Joya Onsen Cafe

The hardest part of a proper onsen isn't the heat. It's the undressing.

Joya Onsen Cafe is worth the trek west if you want the real ritual rather than a spa with a Japanese font: the public baths are gender-segregated and nude, with communal seated showers, and the afternoon ends in a yukata with a bowl of noodles on a tatami floor. It suits anyone who needs their shoulders to drop and doesn't mind undressing in company. The compromise is distance and nerve: it is a commitment from the east, and if communal nudity is a step too far, book a private onsen instead.

Singapore's bathing boom has mostly happened in swimwear: cold plunges in the CBD, saunas with DJs, bathhouses with very good towels. Joya takes the older route, and has done since the Covid years, when it was due to open in July 2021 with private and public baths, an ice bath, a sauna and a zen garden. It bills itself as the largest authentic onsen experience in Singapore, which tells you how few rivals it has.

The ritual is the appeal. Each side of the public bath has its own sauna and a small ice pool, so you can go hot, cold and hot again without leaving your section. The bath water changes with the seasons: sakura in spring, ramune in summer, red wine in autumn and milk in winter, which is a lot of seasons for a country that has one.

The private onsens can be booked for one, a couple or a family, and are pitched for romantic getaways and self-care alike. They are the right call for a date, or for a first visit if you would rather learn the routine before trying it in public.

Then the café, which is half the reason to make the trip. The menu runs from Hokkaido milk desserts and Japanese sweets to sukiyaki, ramen and soba. A soak followed by noodles on a tatami floor is a very good way to lose an afternoon in Jurong. This is a bathhouse for soaking, not for content, and it is better for it.

How to do it well: it is at 511 Upper Jurong Road, #01-06 D'Arena. Come on a weekday, when you can take your time, and check the official site first: the public onsen keeps shorter hours on some days, and the facts box has the full-day pass and the three-hour option. Shower properly before you get in, go hot, cold and hot again, then eat. Whatever else you do, don't skip the noodles.

Good to know 511 Upper Jurong Road, #01-06 D'Arena; open daily, with shorter public onsen hours on some days. Public baths are nude and gender-segregated; private onsens are booked through the official site. Check current pricing and the seasonal bath before you go.

Joya Onsen Cafe | 511 Upper Jurong Road, #01-06 D'Arena, Singapore 638366