{"id":80739,"date":"2020-11-11T09:30:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T00:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/?p=80739"},"modified":"2020-11-10T17:53:15","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T08:53:15","slug":"3-sekaiyu-an-urban-bathhouse-for-sauna-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/news\/2020\/11\/11\/80739\/","title":{"rendered":"[#3] Sekaiyu: An Urban Bathhouse for Sauna Lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n\u2015\u2015\u3000After walking down Waseda-dori towards Takadanobaba Station, we arrived at our final stop: Seikaiyu, a sento located in a residential area along the Kanda River and past the Yamanote Line. This was Enya\u2019s first time visiting the sento<\/em>, which is situated on the first floor of an apartment building. Her sauna-loving friend recommended the sento<\/em>, insisting she go at least once.<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nUpon entering the sento<\/em>, we are taken aback by its dazzling exterior. Although the sento <\/em>was last renovated 10 years ago, its pristine presentation would make one thing it had just opened last year. <\/strong><\/p>\n

One standout feature of the bathroom is its tile painting. Sekaiyu means \u201cworld hot spring,\u201d and the painting of Iguazu Falls in the men\u2019s area, and that of Matterhorn in the women\u2019s area, befit the sento<\/em>\u2019s name. But what caught Enya\u2019s attention was the denkiburo <\/em>(bath with electric current) underneath.
\n\"\"
\nEnya
\nThese jube denkiburo<\/em> are popular among sento <\/em>goers. They feature three massage patterns \u2014 rub, push, and pat \u2014 that release muscle knots. It\u2019s the most pleasurable type of denkiburo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2015\u2015\u3000Without further ado, let\u2019s enter the highly anticipated sauna! <\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nEnya
\nWhoa! A \u201ccomfort\u201d sauna!<\/p>\n

\u2015\u2015\u3000While ordinary saunas have low levels of humidity, Sekaiyu\u2019s \u201ccomfort\u201d sauna produces steam to maintain high humidity. When we opened the doors, the pleasant smell of hinoki cypress wafted forth. <\/strong><\/p>\n

But to Enya\u2019s disappointment, only the men\u2019s area has a sauna. The women\u2019s area doesn\u2019t appear to have one.<\/p>\n

Enya
\nWhat? Men have it better…<\/p>\n

\u2015\u2015\u3000On the other hand, the women\u2019s dressing room offers natural aromas as an amenity. The sento <\/em>also features a baby bed, and the entrance to bathrooms have adjustable steps to allow easy access to all visitors. The sento <\/em>also incorporates new technologies, such as cashless payment methods like PayPay.<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nEnya
\nAlthough it\u2019s disappointing there is no women\u2019s sauna, the interior is splendid and there are nice amenities. These reflect the sento<\/em>\u2019s consideration for its customers. It\u2019s a very convenient sento <\/em>for those living in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

When I was in Osaka, I visited a sento <\/em>that provided masks. I was impressed by this consideration for customers who want to get out of the bath and leave without reapplying makeup. I\u2019d like to incorporate some of these services at Kosugiyu, both in terms of my job and amenities.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ayabe, owner of Sekaiyu<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2015\u2015\u3000Owner of Sekaiyu, Ayabe Akimitsu, informed us that their customers include seniors and university students from Waseda University and the Takadanobaba area, as well as international students attending Japanese language schools. Other customers include people who wash up after training at the nearby sports gym and martial arts dojo. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2015\u2015\u3000Ayabe is also involved in various activities to promote sento <\/em>in Shinjuku. He makes \u201cshop cards\u201d for Shinjuku sento<\/em>, appears at events, and is the creator of the Shinjuku bathhouse association\u2019s official mascot, \u201cYugeji.\u201d He is completely devoted to the promotion of sento<\/em>, distributing stationary to children in order to teach them about the wonderful aspects of sento<\/em>. <\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nEnya
\nAs someone involved in the sento <\/em>business, I\u2019ve learned a lot from Ayabe\u2019s activities. I want to support him and his activities to promote sento <\/em>inspire me. If I were to illustrate Sekaiyu, I would like to focus on the \u201chuman\u201d aspect of this sento<\/em>.
\n\"\"
\n\u2015\u2015\u3000In addition to the pleasant bathing facilities, Sekaiyu has another important asset, its owner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Information<\/h3>\n

\u25a0Sekaiyu
\nAddress: 3-8-31 Takadanobaba Shinjuku-ku
\nAccess: 7-minute walk from Takadanobaba Station (JR Yamanote Line, Seibu Shinjuku Line, and Tokyo Metro Tozai Line)
\nTel: 03-3371-2409
\nHours: 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.
\nDays Closed: Thursdays
\n\"\"
\n\u2015\u2015 In addition to those already mentioned, there are many unique sento <\/em>located around Waseda University, including Tsurumaki Yu near the front gate of Waseda Campus and Toyokawa Yokusen located across the Kanda River from Toden Waseda Station.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enya
\nI\u2019d like all Waseda students to try sento <\/em>at least once. Students go through frustrating moments of uncertainty, especially when job-hunting. Students should go to sento <\/em>when things don\u2019t go planned or when they\u2019re feeling down. The best time to go is when the sun is out.<\/p>\n

If you soak in the bath, relax in the sauna, take a cold bath, and then rinse and repeat and hydrate, you\u2019ll feel much better. Your troubles will work themselves out!<\/p>\n

Information<\/h3>\n

\u25a0Tsurumakiyu
\nAddress: 533 Tsurumakicho Waseda, Shinjuku-ku
\nAccess: 5-minute walk from Waseda Station (Tokyo Metro Tozai Line)
\nTel: 03-3203-1834
\nHours: 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
\nDays Closed: Tuesdays and Saturdays<\/p>\n

\u25a0Toyokawa Yokusen
\nAddress: 1-13-1 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku
\nAccess: 5-minute walk from Waseda Station (Toden Arakawa Line)
\nTel:\u300003-3941-7856
\nHours: 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
\nDays Closed: Mondays and Fridays<\/p>\n

*Information posted is accurate as of July 2019
\n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2015\u2015\u3000After walking down Waseda-dori towards Takadanobaba Station, we arrived at our final stop: Seikaiyu, a sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3613,"featured_media":80748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3613"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80757,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80739\/revisions\/80757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}