Hakko Sauna

A fully private, wood-fired sauna on the edge of Yamagata city. The sauna room is a two-tier hall with an arched ceiling, and you feed the fire yourself to set the heat and throw as much water on the stones as you like. Changing room and shower are in the same building. After the heat you step out to a barrel cold bath filled with groundwater, then cool off on a wooden deck with mountains around and birdsong and a stream in the background. A tent next to the deck has a fireplace and a floor of wood shavings, and stays warm even in midwinter. Swimsuits are required, and reviewers describe it as reservation-only. The sauna was built by the carpenters of the construction company that runs it, and visitors mention an old-tool shop in a converted farmhouse next door. This is a sauna, not a hot spring bath.