Tokyo Life

Today we headed over to Odaiba (Tokyo’s man-made island) to check out the hot springs at Ooedo Onsen. Bath houses have always sounded a bit shady, but the experience was quite the opposite. This one in particular supposedly recreates an authentic hot spring experience from days of old. With that said, it was pretty high tech. When you check in, you’re given a wrist band which serves as a key to your locker as well as functions as a credit card of sorts so that you can wander the premises and buy food, drinks, gifts, etc.

Getting to the actual springs took a few steps which we had to figure out along the way:

1. On arrival, remove shoes and store in locker
2. Go to the counter to pay for entry
3. Go to another counter to select a Yukata (robe): Most of them had samurais on it and looked fairly unisex, but I was wrong and picked out a woman’s one
4. Go to another locker to change then you are free to wander the premises
5. BUT, before you go into the springs, you must go in to another locker room to store your yukata

5 hours, 3 beers, a dozen hot spring dips and a massage later we were done. Loved every minute of it.

Here’s some photos of the main area that connects the lockers and hot springs: