Best Saunas in Kyoto, Japan
FIRST THE SAUNA 京都
FIRST THE SAUNA is a men-only membership sauna four minutes' walk from Kyoto Station that also admits visitors, with no time limit on a visit. The sauna seats 15 at about 95 °C with self-löyly, and holds aroma and heat-wave sessions. A 15 °C cold bath, a 40 °C warm bath and a lounge with full-flat, infinity and Adirondack chairs complete it. It runs unstaffed from 9:30 to midnight; visitor tickets cost 1,800 to 2,200 yen.
さがの温泉 天山の湯
Sagano Onsen Tenzan-no-yu is a large hot-spring bath complex near Arashiyama, fed by a sodium-calcium chloride spring from 1,200 metres down, the first of its kind in the Kyoto basin. The men's side has a tower löyly sauna, the women's a radium salt sauna and a rocky dry sauna, and staff hold Aufguss every odd hour from 13:00 to 23:00. A 16.5 °C cold bath and open-air baths follow. Open 10:00 to midnight, closed the third Monday of each month.
むらさき湯
Murasaki-yu is a sento by the Horikawa-Kitaoji bus stop in Kita-ku whose changing room was built by shipwrights in the early Showa era. The bathroom has a spacious sauna and baths drawn from natural water 100 metres underground, including standing, sitting and lying jet baths, an open-air bath, a herbal bath, an electric bath and a cold bath. It also hosts rakugo nights. Open 15:00 to 1:00, closed Mondays.
サウナ&カプセルホテル ルーマプラザ
Rumor Plaza is a men-only sauna and capsule hotel in Gion, open around the clock, with a rooftop open-air bath and outdoor cooling area looking over the city. The main sauna runs at about 90 °C on an IKI stove with staff-led löyly; a seventh-floor Finnish sauna at 80 °C has self-löyly, and there is a 70 °C salt sauna. Cold baths run at 17, 14 and 20 °C. A regular visit costs 2,700 yen (3,000 yen on Saturdays), and a one-hour visit 1,800 yen.
サウナの梅湯
Sauna no Umeyu is a neighbourhood sento on the Takase River in Shimogyo, revived in 2015 as the first bath of the Yutonamisha collective and known for its red, yellow and green neon sign. Both the men's and women's sides have a dry sauna, a cold bath, deep and shallow baths, an electric bath and a herbal bath. Entry is 550 yen; it opens 6:00 to 2:00 the next morning and closes on Thursdays.
サウナ平安湯
Sauna Heian-yu is a modern-looking sento in Yoshida, Sakyo, near Kyoto University, billed as a 'museum sento' for its 7.2-metre painted mural of Kyoto festivals, with notes explaining each scene (English text is available). Its electric saunas with television run at about 112 °C on the men's side and 100 °C on the women's, beside a cold bath of flowing natural groundwater and a daily herbal bath. Open 15:00 to midnight, closed Thursdays.
壬生温泉 はなの湯
Mibu Onsen Hanano-yu is a day hot-spring bath in Mibu, Nakagyo, whose open-air rock bath and tsubo pot bath use natural hot-spring water drawn from 1,300 metres at Hotaru-no-yu in Moriyama, Shiga. Inside there is a tower sauna, a steam salt sauna and a binchotan charcoal cold bath, plus a restaurant and relaxation rooms. Entry is 890 yen on weekdays and 1,020 yen at weekends, open 10:00 to 1:00. Guests with tattoos are refused.
小町湯
Komachi-yu is a sento of more than 100 years in Nishi-Shichijo, Shimogyo, with a retro tiled front and neon lights. Its baths use mineral-rich groundwater heated slowly over firewood. It has two saunas, a steam sauna and a Bona sauna, one of only two in Kyoto, plus a flowing cold bath and a place to cool off outdoors, as well as an open-air bath. Entry is 550 yen; open 15:00 to 1:00 (Sundays from 7:00), closed Tuesdays.
玉光湯 ひじりのね 伏見店
Gyokko-yu Hijirinone is a super sento in Hazukashi, Fushimi, open 8:00 to midnight every day of the year. The men's side has a tower sauna with automatic löyly for five minutes every hour from 9:00 to 23:00 at 85 to 90 °C, and a Finnish sauna; the women's side has a tower sauna and a herb-scented salt sauna at about 60 °C. Its 10 °C cold bath is billed as the first in Kyoto, and there is a high-concentration carbonated bath.
