[DES!GN TALK!] SHIBUYA SAUNAS: Brand Sells Recovery in the City 01

9월 10일

6분 분량

Hello, I’m Hyojae Kim, a designer based in Seoul.

In this edition of DESIGN TALK, I would like to explore several sauna spaces I visited in Tokyo and examine how urban wellness can evolve beyond a physical space into a brand and a viable business model.

The first place is Shibuya SAUNAS.

To understand why Shibuya SAUNAS is significant, however, it is worth first taking a brief look at the rise of sauna culture in Japan.

The Rise of Japan’s Sauna Culture

Saunas have existed in Japan for decades, but the recent sauna boom is somewhat different from the country’s traditional bathing culture.

One of the major catalysts was manga artist Katsuki Tanaka’s Sado (サ道), along with the popularization of the expression “totonou” (ととのう).

Through this cultural shift, the sauna began to be understood not simply as a place to wash or sweat, but as a lifestyle practice for resetting both the body and mind.

After Sado was adapted into a television drama in 2019, the culture reached an even broader audience. Today, the idea of totonou has become one of the defining concepts of contemporary Japanese sauna culture.

It was within this movement that Shibuya SAUNAS emerged.

The manga Sado, often credited as one of the catalysts behind Japan’s contemporary sauna boom.

What Does “Totonou” Mean?

Totonou (ととのう) is an expression that emerged from Japanese sauna culture.

It describes a deeply relaxed, clear-minded, almost euphoric state that can occur after repeatedly moving between a hot sauna, cold water, and rest—often outdoors.

The noun form, totonoi (整い), refers to this state of physical and mental balance.

A typical sauna cycle consists of three stages:

Heat: Spend approximately 6–12 minutes in a sauna at around 80–100°C.
Cold: Cool the body in a 15–18°C cold bath or shower for around 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Rest: Sit quietly, often outdoors, for 5–10 minutes while breathing deeply and allowing the body to settle.

This cycle is generally repeated two or three times.

After alternating between heat and cold, the resting period can create an unusual sensation of lightness, clarity, and deep relaxation.

At first, I also wondered what exactly people meant when they talked about totonou. But once I experienced it myself, I began to understand why people become so drawn to sauna culture.

In some ways, it may resemble the familiar Korean habit of repeatedly moving between hot and cold baths—but the experience, intention, and ritual are slightly different.

Turning the Sauna into a Destination

What makes Shibuya SAUNAS particularly interesting is that it treats the sauna not as an auxiliary amenity, but as a destination in itself.

Shibuya is one of Tokyo’s fastest and most intense urban environments.

Shopping, work, dining, transportation, tourism, and entertainment overlap continuously.

SAUNAS proposes almost the exact opposite experience within this context.

Pause.

Raise the temperature of the body.

Step into cold water.

Then sit quietly and rest.

In other words, it transforms the act of briefly stepping away from the speed of the city into a product.

And perhaps one of its greatest strengths is precisely its location.

Rather than escaping the city entirely, SAUNAS is embedded within everyday urban life, making recovery something people can access frequently and integrate into their routines.

Basic Information

Location

Approximately a three-minute walk from the JR Shibuya Station Shin-Minamiguchi Exit.

Opening Hours

08:00–24:00

Admission

Advance reservations are generally not required.

Visitors can enter on the day, although waiting times may occur during busy periods.

Pricing Structure

Plan	Price	Duration
Weekday Admission	¥3,200	Men: 2h 30m / Women: 3h 30m
Weekend & Holiday Admission	¥3,900	Men: 2h 30m / Women: 3h 30m
Weekday Morning	¥1,900	1h 20m / Entry 08:00–09:59
Weekend Morning	¥2,600	1h 20m / Entry 08:00–10:00
Weekday Day Sauna	¥3,200	5 hours / Entry 10:00–13:00
Weekday Late Night	¥1,900	1 hour / Entry at 23:00
Weekend Late Night	¥2,600	1 hour / Entry at 23:00
Extension	¥800	Per additional hour
Unlimited Extension	¥3,200	After four hours

The pricing structure of Shibuya SAUNAS is interesting because it feels less like a conventional entrance fee and more like a system for selling different amounts of recovery time within the city.

