[Sento] Tokyo Sento Pilgrimage: Like bathing in coffee! Shinagawa 17, Tenjin-yu

Today I visited Tenjin-yu in Shinagawa Ward.
Ota and Shinagawa Wards are famous for their 'kuroyu' (black water) baths.
I had heard that Tenjin-yu has the blackest water in Tokyo,
so I brought a brown towel and was looking forward to it.

The building is modern, making you wonder, 'Is this really a public bath?'

This public bath is actually a hot spring.
It offers a luxurious space despite its simplicity,
and the design feels very modern.
Take a look at the color of the water I scooped up. It's black!
And it's quite dark, too.

The lobby is very spacious and has a relaxed layout.
There is such a lovely space next to the reception desk.

There is even a waterfall-like feature in the lounge.

The baths are on the second floor,
and the staircase is an atrium with a ceiling height that catches your eye.
Art is displayed on the walls of the staircase as well,
creating a truly luxurious feeling with the space and the paintings.
Is 550 yen really enough to bathe here?

Next to the women's bath, there was a panel about the hot spring.

It is a natural mineral-rich black hot spring.
It is said to be pumped from 100 meters underground.
Tokyo's hot springs are formed from ancient plants that have decomposed,
turned into organic matter,
and over a vast amount of time,
dissolved into the groundwater.
This black water is rich in minerals,
and even after getting out of the bath,
my skin felt moisturized.

After changing and entering the bathing area,
I was surprised by its spaciousness and the height of the ceiling.
I washed my body and headed to the semi-open-air black bath.
The color is pitch black!
It's like I'm soaking in coffee.
The temperature isn't that hot, but
while soaking in the black water,
I gradually felt warmed to the core.
And above all, my skin felt a little slippery,
which I felt led to that moisturized sensation.
After soaking in the black water,
when I rinsed my body with clear water,
the initial water turned slightly brown.
It really shows just how dark the black is.
If I stayed in this black water for a long time,
my nails and skin might get a little stained...
It's that black!

There are three types of baths: the black water, a jet bath, and a warm bath.
There is no sauna, but the warm bath is plenty hot, and
it is a public bath where you can fully enjoy the two types of water: black and clear.

It seems to be in the same group as Minatoyu in Hatchobori,
so I understood why it was so clean!

Kita-Shinagawa Onsen - Tenjin-yu
Water as black as coffee,
it's a public bath that seems like it could become addictive.


3-minute walk from Shimbamba Station (North Exit) on the Keikyu Line
2-23-9 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3471-3562
Closed on Fridays