Yunoki no sato — Restaurant in Shizuoka

this place was awesome. i had a sad day and this place cheered me up. it was super big, super clean, and very enjoyable. i contemplated extending my stay so that i could back here a second time.

i was greeted by the friendly front desk attendant, and paid 935yen for the daily admission, and an extra 330yen for towel rental, and 1100yen for access to the co-ed sauna. she also gave me a locker key that acts as a wallet to buy anything i wanted while in the facility (like drinks from the vending machines, restaurant, spa services).

on the way to the 2nd floor baths, i walked over to the service rsvp desk and their first open appointments were 2-3 hours out, so if you can, go early in the day and expect to spend half/all day there to get services, or book ahead of time. chika helped explain the menu to me in english, and. booked a 30min body scrub (4290yen), 30min dry face massage (3300yen) and 50min facial (7150yen). she gave me a bag of clothing to change into for my massage and facial appointments.

up on the 2nd floor, you'll walk to the spa attendant station, and receive bags of towels and your co-ed sauna lounge outfit. then i walked down the hall to the women's changing area, and got into the pools! while changing, an attendant handed me a "ladies' day coupon" in japanese, that ended up being for a free scoop of ice cream :)

the vibe is super chill, and there weren't many people there in the earlier part of my visit (around 2:30pm). in the inside part of the onsen, were the standard sitting shower areas, a few pools that had big open windows to the central courtyard (where the outdoor pools were), and a dry sauna along with a steam room with salt to scrub yourself down with.

outside, i loved. it had a beautiful patch of greenery in the middle to give you some rejuvenating ambiance while you lay in the 3 hot pools, 1 brown mineral pool (not sure what it contained, all signage was in japanese) and 1 cold plunge. i think there might have been another steam or sauna room out here too.

then, i got my scrub from mihumi, who was lovely. i checked out the co-ed sauna lounge areas (lots of hot rooms with crystals, herbs or salt in them), got my dry face massage appointment with takuya and my facial with chika!

the entire co-ed lounge is on 2nd floor (free tea and pickled cranberries in the tv room!) but there are also lounge areas downstairs: a huge tatami mat reading area and individual reading pods downstairs. manga and books (japanese and some english) of all kinds abound.

i had dinner at the restaurant, which was just ok, but maybe i got the wrong dishes. i had the oyakodon and a few pieces of tempura. the menu is in japanese, but the server was kind enough to try and explain the different types of tempura they offered, as they offer them by piece (along with a set).

after dinner, i went next door to the cafe to redeem my coupon. i thought it would have been for a free drink, but it ended being for a free scoop of ice cream! what a lovely surprise. i had the rum raisin, which was pretty yummy.

checking out was really easy, with the locker key / wallet system. afterwards, i headed back to the train station (1min to the entrance, just left out of the osento, past the parking lot) to get back home. the walk out of the osento back onto the street was really beautiful, with the lanterns alight, and crickets singing in the foliage.

i had been worried about visiting an osento with covid being a thing, but i felt safe and it was great to escape for a bit. i'd totally recommend this place!

ps...

Absolutely amazing place. First of all, it's so cheap and EXTREMELY clean. Japan is a clean place but some spas/onsen aren't as clean as others. This one went beyond every expectation I had. I saw the staff cleaning even while there were only a handful of people around. Always putting everything back into place, organizing, washing things down.. Thank goodness! This place is also huge so there's so much to enjoy. Even paying the most basic price gets you into the saunas of different sorts and the indoor and outdoor bath. You can also relax in the nooks they have on the lower level and read books or take a nap. There's food too of course and a number of vending machines from what I remember. Their get-ready area post-bath also has ear cleaners and lotions and hair dryers.. Seriously everything you need is right there. It's amazing. Without a doubt I'd go here every week if I lived here. So glad I got to experience it at least once though. Highly...

I have lived in Japan for more than 20 years and never had a problem with my small tattoo on my back when visiting an onsen. When I first visited this onsen with my daughters, who were young at the time, I had a bad experience because some elderly women kept giving us unpleasant looks. However, since many years have passed, I thought I would give it another try.

There was no problem entering the onsen, and I was actually impressed by their updated check-in system. However, the deep onsen wasn’t hot enough for me, so I decided to use the sauna instead. Just as I left the sauna, a staff member approached me outside the door and told me that I had to leave because of my tattoo. I was dripping with sweat, yet she was insisting that I leave immediately.

I asked if I could at least wash up and change first. I also inquired whether we could use the bedrock sauna, where clothing is required, since we had even purchased the lunch set. However, she told me that we were not allowed to enter, not even the restaurant.

Honestly, I don’t get why they still ban people with tattoos when the real issue is that they’re afraid of Japanese with tattoos, not foreigners. For us, tattoos are just a way to express ourselves, not some gang symbol.

I get that onsens have rules, and I wouldn’t mind if they just told me I couldn’t use the bath. But why kick me out of the restaurant too? What does eating lunch have to do with tattoos? It’s frustrating how strict and outdated some places still are.

Japan is changing, and more places are allowing tattoos, especially with all the tourists coming in. But some onsens just refuse to adapt. It makes me wonder—are they really just banning tattoos, or are they trying to keep certain people out?

If they don’t want foreigners with tattoos, they should just say it outright instead of using some old rule as an excuse.

私は日本に20年以上住んでいて、これまで温泉で背中の小さなタトゥーが問題になったことはありませんでした。昔、娘たちとこの温泉を訪れたときは、年配の女性たちにじろじろ見られて嫌な思いをしました。でも、もう何年も経ったし、また試してみようと思いました。

入館時は特に問題もなく、チェックインのシステムが新しくなっていて感心しました。ただ、深い浴槽のお湯がぬるかったので、サウナに入ることにしました。しかし、サウナを出た瞬間、スタッフが私のところに来て、「タトゥーがあるので退館してください」と言われました。汗だくの状態で、すぐに出て行けと言われたのです。

せめて体を洗って着替えさせてほしいと頼みました。また、服を着て入る岩盤浴なら利用できないか尋ねましたし、私たちはすでにランチセットも購入していました。でも、スタッフは「レストランにも入れません」と言いました。

正直なところ、なぜ今でもタトゥーを理由に入館を禁止するのか理解できません。実際に彼らが怖がっているのは、日本人のタトゥーであって、外国人のタトゥーではないでしょう？ 私たちにとって、タトゥーは単なる自己表現であって、反社会的なものではありません。

温泉にルールがあるのは分かります。もし「浴場はダメ」と言われるだけなら、まだ理解できます。でも、なぜレストランまで利用できないのか？ 食事とタトゥーに何の関係があるのでしょう？...