This Sunday we visited Therme Ogawa which is located within walking distance from the place we are living. Like many other Onsen(hot spring) places in Tokyo area, this “Therme” has added a few more hot tubs and other facilities which make a stay more enjoyable. For me the biggest criteria to visit such a facility is always the question whether they have a sauna. Therme Ogawa has two of them, one in the men’s section and one in the women’s section. Additionally they have a steam sauna, foot bath, massage onsen (a kind of jacuzzi with hot spring water) and a variety of indoor and outdoor onsen pools. I am usually no easily satisfied when attending a sauna in Japan, but Therme Ogawa definitely made me happy. First of all, they operate the huge sauna cabin (see picture on the right) at a temperature of 90 degrees Celsius. There are enough benches so that even during the most crowded time everyone finds a seat and the oven is producing heat only (not like some other places where they called it a sauna, but it was literally a huge steam cooker). The entrance fee on weekdays is 800 Yen (8 EUR) and on weekends they charge 1000 Yen (10 EUR), whereas one can stay as long as he/she wants. There is a restaurant inside that offers various dishes and if one wants to take a massage there is staff waiting to knead your body at a very reasonable price. The only small drawback, compared to other places, is that there is no relax area where you can sit on a chair/bed and take a short nap from the exhausting treatments in tubs, saunas, etc.
Overall I can recommend that place for anyone in western Tokyo area, especially to those who are looking for a good sauna environment.

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