Secret, Invitation-Only Private Sauna 'YUUKA' Opens at the Foot of the Minami-Alps

At the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake in the Minami-Alps, an invitation-only, address-unlisted wilderness private sauna named 'YUUKA' has officially launched.

https://yu-ka.space

A wood-fired sauna and a natural stream cold bath.

The location and pricing are intentionally kept undisclosed.

In an era where every location is mapped and every experience has a price tag, YUUKA chooses the principle of 'existing before speaking,' sharing the time of fire and water only with those who are invited.

An Antithesis to the Information Society

In a time of excessive information exchange, where every place is on a map and every price is compared side-by-side, YUUKA makes the opposite choice.
It does not appear on maps, it does not aim for top search rankings, and it does not post a price list. Naturally, it is not listed on review sites either.
This is not a gimmick, but a fundamental question of what this place exists for. Fire, water, and silence.
It shares the time where only these elements remain with a limited number of people.

The Meaning of the Strict Screening and Registration System

YUUKA only welcomes registered guests. This is not to feign exclusivity.
It is the right number to pour the entirety of one fire, one stream, and one piece of land solely into one group at a time.
Reception, entry and exit, and how the time is spent are left entirely in the hands of the visitors.

The Journey to YUUKA is Also an Experience

There is no fixed order, and no limits are placed on the duration of the stay.
Visitors spend their time letting go of their mobile phones. Not because the signal does not reach, but as a place where one chooses to disconnect.
The only sound to be heard will be the crackling of firewood.

Fire and Water
A Natural Stream Flowing from Mt. Kaikomagatake

Located at the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake (elevation 2,967m) in the Minami-Alps, on private land with no one within a 500m radius.
It consists of a sauna fired by wood exceeding 100°C and a cold bath in a natural stream flowing through the property.
The water temperature of the stream is approximately 12°C in the summer and drops to 8°C in the winter.
The water, clear enough to see the bottom, carries the chill created over a long time by the granite mountain.

Mt. Kaikomagatake is a 2,967m mountain standing on the border of Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures in the northern part of the Minami-Alps. Because white granite is exposed at its summit, it stands out whitish even from afar, looking like snow even in summer.
This granite is a plutonic rock formed when magma slowly cooled and solidified deep underground at 5 to 10 km. Because it cooled slowly, the crystals grew large—the same material as 'Mikage stone' used for tombstones and building materials.
The rock body is believed to have been born underground around 15 million years ago, and according to Suntory's explanation, around 14 million years ago, making it one of the newest granites in Japan.

Hokuto City is a land where three water sources have been selected for the Ministry of the Environment's Top 100 Famous Waters—Hakushu/Ojiragawa, the Yatsugatake Southern Foothills Highland Spring Water Group, and the Kinpusan/Mizugakiyama Headwaters.
It is in search of this water that Suntory established its natural water source and distillery in Hakushu.
The stream is cold because it is nourished by the melting snow from three thousand meters up and underground water currents.
YUUKA's stream is part of that water system.

A Place to Nurture from Now On

YUUKA is not a completed facility. It is a place that will be nurtured over time, lighting fires in the wilderness, immersing bodies in the stream, and carefully adjusting paths and shelves by hand.
Therefore, every time you visit, something will have changed. Rather than showing a finished landscape, it welcomes people while it is in the process of changing.

Currently, it is operated on an invitation-only basis.
The first few people to be welcomed are called 'Himori' (firekeepers). It means someone who tends the fire and frequents this land. Registered individuals undergo a prescribed screening process to verify, before they are welcomed, that they will not reveal the location and price to the outside world, and that they will respect the fire, the water, and the people. Only those who have passed the screening can frequent the place as firekeepers.

The official website is accepting registrations from those who wish to visit. However, this is not accepting reservations. It is for delivering the first invitations first.

About the Name

'Yuu' (湧) means springing water. 'Ka' (火) means the flame of firewood.
The name YUUKA is made entirely of these two elements.
Water and fire inherently do not mix.
Water extinguishes fire, and fire deprives water. These two, which should cancel each other out, exist in the same place here. The cold stream flowing right beside it, and the heat of the firewood exceeding a hundred degrees. People go back and forth between them.
The two meet on the body of the visitor. Carrying the heat of the fire, one passes through the water of the stream. The exact moment when springing water and fire touch was made into the name.
What is embedded in it is not facilities or comfort. It is simply that contradictory things exist side by side.