Takanoyu

Takanoyu is a small municipal bathhouse in Takayama's Soramachi district. Indoors there's a carbonated bath and a herbal bath; outside is a large, pool-sized bath dosed with Epsom salt, kept deliberately mellow rather than hot, so it suits a long soak more than a quick warm-up. A wood-stove sauna with a big window faces Shiroyama, and the cold plunge is deep enough for a few bathers at once. Men's and women's rooms swap daily, and the changing area and rest space keep an old neighbourhood-sento feel. Tattoos are fine here, per numerous visitor reviews.