Kouchi Pokapoka Onsen

Kouchi Pokapoka Onsen is a straightforward neighborhood day-spa on the edge of Kochi city, more a spot locals drop into after work than a destination bath. Alongside a natural open-air bath, there are close to a dozen indoor tubs and pools: a sitting bath, a reclining bath, jet massage pools, and tubs built for easing sore muscles. Two saunas, a hot dry one and a salt sauna, sit next to a properly cold plunge pool. The water itself runs salty and mineral-rich. The men's and women's bathing areas swap sides daily, so the hotter bath and the milder one trade places from one visit to the next. A casual restaurant serves noodles, fried chicken sets and soft-serve, and there's a massage counter, a tatami rest room and a coin laundry, so an afternoon here tends to run long.