YAMADA ONSEN · NAGANO
YAMADA ONSEN · NAGANO
Sauna — Forest & Sky, Nagano
If you are looking for a private sauna in Nagano: at the hidden hot-spring inn MATSUKAWAKAN we have two private saunas — the Forest Sauna, wrapped in woodland, and the Tenku Sauna, close to the stars.
Forest Sauna
The Forest Sauna is a sauna area set inside a national park — a place built for becoming one with nature.
There are two serious sauna cabins on the site. Inside, the gentle scent of hinoki cypress fills the room, and the walls are finished in stone. The radiant heat reaches deep beneath the skin — the fierce, crackling kind of heat.
The stoves are deliberately over-specified HARVIA models. The sheer heat, and the löyly that comes with it, are a match for Finland itself.
Outside there is a cold-water bath 120 cm deep and more than ten reclining chairs. Give yourself to the stir of the trees and the sound of the wind, and you will reach totonoi properly.
From 20:00 the fire time begins. A flame moving in a quiet forest, with a sky full of stars above it, deepens what the sauna has already started.
You can bake pizza in the area as well. Food, heat and nature crossing in one place — an experience you will not find anywhere else.
Tenku Sauna
The Tenku Sauna is a fully private sauna, reserved for one group at a time.
From the window of the sauna room, the evening brings the sun setting into Matsukawa Gorge; at night, a sky full of stars — once ranked third in the world — is right in front of you. Seeing this while you settle into totonoi is an experience with no equal.
The interior was designed down to the last detail by an owner who loves saunas. The side walls are stone, which holds heat slowly, and the stove is a HARVIA tower stove. Self-löyly is permitted. The heat spreads softly, yet the löyly rises firmly — both at once.
A quiet hour with yourself, or a memory made with someone who matters: with family, with friends, or alone, this sauna works whichever way you come.
Because it is entirely yours, the calm and the feeling it leaves belong to you alone. Please enjoy it.
Owner's Thought
We do not think of the sauna only as a way to reach totonoi. We think of it as an experience in which nature, body and mind quietly connect.
The saunas at MATSUKAWAKAN came out of the owner’s own love of saunas. Facing the nature of Takayama Village again and again, he aimed at a sauna that could exist nowhere else, and designed around the forest and the night sky as far as they would go.
By day, the silence of a forest closed in by trees; by night, totonoi on high ground under a fire and the stars. Every part of it is there so that you can feel yourself becoming one with nature.
Food
We have been just as uncompromising about the food you eat after the sauna. The rice is Milky Queen, grown on the famed water of Takayama Village. The meat is fresh gibier taken by local hunters. And the dashi is a plum dashi, drawn carefully from our own umeboshi.
“Settle, eat, and settle again.” That is the luxurious cycle we want this inn to make possible.
Come and feel the journey into totonoi that exists only here.
An inn where fire, water and stars settle you.
The Forest Sauna, where the five senses come loose; the Tenku Sauna, wrapped in sunset and starlight. The time it takes to become one with nature is here.
Choose Your Sauna
Here is each of them in detail. If you want an evening by the fire, go to the Forest Sauna; if you want the stars privately to yourself, go to the Tenku Sauna.
I
A sauna of firelight and stars, standing in a national park forest. Self-löyly, a cold-water bath 120 cm deep, and pizza baking too.
MoreII
A fully private sauna looking out on the gorge at sunset and a night sky ranked third in the world. With family, with friends, or alone — however you come.
MoreWhich Sauna?
If you are looking for a private sauna in Takayama Village, Nagano, the first question is usually which of the two to choose. Both are built on the nature and the water of Takayama Village, but they differ in how privately you can use them, in price, and in the kind of occasion they suit. Use the table below as a guide when you plan the sauna part of your trip to Nagano.
| Point of comparison | Forest Sauna | Tenku Sauna |
|---|---|---|
| Sauna rooms | Two rooms: an 85°C medium-heat herbal sauna and a 110°C very high-heat sauna | One room: radiant heat from hinoki cypress and stone, with a HARVIA tower stove |
| Cold-water bath | Takayama Village water, 120 cm deep | Takayama Village water |
| Private or shared | Normally shared (private use can be arranged on request) | Fully private (one group at a time) |
| Capacity | Up to 10 people | One group (family, friends, or on your own) |
| Day-use price | From ¥2,300 (tax included) / 120 min | From ¥9,800 (tax included) per group / 120 min |
| Hours | 10:00–20:00 (last entry 20:00) | By reservation only, 120 minutes per session |
| For overnight guests | Included free in stay plans (20:00–23:00 is fire time for overnight guests only) | ¥3,000 (tax included) per group / 120 min |
| Best suited to | Groups and families who also want the fire and the pizza baking | Couples and solo travellers who want private time above all |
If you want a lively evening with your group around the fire, the Forest Sauna. If you want the sunset over the gorge and the stars quietly to yourself, the Tenku Sauna. And of course many guests stay the night and enjoy both. Prices are subject to change; please confirm on the booking site.
Day-use or Stay?
The saunas at MATSUKAWAKAN in Takayama Village, Nagano, can be used either on a day visit or as part of a stay. Day use is from ¥2,300 (tax included) for 120 minutes; for overnight guests it is free, with 20:00–23:00 reserved for guests of the inn. A fuller comparison of prices and hours is on the Sauna Stay page, and how to decide between them is gathered in How to choose a sauna in Nagano. If two of you are booking privately, the way to divide the time is set out in a sauna trip for two in Nagano. Prices are subject to change; please confirm on the booking site.
FAQ
Guests who stay the night get the evening fire time and the sauna the next morning as well. Add the free-flowing hot spring water and the Shinshu gibier cooked at the irori hearth.
Reservation
Come and feel the journey into totonoi that exists only here.
About 40 minutes by car from Nagano Station, with a free shuttle available. Booking through the official site is always the best value.