Nishi Ward - 西区
kikusui-ofuronews-mar2018.pdfKikusui Onsen
Kikusui Onsen
Japanese Name: 菊水温泉Prefecture: OsakaCity: Nishi WardAddress: 〒550-0021 大阪府大阪市西区川口４丁目２−４Access: 10min from Osaka Metro Kujō Station or Hanshin Kujō Station - 大阪地下鉄九条駅・阪神九条駅Category: SentoPrice: Osaka Prefecture Public Bathhouse Association price or cheaper (sauna, if available, may be extra)Holiday: MondayHours: 15:00-23:30
Review: Interesting wall/fountain between the cold water and main deep bath with some neat tiles. There’s a steam with a unique design for the steam producing water jets where the bottom of the basin is exposed, and the upper part has a detailed metal grate stopping the hot spray from burning the bathers. “Magma Onsen” bath salts in a shallow bath that is in a separate room which used to have a door leading to it. Not sure why because I did not see the remenants of radon spigots or other things that might have required a closed off room. Generally, this sento is pretty small and a bit worse for wear. The changing room reaching hoarder levels of stuff left around and an old CRT TV helps fulfill that aesthetic. This is the last sento in Nishi-ku so for completists like me it might be worth going to. It seems like the owners are involved in keeping sento culture alive in Osaka as they have a newsletter (see left) talking about the creation of a “public bath consideration group” in the changing room. However, that was written in 2018. One last interesting thing I noticed here. I like it when the sento has posters for generally right-wing parties (Ishin no Kai and Komeito) but also one for the Japanese Communist Party there. That sort of mixing of political messaging would be unheard of in the USA. Generally, I might skip this one if I was a causal bather, but it is also the only bathing option in this area. Tattoos seem to be ok here but YMMV. Visit Date: April 2021
Review: Interesting wall/fountain between the cold water and main deep bath with some neat tiles. There’s a steam with a unique design for the steam producing water jets where the bottom of the basin is exposed, and the upper part has a detailed metal grate stopping the hot spray from burning the bathers. “Magma Onsen” bath salts in a shallow bath that is in a separate room which used to have a door leading to it. Not sure why because I did not see the remenants of radon spigots or other things that might have required a closed off room. Generally, this sento is pretty small and a bit worse for wear. The changing room reaching hoarder levels of stuff left around and an old CRT TV helps fulfill that aesthetic. This is the last sento in Nishi-ku so for completists like me it might be worth going to. It seems like the owners are involved in keeping sento culture alive in Osaka as they have a newsletter (see left) talking about the creation of a “public bath consideration group” in the changing room. However, that was written in 2018. One last interesting thing I noticed here. I like it when the sento has posters for generally right-wing parties (Ishin no Kai and Komeito) but also one for the Japanese Communist Party there. That sort of mixing of political messaging would be unheard of in the USA. Generally, I might skip this one if I was a causal bather, but it is also the only bathing option in this area. Tattoos seem to be ok here but YMMV. Visit Date: April 2021