I Love ゆ Newsletter

2012-01-08T14:14:05Z

I Love ã‚† Newsletter No. 4 - January 2012

In this newsletter:

Site updates.
This issueâ€™s recommended spot.

Happy New Year!

I hope all my readers get to enjoy some great hot springs this year!

Site updates

Sakai is finally finished. A few really good super-sento are located in Sakai, including a brilliant little sento with a natural hot spring. All of the Sakai spots can be found here

Sakai: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/osaka/sakai/sakai.html

I've added a new supersento in Kakogawa, Hyogo. Akane no Yu is a great little super-sento with a ton of bubbly baths, but no natural hot spring.

Akane no Yu: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/hyogo/hyogo/akane.html

I've also updated the photos at the great Pokapo in rural Kato city.

Pokapo: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/hyogo/hyogo/pokapo.html

In Osaka city I've added a great neighborhood sento near Sekime station on the Keihan line. Super local with a great feel. Totally recommended for an authentic sento experience.

Suzuran Onsen: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/osaka/osaka/osaka/shimizu.html

2) This issueâ€™s recommended spot.

Sakai has a great number of sento and super-sento. Most of them with in a short walk from one of the many railways that run through the city. Here's an extra unique one among many unique sento in the city. Minatoshio-Yu actually pumps saltwater in from the Osaka bay, cleans it, heats it up and pumps it into the baths. What was once a common practice in the sento in the area is now only found here. So enjoy a nice saltwater bath but watch out for any little cuts! Ouch!

Minanoshio-Yu: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/osaka/sakai/sakai/minatoshio.html

Happy new year! I've been doing this for 3 years now as I Love Yu and another one or two as Kansai Onsen Review. Hopefully the site will get more polished in 2012 and I can begin to do some more promotions for it. Coming up I've got a bunch of great places including a few in Shiga and one in Tsuruga, Fukui that I just adored.

Thank you for subscribing and, as always, can contact me in the comments on the blog or by email.

Thanks,
David

I Love ゆ Newsletter No. 3 - September 2011

2011-09-02T17:50:08Z

I Love ã‚† Newsletter No. 3 - September 2011

In this newsletter:

Site updates.
This issueâ€™s recommended spot.

Site updates

With Hyogo prefecture finished, I have moved on to Osaka first dealing with those sento and supersento in the cityâ€™s borders. Looking at this finished list I can think of a few places that I have been to but omitted due to poor note taking. Overall there is a good sampling of the whatâ€™s on offer within the city including some amazing natural springs that shouldn't be missed. There are 22 reviews of active sento and one remembrance of a great sento that closed since my visit.

Osaka city: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/osaka/osaka/osakacity.html

2) This issueâ€™s recommended spot.

I canâ€™t recommend Shigino Kengon Onsen more. My first trip here was somewhat of the impetus for what became the I Love Yu project. Shigino is a gem of a sento with great staff and a truly amazing spring. I canâ€™t write much more than what is already on the review so check it out there.

Shigino Kengon Onsen: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/osaka/osaka/osaka/shigino.html

And thatâ€™s it for No.3. Thank you for subscribing. I hope youâ€™re all enjoying some baths and that you had a great summer vacation. Since having a baby and going to the gym, my sento time has really been cut into. Hopefully sometime this weekend Iâ€™ll be able to get out of the house for a few hours.

Sakai city is next on my list. Iâ€™ll try to visit a few more around there before uploading my reviews. If you have any tips in Sakai please send them my way. As always you can contact me here: david@iloveyu.jp

Yours Truly, â€¨
David Kawabata
iloveyu.jp

I Love ゆ Newsletter No. 2 - June 2011

2011-06-12T13:49:03Z

I Love ã‚† Newsletter No. 2 - June 2011

In this newsletter:

Site updates.
This issueâ€™s recommended spot.
Site updates. I have competed 20 reviews of mostly supersento from around Hyogo. Most of them more easily accessible by car, but there are a few that you can get to by train. Ebisu-Yu standing out as one of the best with an amazing spring feeding two outdoor-ish baths

Ebisu-Yu: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/hyogo/hyogo/ebisu.html Hyogo: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/hyogo/hyogo.html

2) This issueâ€™s recommended spot.

One supersento that my wife and I keep on saying that we want to return to is Nehime-no-Yu tucked up in rural Kasai city. The recommended course to get here by public transport on their website involves taking a highway bus and getting off at one of those lonely bus stops on the freeway and walking 5 minutes! Using trains wonâ€™t help much either, itâ€™s 15 minutes by car from Hojomachi åŒ—æ¡ç”º station on the Hojo Dentetsu line or Yashirocho ç¤¾ç”º station on the JR Kakogawa line. Itâ€™s the most inaccessible place in this batch of reviews, so why am I recommending it? We just really enjoyed going here. The countryside is beautiful. We arrived just as the sun was setting and sky was beautiful. Inside it was filled with friendly locals. The baths were simple but comfortable. A Japanese garden covers a slope that makes up the rear of the rotenbro providing something to look at as you soak. I could imagine that this would be a great place for a midday soak with the sun out anytime of year.

