Unfortunately, Azabu Juban Onsen has been closed as of 3/30/08.

Azabu Juban is a very international town which is located next to Roppongi. There are some long established taiyaki (fish-shaped pancakes stuffed with a sweet bean paste) shops and rice cracker shops in this town that is the perfect example of a Shitamachi (traditional working class neighborhood) shopping district. It carries an interesting atmosphere of contrast and imbalance since the modern and artificial building Roppongi Hills is raising into the sky.

Azabu Juban Onsen was founded in 1949 right after WWⅡ. The existing building was built in 1967(Showa 42). This onsen is located on the third floor. The first floor is a public bath which also uses the same source of water. You will find an old style wooden shoe box with wooden tags once you go up to the third floor by stairway. You can get a key to a locker in exchange for a wooden shoe box tag at the counter. It is surprising to see pitch black water! The water is drawn from 500m underground. It contains sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, calcium, and magnesium. It is mainly effective against hysteria, rheumatism, neurosis, etc.

I would recommend for anybody to use this spring water, even you don’t have any of these disease. It also makes your skin feel smoother. The water sometimes feels warmer or colder since it is heated on the first floor with firewood. The bathtub isn’t that big, but instead, they have a large tatami-floored party area which can hold up to 200 people! There is a karaoke system on the stage. It seems like they would have some private parties and comedy shows from time to time.

There are some pots filled with tea and tea cups in the rest area, so you can make your own tea or get some beer (big bottle for 700yen, small bottle for 500yen) and pickles from the store to make yourself comfortable after the bath. The lady at the counter is very friendly and cheerful. The kitchen feels like being at someone’s house, and the menu is reasonable. Curry and rice is 650yen, fried rice 650yen, ramen 550yen, yakisoba 550yen, udon 400yen, oden 550yen, anmitsu 660yen, tokoroten 350yen, yakko 300yen, coffee 400yen, can of salmon ariake-ni 150yen, can of seasoned ark shell 150yen, snacks 70yen, etc. This place is a nostalgic oasis in a large city. There are a number of embassies nearby, so a lot of customers who come to this onsen are non-Japanese. It makes me smile to see the lady at the counter who seems like she would not speak any English say, “See you again!”

Location & Contact Info:

Azabu Juban Onsen
1-5-22 Azabu Juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0045
tel: 03-3404-2610
Close : Tuesday
Open : Monday, Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

Text and Illustrations by Radical Suzuki