Baba 'bedrock bathing' boom

[Taro Toporific]

Bedrock bathing enjoying high popularity
Kyodo News - Dec. 19, 2005
SAPPORO---''Bedrock bathing'' enabling bathers to sweat on warmed slates is rapidly becoming popular in Hokkaido, chiefly in Sapporo .... especially popular among women. ''Unlike in a sauna, you can sweat without feeling pain, and it is good for your figure and diet,'' said a woman....

[Mulboyne]

MercuryNews: Japan's super hot springs offer much more than baths
TOKYO - Tired? Bored? In Japan, a popular solution, especially on a weekend night, is the super hot springs - a one-stop shop for a hot soak in a deep tub, a Jacuzzi bath for the feet, a sauna, a massage, a facial, a great meal - maybe a movie, too. You can stay all night. In recent years, super hot springs have sprung up throughout Japanese cities and the countryside. When a new one opens, word gets around and soon the parking lot is full with hundreds of cars, especially on weekends. It's a place to meet friends, take the kids for entertainment or go alone for personal pampering.
...In central Tokyo, one of the big new modern bath complexes is called LaQua, a coined word from "aqua" that sounds in Japanese like "raku" (relax and enjoy). It opened two years ago with natural hot spring water from nearly 6,000 feet beneath the city. The entrance fee for LaQua is $25, plus other charges for extras. There are separate tubs and saunas for men and women. "This is the oasis of the concrete jungle," said Yoko Aragaki, a teacher who said she spends about $150 every time she visits. "If you think going on the trip overnight, $150 would be reasonable," she said. "I can spend (the) entire day easily here watching movies, reading books, getting a massage and soaking." LaQua is open from 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. the next morning, the only super hot springs open all night. A customer can stay on a reclining chair with a blanket and a liquid-screen private TV in a room for men and women with 120 seats, or in a smaller room for women only, until breakfast is delivered the next morning...more...

[Taro Toporific]

MercuryNews: Japan's super hot springs offer much more than baths
....The entrance fee for LaQua is $25, plus other charges for extras...Yoko Aragaki, a teacher who said she spends about $150 every time she visits. "If you think going on the trip overnight, $150 would be reasonable," she said.

Coming from Cororado where it's free and Osen-gun, Ehime in Shikoku where I might spend 250 yen (or free if my neighbor is working the door) I see how $150 would be reasonable with a soap job included. :P