Nehime no Yu: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/hyogo/hyogo/nehime.html

Did you even know there was a Hojo Dentestu? It use to be a JR line that was sold to the local municipality when JR was broken up and privatized in the 80â€™s. Itâ€™s a fun short ride and a good day trip for train fans in the Kansai area. I wrote about Hojo Dentetsu in my post about the now defunct Miki Dentetsu on my Japan blog.

Hojo Dentetsu on sleepytako: http://sleepytako.blogspot.com/2008/02/death-and-life-of-japanese-railways.html

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Iâ€™ll leave No. 2 at that. Iâ€™ll be working on Osaka next and I have some great recommendations coming up in that batch.

Yours Truly,â€¨
David Kawabata
iloveyu.jp

I Love ゆ Newsletter

2011-03-06T11:41:00Z

I Love ã‚† Newsletter No. 1 - March 2011

In this newsletter:

Welcome and thanks!
Site updates.
News
This issueâ€™s recommended spot.
Welcome and thanks! Thank you all for subscribing to this little newsletter I hope that youâ€™ll find the information inside useful and interesting. Iâ€™m trying to spend as much of my free time getting my reviews edited and up on the site and I thank you for your patience.
Site updates. As of right now the Kobe city, Amagasaki city, and Nishinomiya city pages are online for a total of 64 reviews. The next group will be the rest of Hyogo prefecture, and once that is done Iâ€™ll be moving on to Osaka city. Kobe: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/kobe/kobe.html Amagasaki: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/ama/ama.html Nishinomiya: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/nishinomiya/nishi.html
News. A new foot bath, Momiji No Aishyu (ã‚‚ã¿ã˜ã®è¶³æ¹¯), is opening up in front of Hankyu Minoh Station in Minoh city, Osaka. The grand opening is set for Sunday, March 27. The foot bath will be open from 10am till 4pm with longer hours on weekends, holidays and during the fall colors in November. It will be closed on Thursdays. The admission is set at Â¥150 yen which includes an original hand towel.

PDF Press release from Hankyu : http://holdings.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp/ir/data/ER201102222N1.pdf Hankyuâ€™s â€œBlog de Virtual Ekichoâ€ has photos and more information : http://www.ekiblo.jp/user/sp_yukari_renta/sp16/17666.html

4) This issueâ€™s recommended spot. Each issue Iâ€™ll be recommending a sento and for the first Iâ€™d like to recommend Kua Mukogawa. Itâ€™s a short walk from Hanshin Mukogawa station. The exterior appears to be a normal sento, but itâ€™s a newly reformed one on the inside. Last year the entire bathing area was rebuilt. Youâ€™ll love their strong jet baths and the great outdoor hot spring bath. This is a real deal hot spring. Many places have nice simple hot springs that let them advertise as being a natural hot spring, but it doesnâ€™t really matter either way as the experience is mostly in the tubs and the normal baths. Kua is different. When you see the brown calcium deposits all around the tub and the opaque brown mineral rich water thats filling it, youâ€™ll know that this is truly a natural hot spring. The water is somewhat like that of Arima Onsen and for Â¥410 youâ€™re getting a great deal. So a perfect--but somewhat narrow--sento experience plus a great hot spring for a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

The neighborhood surrounding Kua is also worth checking out. Hanshin Mukogawa station is unique for being built entirely on a bridge near the mouth of the Mukogawa River. The west exit, the one youâ€™ll use to get to Kua puts you out in Nishinomiya city while the east exit provides access to Amagasaki city.

North of the train tracks about a ten minute walk is a great Japanese sweets shop called Saikaen å½©èŠ±è‹‘ that sells Karinto manjyu ã‹ã‚Šã‚“ã©ã†é¥…é . These brown ball shaped manjyu are the best that Iâ€™ve ever had. Crunchy on the outside while soft and chewy on the inside. Worth checking out if your a manjyu fan.

Kua Mukogawa: http://iloveyu.jp/Reviews/Hyogo/nishinomiya/kua.html Saikaen homepage [in Japanese]: http://www.saikaen.jp/ Saikaen map: http://goo.gl/iSSEI

Well, thatâ€™s it for No. 1. Thanks a ton for subscribing.

Any comments or questions are always appreciated.

Yours Truly,â€¨David Kawabata iloveyu.jp