Beyond 'Totonoū': True Recovery Lies Ahead. A Dream to Make Japan a 'Retreat Nation' from Gunma, the Sacred Hot Spring Land.
Sokyū Corporation envisions transforming Japan into a global 'Retreat Nation,' moving beyond the temporary euphoria of 'totonotta' towards genuine physical and mental recovery. By leveraging Gunma's hot spring heritage and scientific validation, they aim to establish Japan as a world-renowned destination for deep healing and rejuvenation.
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- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 17:00
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Our company endorses 'April Dream,' which aims to make April 1st a day to share dreams. This press release is the dream of 'Sokyū Corporation.' Beyond the word 'totonotta'...
It begins the moment you lean back in a chair after getting out of the cold bath. Your mind becomes quiet. The outlines of the scenery soften. You don't know if your body feels heavy or light. It's like being taken somewhere, yet being here—that sensation.
We've come to call that 'totonotta.' That deep sense of floating that every sauna enthusiast knows has drawn many people to saunas. We are truly happy about the spread of that culture.
But, to be honest. That's just the entrance.
'Totonoū' is merely a stepping stone.
Achieving pleasure and true physical recovery are not the same thing.
The saunas designed and manufactured by Sokyū Corporation are not chasing the sensation of a 'pleasant moment.' It's a deep recovery where the body repairs itself at the cellular level, immunity is balanced, skin is revitalized, and fatigue is completely removed—that kind of deep recovery.
Health recovery, beautiful skin, rejuvenation, recovery. That is the inherent power of saunas, and what we aim to bring out through our design.
'Totonoū' is merely the first step on that journey. We design what lies beyond.
Walls and floors with 360-degree radiant heat
Design to raise deep body temperature
The floor is a bedrock bath
A sauna that heals the body and mind
Finland's knowledge over centuries.
A country with about 5.5 million people has over 3 million saunas.
In Finland, saunas are not entertainment but a part of life. In homes, companies, and public institutions. For centuries, it was a space that accompanied human life, serving as a place for childbirth and healing.
In 2020, 'Finnish Sauna Culture' was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. This was not because the 'pleasant experience' was recognized. It was the moment when the culture for humans to deeply recover as humans was recognized by the world.
What Finns have known for centuries, we are trying to prove with Japanese technology and science.
Towards a sauna proven by data, not just sensation.
Sokyū Corporation's saunas are currently patent pending (design registered).
The structural design that stores heat in the walls and floor differs in its design philosophy from conventional saunas that heat air. Regarding this 'radiation design using structural components as a heat medium,' we will proceed with academic verification of the thermal environment design—radiant heat, humidity, black globe temperature, perceived temperature—in collaboration with Maebashi Institute of Technology.
Furthermore, through collaboration with experts in medical science, we will challenge the scientific verification of the effects this sauna space has on the human body—improving blood flow, effects on the autonomic nervous system, immune function, and promoting skin regeneration.
Our goal is not a 'pleasant' impression, but a sauna that can prove health recovery, recovery, and rejuvenation with data.
There are no saunas in Japan yet that are researched from both structural design and medical science. We are stepping into that void from Gunma.
Analysis of sauna structure and biological response
Scientific approach to recovery
Reshaping sauna culture from Gunma, the sacred hot spring land.
Kusatsu, Ikaho, Manza, Shima—Gunma boasts a chain of renowned hot spring resorts.
Long ago, Japanese people had the term 'Yutō' (hot spring bathing for healing). Hot springs were not just for relaxation but places for healing. They have always been there as places to regulate the body before it breaks down and restore depleted life forces.
Saunas were originally meant to be like that, too.
Japan already possesses treasures that the world envies. Hot springs, saunas, bedrock baths, four distinct seasons, fermentation culture, and food. Few countries on Earth have such an abundance of 'materials for human recovery.' What's missing is not the materials, but the will and design to bind them as a 'culture of recovery' and deliver it to the world.
Just as Japanese food became a global culinary mecca.
It's unlikely many people imagined Japanese cuisine would be so highly regarded worldwide. But now, people worldwide say, 'We go to Japan for the food.'
Just as Finnish sauna culture was recognized by UNESCO, we believe in a future where Japan's unique wellness culture, integrating hot springs, saunas, and bedrock baths, will someday be recognized as an international cultural asset.
We dream of a day when people worldwide will say, 'We go to Japan for recovery.' A day when Japan becomes the world's 'Retreat Nation.'
Destination for people worldwide: 'Retreat JAPAN'
April Dream Declaration
"Beyond 'totonotta,' we go."
