The Forest Sauna
the way we recommend using it

1

First, warm up in the inner onsen bath

Warming your body lightly before the sauna makes you sweat more easily. Once your shoulders and even your toes are gently warm, head for the Forest Sauna.

2

When you arrive at the Forest Sauna

Please have a drink of water first. A sauna takes more water out of you than you think, so that first glass matters a great deal.

3

Into the 110°C sauna on the left

The first room we point you to is the serious 110°C sauna. We recommend about 10–12 minutes inside. Feel the heat working slowly into the core of your body.

If you still have room to spare in the 110°C sauna, pouring löyly about two minutes before you leave will wrap your whole body softly in heat. Warming more deeply makes the cold-water bath and the open-air rest that follow feel exceptional.

* If it is cold outside and your body has cooled down on the way from the building to the sauna area, warming up once in the 85°C sauna is also a good idea.

4

Into the cold-water bath (a very important point)

After the sauna, please do get into the cold-water bath. The bath at MATSUKAWAKAN is 120 cm deep. The cold may surprise you, but this is the fork in the road of the whole experience.

Whether or not you get into the cold water changes how good the open-air rest afterwards feels — by a great deal.

If it is really too much, even pouring water over your head and shoulders has an effect. Please try it as far as is comfortable for you.

5

Rest (cooling off in the open air)

This is where the Forest Sauna is at its best.

Step out into the resting space and the air of the forest touches your whole body; the stir of the trees, the sound of water and the scent of the fire soak slowly into you.

What we recommend first is the lie-down space. Look up at the sky, feel nothing but the wind, and your breathing deepens by itself.

In the cold seasons of autumn and winter, resting outside with a poncho over your shoulders is exceptional. The moment cool air touches a warm body has a comfort that words do not quite reach.

6

When you have cooled down, into the 85°C sauna on the right

Once the open air has cooled you properly, go to the 85°C sauna. This is a temperature you can spend time in, soft enough that a long stay is no strain.

We fill the steam with the scent of the day — birch, roasted green tea and others — so please breathe deeply and enjoy it. Talking, lying down, however you like: this is a sauna to spend freely.

When your body has warmed gently and the core has come back, skip the cold-water bath and return to the 110°C sauna.

7

The cycle we recommend

110°C sauna → cold-water bath → open-air rest → 85°C sauna → 110°C sauna → cold-water bath → open-air rest → 85°C sauna → 110°C sauna → …

Three cycles of this give you a good balance of deep relaxation and a clear, refreshed feeling.