行田･湯本天然温泉 茂美の湯

Momi no Yu is a large day-use bathing complex in Gyoda. The men's and women's sides swap places daily, and each side has an indoor hinoki tub, a sauna, and outdoors, a whole scatter of small pools rather than one big rotenburo. The little tubs are named after things nearby (an old burial mound, a lotus pond) and each runs at its own temperature, from a gently cooled soak in the afternoon to a hotter one up on a rise. All of them draw from the same spring, and the water feels soft and smooth on the skin. A separate cold bath, filled straight from groundwater, is deep enough to properly submerge in and is something of a favorite among regulars. Beyond the baths there is a restaurant, a rest floor with manga to read, and even an in-house theater for taishu engeki shows. A few resident cats hang around the front desk, and spotting them is part of the fun for regulars.