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Gokuraku-yu
must be Tokyo's smallest sento. The men's and women's baths are each
only the size of an ordinary Tokyo 2 LDK apartment (that is to say,
two rooms - a living room and a dining area with kitchen). There are
just 14 scrubbing stations.
But there's a tiny sauna, two small and shallow tiled jacuzzi, and
a denkiburo (electric bath) that can jolt. Neon lights throughout
and an immaculate varnished floor give the place a clinical air.
There's no room for a lobby, so bathers tend to linger apres-bath
in the changing room, where the TV is gabbling away and there are
cold drinks from a vending machine. There is no massage chair. Grim.
Management is aware that things are not ideal at Gokuraku-yu, so provide
an hour's free time at the karaoke bar on the second floor. It's like
a Ginza hostess bar, with velvet couches, a piano, a bar, and a tiny
stage. It's a fine thing to see the neighborhood enjoying themselves
here after the bath, barefoot, drinking beer from the vending machine
in the corner (200 yen, cheap), and warbling away about lost love
in a Kyushu fishing village.
A bath at Gokyraku-yu is a perfect preliminary for a meal of soba
at Homura-an.
current review
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