Abandoned Kansai

Public baths are not nearly as popular anymore as they have been in previous decades… or centuries. Except for the abandoned ones, they are always appreciated here on Abandoned Kansai!
It took me a couple of years until I got used to public baths in Japan, being it (super) sento or onsen. The first one or two experiences were underwhelming, basically small wooden tubs in a shed in the middle of nowhere, full of old men who haven’t seen a foreigner in decades. Over time I visited more beautiful places with a bigger variety of tubs, appreciating the whole experience much more. Though I never fully understood the gender separation thing as it isn’t common where I’m from. Nude beaches or installations similar to sento are usually open for everyone, whereas in Japan you can’t enjoy a public bath with your girlfriend or whole family (yes, there are a handful of exceptions and workarounds…), while you have to be careful not to spend a few hundred Yen to see the dicks of the dicks you work with all week long, for example at the end of events like playing airsoft in the countryside all Saturday
Anyway, the popularity of public baths in Japan is declining, which leaves some of them abandoned. Like this one. Which I found on GoogleMaps by chance. I was just bored looking around when I saw a building that looked abandoned. At least to me. There were no real signs that it was abandoned, I just had a hunch. Streetview was half a decade old and not really helpful. So I made a note of the coordinates and hoped that I would go to the area one day… which happened about one and a half years ago. Since I had no information whether or not the place was really abandoned (and accessible!), it didn’t have high priority – so we explored and checked out other places first. By the time we arrived at the Secret Super Sento, the sun was already setting… and it took us a few minutes to make sure that it was abandoned and accessible. The first impression was quite disheartening, because the ceiling of the main hall had been coming down, making the place look much more dilapidated than it actually was. As it turned out both sections of the bath were in nearly pristine condition – absolutely beautiful, exactly my kind of abandoned place. Unfortunately it was also much darker inside already than outside, so the whole thing was rather rushed. Usually it would take me about 2 hours to fully explore and document a location like that – there were less than 45 minutes between the first and the last photo. At first I was hoping to come back quickly and give it another try with better lighting, but after 1.5 years I don’t think this is going to happen any time soon, so I can as well publish the photos. No name or outdoor photos since it’s an original find and I have no intention to make the place public knowledge – nevertheless I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them. One of the highlights of the first Covid year!

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