"Health recovery, beautiful skin, rejuvenation, recovery—that is the true form of sauna."
"Reshaping sauna culture from Gunma, the sacred hot spring land,"
"Turning Japan into a country where the world comes to 'recover.'"
Sokyū Corporation begins this dream from Gunma.
Toshiro Tomozawa, Representative Director
It begins the moment you lean back in a chair after getting out of the cold bath. Your mind becomes quiet. The outlines of the scenery soften. You don't know if your body feels heavy or light. It's like being taken somewhere, yet being here—that sensation.
We've come to call that 'totonotta.' That deep sense of floating that every sauna enthusiast knows has drawn many people to saunas. We are truly happy about the spread of that culture.
But, to be honest. That's just the entrance.
'Totonoū' is merely a stepping stone.
Achieving pleasure and true physical recovery are not the same thing.
The saunas designed and manufactured by Sokyū Corporation are not chasing the sensation of a 'pleasant moment.' It's a deep recovery where the body repairs itself at the cellular level, immunity is balanced, skin is revitalized, and fatigue is completely removed—that kind of deep recovery.
Health recovery, beautiful skin, rejuvenation, recovery. That is the inherent power of saunas, and what we aim to bring out through our design.
'Totonoū' is merely the first step on that journey. We design what lies beyond.
Walls and floors with 360-degree radiant heat
Design to raise deep body temperature
The floor is a bedrock bath
A sauna that heals the body and mind
Finland's knowledge over centuries.
A country with about 5.5 million people has over 3 million saunas.
In Finland, saunas are not entertainment but a part of life. In homes, companies, and public institutions. For centuries, it was a space that accompanied human life, serving as a place for childbirth and healing.
In 2020, 'Finnish Sauna Culture' was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. This was not because the 'pleasant experience' was recognized. It was the moment when the culture for humans to deeply recover as humans was recognized by the world.
What Finns have known for centuries, we are trying to prove with Japanese technology and science.
Towards a sauna proven by data, not just sensation.
Sokyū Corporation's saunas are currently patent pending (design registered).
The structural design that stores heat in the walls and floor differs in its design philosophy from conventional saunas that heat air. Regarding this 'radiation design using structural components as a heat medium,' we will proceed with academic verification of the thermal environment design—radiant heat, humidity, black globe temperature, perceived temperature—in collaboration with Maebashi Institute of Technology.
Furthermore, through collaboration with experts in medical science, we will challenge the scientific verification of the effects this sauna space has on the human body—improving blood flow, effects on the autonomic nervous system, immune function, and promoting skin regeneration.
Our goal is not a 'pleasant' impression, but a sauna that can prove health recovery, recovery, and rejuvenation with data.
There are no saunas in Japan yet that are researched from both structural design and medical science. We are stepping into that void from Gunma.
Analysis of sauna structure and biological response
Scientific approach to recovery
Reshaping sauna culture from Gunma, the sacred hot spring land.
Kusatsu, Ikaho, Manza, Shima—Gunma boasts a chain of renowned hot spring resorts.
Long ago, Japanese people had the term 'Yutō' (hot spring bathing for healing). Hot springs were not just for relaxation but places for healing. They have always been there as places to regulate the body before it breaks down and restore depleted life forces.
Saunas were originally meant to be like that, too.
Japan already possesses treasures that the world envies. Hot springs, saunas, bedrock baths, four distinct seasons, fermentation culture, and food. Few countries on Earth have such an abundance of 'materials for human recovery.' What's missing is not the materials, but the will and design to bind them as a 'culture of recovery' and deliver it to the world.
Just as Japanese food became a global culinary mecca.
It's unlikely many people imagined Japanese cuisine would be so highly regarded worldwide. But now, people worldwide say, 'We go to Japan for the food.'
Just as Finnish sauna culture was recognized by UNESCO, we believe in a future where Japan's unique wellness culture, integrating hot springs, saunas, and bedrock baths, will someday be recognized as an international cultural asset.
We dream of a day when people worldwide will say, 'We go to Japan for recovery.' A day when Japan becomes the world's 'Retreat Nation.'
Destination for people worldwide: 'Retreat JAPAN'
April Dream Declaration
"Beyond 'totonotta,' we go."
"Health recovery, beautiful skin, rejuvenation, recovery—that is the true form of sauna."
"Reshaping sauna culture from Gunma, the sacred hot spring land,"
"Turning Japan into a country where the world comes to 'recover.'"
Sokyū Corporation begins this dream from Gunma.
Toshiro Tomozawa, Representative Director