白山湯 六条店
Hakusan-yu Rokujo is the Shinmachi-Rokujo branch of the Hakusan-yu sento, a short walk from Kyoto Station in Shimogyo. It has a sauna, a cold bath and an open-air bath alongside deep and shallow baths, jet, electric and herbal baths. It opens 15:00 to midnight on weekdays and from 7:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and is closed on Wednesdays.
白山湯 高辻店
Hakusan-yu Takatsuji is a neighbourhood sento in Shimogyo, about ten minutes' walk from Shijo subway station, and one of two Hakusan-yu baths in the ward. Alongside deep and shallow baths, jet, electric and herbal baths it has a sauna and a cold bath, and the bath water is rotated daily. It opens 15:00 to midnight on weekdays and from 7:00 on Sundays, and closes on Saturdays.
紫野温泉
Murasakino Onsen is a late-night sento east of Daitokuji temple in Kita-ku, known for keeping some of the latest hours of any bath in the prefecture. Its milky micro-bubble bath is the signature, alongside an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and jet and electric baths, and draft beer is sold after the bath. The cooperative lists it as open 15:00 to 2:00, closed Wednesdays.
鴨川湯
Kamogawa-yu is a sento on Kitaoji-dori in Shimogamo, founded in 1926 and taken over by the Yutonamisha collective in 2023, which kept its tiled bathroom and filled the walls with tiles salvaged from closed Kyoto bathhouses. Its baths use firewood-heated natural groundwater, and both sides have a sauna and a cold bath. Entry is 550 yen; open 14:00 to 1:00 (Sundays from 8:00), closed Tuesdays.
Six Senses Spa Kyoto
Six Senses Spa Kyoto, in the Six Senses hotel in Higashiyama near Sanjusangendo, sells day passes to visitors: up to three hours of the pool, bathhouse, sauna and gym for 18,000 yen per person, booked through the spa. The male and female changing areas each have a sauna, a steam room and a bath house, and there is an indoor pool and a Watsu pool. Baths and sauna are open 7:00 to 21:00, last entry 20:00.
The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto
The spa at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto in Higashiyama welcomes outside guests with a 180-minute day pass for 18,000 yen covering the 20-metre indoor pool, jetted tubs, gym, sauna, baths and relaxation lounge on the underground Level 2; gym wear and swimsuits can be rented. The bathing area includes a steam bath, and the spa appears in Vogue's list of the 100 best spas in the world. Open daily 10:00 to 21:00, last entry 20:00.
FIRST THE SAUNA 京都
FIRST THE SAUNA is a men-only membership sauna four minutes' walk from Kyoto Station that also admits visitors, with no time limit on a visit. The sauna seats 15 at about 95 °C with self-löyly, and holds aroma and heat-wave sessions. A 15 °C cold bath, a 40 °C warm bath and a lounge with full-flat, infinity and Adirondack chairs complete it. It runs unstaffed from 9:30 to midnight; visitor tickets cost 1,800 to 2,200 yen.
さがの温泉 天山の湯
Sagano Onsen Tenzan-no-yu is a large hot-spring bath complex near Arashiyama, fed by a sodium-calcium chloride spring from 1,200 metres down, the first of its kind in the Kyoto basin. The men's side has a tower löyly sauna, the women's a radium salt sauna and a rocky dry sauna, and staff hold Aufguss every odd hour from 13:00 to 23:00. A 16.5 °C cold bath and open-air baths follow. Open 10:00 to midnight, closed the third Monday of each month.
むらさき湯
Murasaki-yu is a sento by the Horikawa-Kitaoji bus stop in Kita-ku whose changing room was built by shipwrights in the early Showa era. The bathroom has a spacious sauna and baths drawn from natural water 100 metres underground, including standing, sitting and lying jet baths, an open-air bath, a herbal bath, an electric bath and a cold bath. It also hosts rakugo nights. Open 15:00 to 1:00, closed Mondays.
サウナ&カプセルホテル ルーマプラザ
Rumor Plaza is a men-only sauna and capsule hotel in Gion, open around the clock, with a rooftop open-air bath and outdoor cooling area looking over the city. The main sauna runs at about 90 °C on an IKI stove with staff-led löyly; a seventh-floor Finnish sauna at 80 °C has self-löyly, and there is a 70 °C salt sauna. Cold baths run at 17, 14 and 20 °C. A regular visit costs 2,700 yen (3,000 yen on Saturdays), and a one-hour visit 1,800 yen.
サウナの梅湯
Sauna no Umeyu is a neighbourhood sento on the Takase River in Shimogyo, revived in 2015 as the first bath of the Yutonamisha collective and known for its red, yellow and green neon sign. Both the men's and women's sides have a dry sauna, a cold bath, deep and shallow baths, an electric bath and a herbal bath. Entry is 550 yen; it opens 6:00 to 2:00 the next morning and closes on Thursdays.
