Former Fujinomori-yu Bathhouse

A 1930 Bathhouse in Murasakino

The Former Fujinomori-yu Bathhouse (旧藤ノ森湯) is a two-storey timber public bathhouse of 1930 on Kuramaguchi-dori in Murasakino Higashi-Fujinomori-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 1, 2003. It lies east of the Funaoka Onsen bathhouse and has been converted into a café (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a two-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 140 square metres; registration number 26-0157, with no owner listed.

Why It Was Registered

The Former Fujinomori-yu Bathhouse was registered as a building that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes the care lavished throughout, from the cusped karahafu gable over the front entrance to the decorative tiles inside and out.

Keeping the layout of changing room, bath hall and boiler room, it now operates as the café Sarasa Nishijin (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Sarasa Nishijin).

What to Look For

The Former Fujinomori-yu Bathhouse is timber-framed, but the walls on either side of the bath hall and between it and the boiler room are of brick within a timber frame. A Japanese-style room occupies the upper floor of the changing-room wing (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Look for the cusped karahafu over the front door and the decorative tiles inside and out (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Sarasa Nishijin notes the lofty coffered ceiling and the walls covered with Japanese majolica tiles, kept as they were in the bathhouse days.

Visiting the Former Fujinomori-yu

The Former Fujinomori-yu Bathhouse operates as the café Sarasa Nishijin, so you can see inside as a customer. It is open 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, to 10:00 p.m. on Friday, with breakfast service at weekends; closed Wednesdays. Telephone 075-432-5075 (Sarasa Nishijin).