Short morning and late-night sessions, standard visits, and longer weekday daytime stays allow guests to choose an experience according to their purpose and schedule.

Spatial Program

Saunas

8 types / 9 sauna rooms

Cold Baths

2 types / 4 cold baths

Bathing Zones

WOODS / LÄMPI

The two zones rotate between male and female guests depending on the day.

Core Experiences

SaunaCold bathOutdoor-air bathingRest

Additional Programs

Plant-based restaurant45-seat workspace6-person and 8-person meeting roomsOriginal merchandise shop

The real value of Shibuya SAUNAS is not simply that it has “many sauna rooms.”

Instead, each room offers a different sensory environment, allowing visitors to create their own personal totonou loop.

After the sauna experience, guests can continue into dining, work, meetings, or retail.

As a result, the overall length and scope of the visit naturally expand beyond the bathing experience itself.

How to Experience the Space

For a first visit, I would not recommend trying to experience every sauna room.

Instead, choosing two or three sauna rooms and slowly repeating the cycle of sauna, cold bath, outdoor rest, and recovery can make the experience much more meaningful.

Shibuya SAUNAS is easy to visit briefly during a trip to Tokyo.

But from a spatial design perspective, it is worth spending a little more time observing the circulation, transitions, and operational structure of the space.

This is a compelling example of a sauna reinterpreted not simply as a bathing facility, but as an urban wellness program and a time-based spatial business.

What the Space Sells Is Not a Facility, but a State of Being

A good wellness space is not created simply by installing good facilities.

The number of sauna rooms matters.

The quality of the cold bath matters.

But ultimately, what visitors remember is not the specification.

They remember a state.

“My body feels lighter.”

“For a moment, the fatigue of the city disappeared.”

“My mind feels clearer.”

“I want to come back.”

These sensations become part of the value of the brand.

Shibuya SAUNAS connects the sauna, cold bath, outdoor rest, relaxation, food and beverage, and workspace into one continuous sequence.

The experience does not simply end when the sauna session is over.

The space also considers what happens afterwards.

A Brand Is Built Through the Sequence of Experience

Branding is not created by a logo or graphic identity alone.

The moment you enter a space,

the way you are greeted,

the clothes you change into,

the fragrance and temperature you encounter,

and the type of light under which you rest—

all of these small moments accumulate into a brand experience.

Shibuya SAUNAS is an interesting example of how a familiar activity—the sauna—can be re-edited into a contemporary lifestyle experience.

Heat and cold.

Tension and release.

Solitude and connection within the city.

What impressed me was how naturally these contrasts were translated into a spatial experience.

An Interesting Business Model as Well

From a business perspective, Shibuya SAUNAS is also fascinating because its revenue model is not limited to admission fees.

The experience can extend into food and beverage, amenities, workspace, meeting rooms, and merchandise.

In other words, the business does not simply sell “time spent inside a sauna.”

It designs and monetizes the time surrounding the sauna experience as well.

A successful spatial business is not simply about keeping people inside for as long as possible.

It must consider:

How do people feel while they are there?

What do they choose to consume?

And most importantly,

what gives them a reason to return?

Shibuya SAUNAS offers a compelling example of how these questions can be translated into an actual spatial business.

A Starting Point for the Urban Wellness Brand

What I found most interesting about Shibuya SAUNAS was the realization that a sauna no longer needs to be understood simply as a bathing facility.

Here, the sauna becomes:

a place for recovery,

a ritual within urban life,

a destination to visit with friends,

and a lifestyle experience where one can quietly spend time alone.

Space has the ability to change a person’s state.

And when that state feels good, people want to return to the place that created it.

Shibuya SAUNAS was a compelling example of how a brand can begin by selling recovery within the city.

In the next article, I will take a closer look at how Shibuya SAUNAS translates this idea into actual architecture, materials, lighting, circulation, and sensory experience—from the perspective of a spatial designer.

Thank you for reading.

Hyojae Kim

Designer / KHJO