サウナ平安湯
Sauna Heian-yu is a modern-looking sento in Yoshida, Sakyo, near Kyoto University, billed as a 'museum sento' for its 7.2-metre painted mural of Kyoto festivals, with notes explaining each scene (English text is available). Its electric saunas with television run at about 112 °C on the men's side and 100 °C on the women's, beside a cold bath of flowing natural groundwater and a daily herbal bath. Open 15:00 to midnight, closed Thursdays.
壬生温泉 はなの湯
Mibu Onsen Hanano-yu is a day hot-spring bath in Mibu, Nakagyo, whose open-air rock bath and tsubo pot bath use natural hot-spring water drawn from 1,300 metres at Hotaru-no-yu in Moriyama, Shiga. Inside there is a tower sauna, a steam salt sauna and a binchotan charcoal cold bath, plus a restaurant and relaxation rooms. Entry is 890 yen on weekdays and 1,020 yen at weekends, open 10:00 to 1:00. Guests with tattoos are refused.
小町湯
Komachi-yu is a sento of more than 100 years in Nishi-Shichijo, Shimogyo, with a retro tiled front and neon lights. Its baths use mineral-rich groundwater heated slowly over firewood. It has two saunas, a steam sauna and a Bona sauna, one of only two in Kyoto, plus a flowing cold bath and a place to cool off outdoors, as well as an open-air bath. Entry is 550 yen; open 15:00 to 1:00 (Sundays from 7:00), closed Tuesdays.
玉光湯 ひじりのね 伏見店
Gyokko-yu Hijirinone is a super sento in Hazukashi, Fushimi, open 8:00 to midnight every day of the year. The men's side has a tower sauna with automatic löyly for five minutes every hour from 9:00 to 23:00 at 85 to 90 °C, and a Finnish sauna; the women's side has a tower sauna and a herb-scented salt sauna at about 60 °C. Its 10 °C cold bath is billed as the first in Kyoto, and there is a high-concentration carbonated bath.
白山湯 六条店
Hakusan-yu Rokujo is the Shinmachi-Rokujo branch of the Hakusan-yu sento, a short walk from Kyoto Station in Shimogyo. It has a sauna, a cold bath and an open-air bath alongside deep and shallow baths, jet, electric and herbal baths. It opens 15:00 to midnight on weekdays and from 7:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and is closed on Wednesdays.
白山湯 高辻店
Hakusan-yu Takatsuji is a neighbourhood sento in Shimogyo, about ten minutes' walk from Shijo subway station, and one of two Hakusan-yu baths in the ward. Alongside deep and shallow baths, jet, electric and herbal baths it has a sauna and a cold bath, and the bath water is rotated daily. It opens 15:00 to midnight on weekdays and from 7:00 on Sundays, and closes on Saturdays.
紫野温泉
Murasakino Onsen is a late-night sento east of Daitokuji temple in Kita-ku, known for keeping some of the latest hours of any bath in the prefecture. Its milky micro-bubble bath is the signature, alongside an open-air bath, a sauna, a cold bath and jet and electric baths, and draft beer is sold after the bath. The cooperative lists it as open 15:00 to 2:00, closed Wednesdays.
鴨川湯
Kamogawa-yu is a sento on Kitaoji-dori in Shimogamo, founded in 1926 and taken over by the Yutonamisha collective in 2023, which kept its tiled bathroom and filled the walls with tiles salvaged from closed Kyoto bathhouses. Its baths use firewood-heated natural groundwater, and both sides have a sauna and a cold bath. Entry is 550 yen; open 14:00 to 1:00 (Sundays from 8:00), closed Tuesdays.
Six Senses Spa Kyoto
Six Senses Spa Kyoto, in the Six Senses hotel in Higashiyama near Sanjusangendo, sells day passes to visitors: up to three hours of the pool, bathhouse, sauna and gym for 18,000 yen per person, booked through the spa. The male and female changing areas each have a sauna, a steam room and a bath house, and there is an indoor pool and a Watsu pool. Baths and sauna are open 7:00 to 21:00, last entry 20:00.
The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto
The spa at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto in Higashiyama welcomes outside guests with a 180-minute day pass for 18,000 yen covering the 20-metre indoor pool, jetted tubs, gym, sauna, baths and relaxation lounge on the underground Level 2; gym wear and swimsuits can be rented. The bathing area includes a steam bath, and the spa appears in Vogue's list of the 100 best spas in the world. Open daily 10:00 to 21:00, last entry 20:00.