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."Let's TOTONOU（revitalize）together in the sauna!"

What is a tent sauna? . I'm curious about it, and I'd like to try it. I happened to find a team called "Tent Sauna Party" on the Internet, and when I asked them for an interview, they sent me an e-mail saying that they would be happy to do it.

The assigned location for the interview was Kisaki Lake Campground in northwestern Nagano Prefecture. The exquisite distance of approximately 3.5 hours by car from Tokyo , further enhances the sense of escapism from everyday life.

When we arrived at the site, the tent was already set up. Smoke was rising from the chimney. Around the tent, people were relaxing, as if they had just finished a sauna for the first time.

When I asked where Makoto Fujiyama, the person in charge of the interview, was, he told me that he was in the sauna with a group of college students who happened to be there for a visit. Just as I thought, "I'll wait for him for a while," people came out of the tent entrance, ran across the pier, and dove into the lake!

Recently, I often meet people who are addicted to sauna. They have been featured in the media, and I hear that they go there with their friends. I asked Tanaka Katzuki about the sauna boom, and he told me that the members of the "Tent Sauna Party" were the same way.

."The first time me and Yuriko Hayashi (Yuriko Hayashi) met was when I asked her to work on an application. （Mr. Katsuki (Tanaka) never talked about his work, but only about sauna. At the time, I wasn't interested, so I just listened and thought, "Oh, I see," but then I got curious and went, and I was hooked. Now, I take a sauna every day.

."When I go on a business trip to Tokyo, I stay at LaQua even if the company says I can stay in a hotel there (laughs). (Laughs.) It's convenient because the Tokyo branch office is close by.

Since they are both graduates of Kyoto Seika University, as is Mr. Katsuki, they became good friends and corresponded in private. As a result, Mr. Fujiyama purchased a tent sauna with his own money.

."When I got into sauna and looked into the authentic Finnish sauna, I found that it is a hut in the middle of nature , and the lighting is dark. There is no TV or music. I liked the fact that it was completely different from Japanese saunas. Since we are based in the Kansai region, I had fantasized about saving up to build a sauna hut on Lake Biwa, but we didn't have that kind of money (laughs).

While doing some research, I found a tent sauna on the Internet. I thought, 'Wow, I can do this anywhere,' so I immediately bought one and tried it out at Lake Biwa. Then I found out that I could actually do it, and in May of last year, I launched the 'Tent Sauna Party.

The three members were the aforementioned two, plus Naohiro Yoshida, a sauna enthusiast. They are all colleagues at TAM, a web production company in Osaka (a large company with less than 200 employees!). (a large company with less than 200 employees!) in Osaka. One year has passed since the start. Now based in the Kansai region, they have set up sauna tents in various locations to spread the appeal of saunas.

The reason why the Kansai-based team chose a campsite in Nagano was because Ms. Rie Muraoka, who moved to the area near Lake Kisaki a year ago because she loves skiing, told us that the lake was a perfect location for a tent sauna. This was the reason they came for this interview.

Also joining us were James, who teaches at IAMAS, and Michi Mizutani of "COMMONOreproducts," who were enjoying a mountain hike near the campground.

."We stepped into the six-person tent, which was not as small as we had expected due to its high ceiling.

Two benches are placed facing each other, with a wood stove in the back. In front of them is a bucket filled with water for the wax bath and a bundle of young birch branches called a vihita, which is dipped in the water.

This is exactly what I have longed for, and have seen and heard about in various sauna articles, including Tanakatsuki's famous book, "Sa-Do. . It is such an important item that some say it is not a sauna without it.

It also has a sterilizing effect, and by tapping the body, it is expected to stimulate blood circulation and tighten the skin. Most importantly, it is said to feel good when used anyway.

The temperature inside the tent can be adjusted as much as you like, as you can self-laulue as much as you like. Lowryu is the act of pouring water on sauna stones to generate steam, which is then used to promote perspiration through hot air.

At the store, the specialist staff circulates the air with towels and other materials, but this time, Mr. Fujiyama uses a vihita to agitate the air in the tent. The fresh scent of white birch wafts through the air, and the next moment, a hot breeze envelops your entire body. My body temperature rose dramatically. I thought I was shouting in my mind, but the feeling was so good that I couldn't help but let out my voice.

As Mr. Fujiyama tapped each person's body one by one with a Vihita, the tent was once again filled with the sounds of "Wow, what's this? The members of the group, who were accustomed to this kind of high tension, watched us with a smile.

Suddenly, Mr. Yoshida, sitting next to me, said, "Sauna is water, stone, and fire. . It allows us to become one with the great outdoors. This phrase was apparently written on the top of the "Tent Sauna Party" website, but hearing it in the middle of a sauna experience made it all the more profound.

After two or three times, I was at the end of my rope! Just when you think you've reached your limit, you run out of the tent and down the pier. Then, I dive into the lake.

."Try following the advice, "Float your body in the water and look up at the sky. , a tent sauna where you can become one with the great outdoors. . It's great. After getting out of the lake, it's time to take a bath in the open air. Since we were a large group this time, we repeated the "sauna → water bath (lake dive) → outdoor air bath" many times, sharing the experience with each other.

. I sit deeply in a chair next to my tent. After the group of college students had left, the campground was sparsely occupied, as it was a weekday after the high season, and only the occasional "crackle" of firewood could be heard from the tents. TOTONOU (revitalize), we found ourselves sipping Corona beers.

When I asked him about his future activities, he replied, "T-shirts, sauna hats, and teacups. We plan to make original products and sell them on our e-commerce site. The colorful sauna hats that everyone was wearing were original? . But why the teacups?

."There are various theories, but it is said that Sen no Rikyu was the one who brought the sauna to Japan. Mr. Katsuki's book is also titled "Sa-do," right?" Mr. Fujiyama said, "Makocchan often says that the utensils used in the tea ceremony are just like those used in the tea ceremony," Hayashi added, in response to Mr. Fujiyama's comment. Indeed, drawing hot water with a ladle and pouring it into a tea bowl and pouring water from a bucket onto a sauna stone are very similar, both in terms of tools and movements.

."The furnace used to heat the water is also called a "furogama" (laughs). (Laughs.) I thought this had something to do with saunas. Even in the case of tea bowls, until then, a perfect shape without distortion was considered beautiful, but Rikyu advocated a new perspective of "wabi sabi," which means beauty even if the bowl is distorted.

When you repeatedly take a sauna and a water bath, you come to appreciate the beauty of imperfect things that you would not normally pay attention to, such as the sparkling surface of the water. Perhaps Rikyu, too, reached a state of wabi and sabi through his sauna experience," says Fujiyama.

I see , so a cup of tea. By the way, Mr. Fujiyama wrote in his e-mail, "Sauna and beer are the best combination! Mr. Fujiyama also wrote in his e-mail, "Sauna and beer are the best combination! Everyone else seemed to love beer, too. They were all drinking Corona beer with big smiles on their faces.

As Mr. Hayashi told me in the tent, Finland has something called sauna diplomacy. Everyone in the sauna, regardless of gender, age, or nationality, becomes friends instantly. After the sauna, the sense of distance is shortened, and then TOTONOU (revitalize) with a cold beer. . This is the moment when you realize that you are living together with your friends.

It was around 4:00 p.m. , the sun was setting, and the wind was picking up. Fujiyama-san and the others seemed to have had a great time and decided to leave for Osaka tomorrow morning, saying, "Let's go to the office for extreme work. We said goodbye to the others, who were discussing what to have for dinner, and headed back to Tokyo. We returned to Tokyo with the best experience of all: a tent sauna.