths have a large sauna and an open-air bath, along with a standing cold bath, floating bath, jet and electric baths, and partitioned washing stations. Seven bookable family baths each have their own open-air tub. Open 6:30 to 23:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday; adult entry ¥460.
ホテル ニューニシノ 天然温泉＆サウナ
The bathhouse of Hotel New Nishino in Tenmonkan is open to non-guests and is men only, with a monthly ladies' day. It has a Finnish sauna lined with Finnish kelo wood, where staff pour aroma löyly several times a day, and a binchotan charcoal steam sauna, plus a large bath, reclining room and izakaya. The hotel notes the bath is not natural hot spring water while a new well is drilled. General entry is ¥2,200; a morning rate is ¥1,400.
繋がるサウナ THE BARREL
THE BARREL is a sauna in Yojiro with four rooms: CABIN, a main cabin with benches stepped from 20 cm to 140 cm and staff-led Aufguss and Kugel sessions, and three barrel saunas, VIHTA at 100°C, PINE at 90°C and KELO at 72°C, each with self-löyly aromas. A chiller-cooled cold bath, a forest-style outdoor rest deck and a silent meditation room complete it. Weekday entry starts at about ¥1,000; women can visit on ladies' days announced on Instagram. Open 10:00 to 24:00.
かいせい乃湯
Kaisei-no-yu is a hot-spring sento in Tagami fed by sodium chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate spring water. It has an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and a bubble bath, with lockers and parking for 66 cars. It keeps long hours, 6:00 to midnight, with irregular closing days, which makes it an easy late soak on the western side of the city.
かごっま温泉
Kagomma Onsen is a nostalgic downtown sento three minutes' walk from City Hall, with free-flowing chloride spring water and enka on the speakers. It has an electric-heated sauna, a cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, electric and bubble baths, a mori-shio salt scrub, retro massage chairs and coin laundry. It also rents rooms. Open 8:00 to 24:00, closed on the 5th, 15th and 25th of each month.
みどり温泉
Midori Onsen is a leisure-style hot-spring bathhouse in Okanohara-cho with free-flowing spring water. It has three saunas: a low-temperature rock-salt sauna, a herbal steam sauna and a high-temperature sauna, plus a cold bath, an eight-herb medicinal bath, a lie-down bath, an open-air bath and a snack corner. Open daily 5:30 to 23:00 with parking for 300 cars; adult entry ¥460.
亀乃湯
Kame-no-yu is a neighbourhood sento founded in 1953, its yellow walls standing out in an old downtown street near the Kamoike ferry. Unlike most Kagoshima bathhouses it is not a hot spring: the main bath is iron-rich groundwater heated and passed over bakuhanseki mineral stone. It has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths and a herbal bath. Open 14:00 to 22:30, closed Mondays.
新とそ温泉
Shin-Toso Onsen is a hillside hot-spring sento in Toso with a postcard view across the city to Sakurajima and down onto the JR Kyushu rail depot. It is known for a properly hot sauna and one of the coldest cold baths in the city, and has a pool about nine metres long for swimming or walking. It opens at 4:00 for its regular early-morning bathers and closes at 22:30, except the 4th Monday.
温泉お乃湯
Onsen Ono-yu is a bright hot-spring bathhouse in Ono, its large bath lit through a translucent roof, with subtropical plants dividing the men's and women's sides. Facilities include an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, ganbanyoku hot-stone bathing and five types of private family baths bookable by the hour. Open 6:00 to 22:00, closed the 1st Monday.
温泉錦湯
Onsen Nishiki-yu is a hot-spring sento near the Arata Hachiman tram stop, renovated in 2016 as it approached its hundredth year, with the men's bath on the ground floor and the women's upstairs. It has a sauna, cold bath, two depths of electric bath, sleeping and rock baths, and a germanium-plated floor; in midsummer the cold bath becomes an ice bath. It keeps long hours, 5:00 to 1:00, closed on the 26th.
神之川温泉
Kaminokawa Onsen is a quiet hot-spring bathhouse in the former Koriyama town area, with gentle weakly alkaline spring water running free-flowing into the large bath. It has a sauna, cold bath and open-air bath, family baths including a wheelchair-accessible welfare bath and rooms with tatami lounges, and the Yuyutei restaurant. Open 10:00 to 21:00; from April to October weekday hours start at 15:00.
福助温泉
Fukusuke Onsen is a neighbourhood hot-spring sento in Ishiki with a big main bath, strong massage jets, an electric bath, a sauna and a cold bath. Five family baths with four-and-a-half-mat tatami rooms can be used until midnight. The clear spring water is plentiful enough that bathers may take drinking water home for free. Open every day from 5:30 to 22:30.
薬師温泉
Yakushi Onsen is one of the oldest hot-spring sento in Kagoshima, close to a hundred years old and renovated in May 2023. Spring water flows straight from the source into the baths. The men's sauna has sauna stones and aroma-water löyly, and there is a cold bath, electric bath and jacuzzi, with breezes from the neighbouring park. Open 6:00 to 23:00.
轟温泉
Todoroki Onsen is a hot-spring bathhouse among the farmland of Kawada-cho on the city's rural edge, with bright, wide-windowed bathrooms. It has an open-air bath, a sauna and cold bath, an utase waterfall bath, jet and electric baths, a jacuzzi, family baths and a restaurant, with a full-day 'yuttari' course for those who stay. Visitors can take spring water home. Open 8:00 to 21:30, except the morning of the 3rd Thursday.
郡元温泉
Korimoto Onsen is a hot-spring sento with a distinctive exterior right by the Namidabashi tram stop. Its signature is a floating bath where jets lift the body while ultrasound and bubbles wrap around it, and it also has a sauna, cold bath, utase waterfall bath, jacuzzi, sleeping and rock baths and a rest area. A slope and a half-basement car park make it easy to reach. Open 5:30 to 22:30, closed the 2nd and 4th Thursday.
霧島温泉
Kirishima Onsen is a Showa-era hot-spring sento ten minutes' walk from Tenmonkan, in a 1946 building that is the oldest wooden bathhouse in the city, on the site of a Shimazu samurai residence. Akita cedar lines the changing-room ceiling and Arita tiles the bathroom, with a 1950 tile mural of a beauty. Facilities are a sauna, cold bath and ultrasonic jet bath. Adult entry ¥460; open 6:30 to 22:30, irregular holidays.
鹿児島温泉時之栖
Kagoshima Onsen Tokinosumika is a modern hot-spring bathhouse in Tagami, opened in April 2020. Both the men's and women's baths have a large sauna and an open-air bath, along with a standing cold bath, floating bath, jet and electric baths, and partitioned washing stations. Seven bookable family baths each have their own open-air tub. Open 6:30 to 23:00, closed the 2nd and 4th Monday; adult entry ¥460.