Redevelopment has transformed the centre of the Tennoji-Abeno area, but walk a couple of blocks westward from the high-rises around the station and the cityscape suddendly turns a lot more human-sized. Here, one of the tallest structures is still this traditional communal bathhouse’s sturdy chimney.
Hinode-yu looks much like your quintessential neighbourhood sento from the outside, but there’s much more to this spot than hot baths and bright yellow Kerorin tubs. Smooth jazz plays in the changing rooms, where the ceiling is decorated with a show-stopping koi mural by local artist and former rock music producer Hideki Kimura.
As for the baths, the eclectic selection includes a hydrogen rotenburo, a gold-coloured cold plunge, a slightly shocking ‘electric bath’ (denkiburo) and even a faux onsen replicating the hot spring water of the famed Ikaho Onsen up in Gunma prefecture. Men dead set on sweating their worries away will want to check out the Finnish-style sauna, built with lava rocks from Mt Fuji and heated to a skin-tingling 110 degrees Celsius.