Kogane-yu

Innovative, distilled, grounded.

Tattoos okay? Yes
Sauna? Yes
Price? $
Should I Bring Toiletries? Optional. Shampoo and soap on site. Towels for rent. Bring your sauna hat!
Best for? Those looking for a skillful blend of the old and the new, and an accessible look into Tokyo’s booming sento revival/sauna culture.

A success story tucked away between the Tokyo Skytree and Kinshicho Station, Kogane-yu manages to preserve the core of a 100+ year old sento, while adding a few special twists that give Kogane-yu a buzz that is making waves in the Tokyo sento scene

While it may be hard to believe looking at the two-hour long lines to get in, it was not long ago that Kogane-yu was a run-down, old-school bath house on its last legs. After a crowdfunding initiative and COVID-19 related delays, Kogane-yu received a major facelift in 2021. A true success story, Kogane-yu is now one of the trendiest sento in town, complete with a bar serving craft beer and an in-house DJ (no, that was not a typo).

Aesthetics:
Kogane-yu’s design sandwiches the old and the new, with the front and back of the facility carrying the lion’s share of the modern upgrades, and the bathing portion/center part of the sento remaining mostly intact as a traditional sento, minus some refinished wall murals and general upkeep.

Approaching Kogane-yu, patrons are greeted with an open glass window and sliding door, with a view of the shoe lockers, front desk, and the facility’s standing bar/DJ booth. With a staff member manning the record selection and serving up Kogane-yu’s line of craft beer to customers, the venue’s sleek aesthetic is matched by the modern, hipster-esque offerings at the front.

The lobby ceilings extend fairly high as well, revealing some intentionally exposed pipes, giving a vibe reminiscent of a trendy business in modern Brooklyn. While the lobby packs a lot into a modest space, the open air design of the lobby kept the space focused and sleek.

The locker room matches the sleek, light wooden brown aesthetic that adorns the exterior of the facility. The bath/main sento portion of the facility does not break too far from the mold of a standard sento, minus the addition of a sleek, modern art mural by artist Yoriko Hoshi. The aforementioned mural features a brush stroke depiction of Mount Fuji and what appear to be Japanese villagers in the countryside, all plastered on a modern concrete finish on the far side wall. The modern take on a classic sento art trope (Mount Fuji) is a small, but much appreciated touch.

The back portion of Kogane-yu reveals, after journeying through a sleek concrete tunnel, a sauna deck with a lit blue cold plunge pool directly across, complete with a lit atrium lined with plants surrounding the nearby lounge chairs. Exiting the bathing area and entering the sauna portion of the facility feels like finding a hidden area in a Legend of Zelda game, or finding an unexpected $50 in the pair of pants you put on in the morning. Hidden away, elegant, and surprisingly spacious, Kogane-yu’s outdoor atrium gives the facility a sense of completeness that nicely ties the experience together.

Culture/vibe:
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Kogane-yu, is the sento’s ability to simultaneously stay trendy, while providing an inclusive experience for all prospective guests. Families with children, older residents of the neighborhood, and inked Japanese sento hipsters have all been present in my several trips to Kogane-yu. Striking the balance of trendsetting without forcibly shunning long-time patrons, Kogane-yu manages to create a unique space that (from what I could garner) keeps its community feeling intact.

At the heart of Kogane-yu’s ethos is a focus on the facility as a community space. Plastered throughout the space, guests can see numerous collaborations with local businesses on various posters. One featured near the entrance even showcased a Converse Japan x Koganeyu collaboration event!

The space’s community centric ethos is on prominent display throughout the facility, giving the space a certain warmth that (otherwise great) “super sento” complexes can lack, such as Spa Laqua, or Thermae-yu.

Flyers and a calendar for local meetups/events hosted at Kogane-yu are visible throughout the facility. While my limited Japanese admittedly inhibited how much I could garner from the flyers, what I could manage to read showed how much effort Kogane-yu puts into being a community space, rather than just a trendy sento that serves craft beer.

While the space maintains a communal feel, make no mistake; Kogane-yu is hip to its core. When finishing up at the sento, Kogane-yu is best enjoyed by ordering a drink at the bar (alchoholic or not) and soaking in the atmosphere. The bar serves an excellent sparkling Poccari Sweat mocktail that, paired with an always on-point vinyl selection curated by the DJ, allows visitors to end their visit on a high note.

Facilities:

Kogane-yu’s baths are simple, yet effective. True to a traditional sento, the facility features your standard row of sitting showers, two hot pools (one hot, one meant to scorch your skin), a heated lounging pool, and a cold plunge. Nothing too flashy, but everything executes its purpose well. The temperature ratio between the hot and the cold provides an effective contrast that left me satisfied.

The sauna portion in the back is where Kogane-yu’s bathing experience particularly stood out. The sauna itself is quite toasty, and well heated. This no-nonsense sauna is complemented by an outdoor cold plunge right across the walkway. The cold plunge is situated above the nearby lounge, giving the body length pool an almost regal feeling, standing above bathers taking a break in the lounge cove.

The lounge itself has a water fountain and beverage cooler, with five to six chairs for bathers to take a break from the grueling yet invigorating hot/cold cycle. The feeling of the fresh air on my skin combined with the post-sauna/cold plunge high felt nothing short of euphoric. Bringing a cold electrolyte drink (Pocari Sweat and Aquarius are favorites in Japan) adds to this experience even further!

The well laid out hot-cold combination, combined with the outdoor setting that the lounge and cold pool find themselves in sold me on the Kogane-yu hype. I understood the often several hour wait times to use the sauna portion of the facility.

Limitations/shortcomings:
While a good problem to have as a business, Kogane-yu has clearly garnered fans. As a result, availability for the sauna is often several hours. Thankfully, there is an online portal that allows you to check the wait and reserve a spot ahead of time. That said, the long wait times do make me less inclined to pop in on a whim, and my visits tend to involve a bit more preemptive planning.

Additionally, for hosting an excellent lobby and bar, the seating itself is limited at two standing tables and a few stools. In my view, it seemed like a bit of a shame to have such great amenities with relatively little room to enjoy them to their full potential. Especially considering how long wait times can be, expanding the lobby could be a great opportunity to take full advantage of the excellent bar space

Authors Note: The outdoor portion of Kogane-yu is only offered to one gender at a time. Unfortunately for female guests, the outdoor sauna portion is generally only on the men’s side every day but Wednesday. There is an indoor sauna on the other side of the facility, but pales in size compared to its outdoor counterpart. If you are interested in the outdoor sauna area, I would suggest checking Kogane-yu’s website to make sure you are visiting on a day where you will have full access to the facilities.

Verdict:

Trendsetting without losing its footing, Kogane-yu manages to preserve a neighborhood bath house while creating a new vision for Japanese public bathing in the 21st century.