Higashi-Shinjuku, appointments: 090-6127-0993, email. The unique, intimate feeling of pleasurable oil massage relaxation. In and outcall sessions available. Deeply relaxing, exotic massage (non-sexual) for relief from pain and fatigue. Closed on Wed. Utopia Member Discount

4/F Fukutomi Bld, 2-13-14 Akasaka, Minato-ku, 5563-0523. From Akasaka station (Chiyoda line) take Exit 2 onto Akasaka St (opposite Tully Coffee) and turn right and walk to the intersection with Yoshinoya on the opposite diagonal corner. Make a right turn onto Misuzu St and walk straight ahead until you reach the 2nd-to-the-last building on the left side. You will see a rainbow flag on the 4th floor. The entrance is between the Real Estate office on the right and Mool Collection on the left. Take the elevator to 4/F. Foreign-patronized hattenba, so it attracts Japanese who like gaijin. Sat, Sun and holidays are naked days, other days are underwear. Open noon until late. All ages and types.

Comments from Utopians:

"The address is really hard to find, even my taxi driver could not drop me at the right building. The entrance to the elevator is between a fashion shop and a store called Alpha Home. It's on 4/F. Price is Y$1,700, with early bird discount from noon-3pm, happy hours 5-7pm, and some days are special for Y$1,000-1,200. It is located very near the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo (Asakasa) (about 10 mins on foot)." -- asiancute79, Feb 22, 2010

ASAKUSA

2-29-16 Taito-ku, 5827-2424. Facing out from the front of the Asakusa Prince Hotel, locate the Asakusa Hanayashiki Amusement Park rides in the neighborhood opposite, near the Senso-ji Temple. Cross the road and take the lane circling around the left side of this amusement park. 24 sauna is located at the rear, in this lane. Look for the sign with "24" on it. This is the first, and oldest, branch of the 24 chain. It has an older and frequently tattooed clientele, but it's definitely an interesting experience. Same basic format as the other saunas listed below. Foreigners are welcome, though not common. Mix rooms are not very clean and the place is a bit shabby now compared to the newer Ueno facility. The steam room and semi-private showers are quite cruisy. Friendly, and plenty of fun during the night, some of it a bit kinky.

IKEBUKURO

2-30-19 Toshima-ku, Ikebukuro Ni-Chome, 3931-0186. Small, unpretentious, clean and it has always welcomed foreigners (open since 1973!) and so it also attracts gaisen (J guys who like gainjin). From Ikebukuro Station, travel underground to the West Exit. If it's early in the evening, follow the underground passage to the C1 Exit. If the underground passageway is closed, exit the Station from the escalators leading up to the main West entrance. Walk directly perpendicular from the Station, along the main road, about 10 blocks (from the C1 Exit continue straight ahead for four blocks). Look for the Jinya sign in English on the lamp post and a rainbow tiled wall on the shop at the corner--turn right here and follow the crooked alley for three blocks (there are English-language signs for Jinya posted along the way). Jinya is on the left, just before the main road (where you will see a large love motel with a giant, neon-lit 10 yen coin logo). Enter and remove your shoes, put them into a shoe locker (free) and get an entry ticket from the dispensing machine (still Y$2,200. at this update). Five mix rooms, the one in B/F plays gay videos before sleeping hours. Zen mappadaka (nude sunbathing) is allowed on the roof. Nice, hot Japanese style bath and small dry sauna room in B/F (bath closes for cleaning from 11:00-15:00 daily, so be sure to bathe before 10am if you've stayed the night).

ROPPONGI

Take the Hibiya Line to Roppongi Station, Exit 3. Make a right, cross the road at the first traffic junction and turn right. You should see TGI Fridays, and eventually Tokyo Tower. Walk a few blocks until you see the green Irish pub, Hobgoblin. Make a left on that street, right at the first alley, left at the next alley. Club located on 2/F in the last building, which is behind a bar called Lost Angels. Lots of hot, in-shape 20-30yo guys in this hattenba. Customers over 40 are allowed in only on Fri.

SHINJUKU NI-CHOME, SAN-CHOME

The easiest way to get to the gay area is to take the underground walkway from Shinjuku Station's East Exit (down one floor after the train exit ticket machines) to Exit C5, C6, or C8 (see map).

The Shinjuku Ni-Chome neighborhood is easy to navigate using our Utopia map:

2-13-1 Shinjuku Ni-Chome (see map), 3354-2424. Newest branch of this popular sauna, brilliantly located right in the heart of the gay nightlife area. It attracts the bar crowd who come here to overnight, expats and visitors. The most cosmopolitan and busiest of the gay saunas. Foreign friendly. Staff at reception speak basic English. When you arrive, take off your shoes and put a Y$10 coin into the locker slot to lock them inside. Next go over to the machine to buy an admission ticket which allows you to stay for a maximum of 13 hours. Then, take your key and ticket to the counter staff to exchange for a locker key and a bag consisting of a robe, face and bath towel. If you are staying overnight, they may request your passport according to Japanese guidelines. The guys are numerous, young and hot. Good mixture of races. Showers and steam rooms are on 3/F. Plenty of futon on 4/F where people do a lot more than just sleep. Everyone seems to be busy, even out in the open. Safety supplies available at reception.

Comments from Utopians:

"I spent last Fri night in 24 Kaikan Shinjuku. Newer than the Ueno branch, very nice cruising showers. I was pretty quick to pick up the first guy as I went to the showers but forgot my little towel in the locker and was already ... in a good shape. It was very lively at 2am and I had good fun in the shower and in the steam sauna first. The population here is younger than in Ueno. I like the small common rooms where you easily play with 4 or 5 other guys. I was a little disappointed as there is limited space in common room and it was tough to find a place just to sleep for a while. And as usual, the guys snored. But other than that, great fun, clean place, cute Japanese and a large number of gaijin." -- ztheplayer, Oct 25, 2009

"Used the information in your listing and stayed at 24 Kaikan during a long stop-over. I thought the facility was great: very clean and quite busy even on a Sun. You can do as much or little as you want, plenty going on here. Other comments are right -- don't plan on sleeping if you opt to sleep in a common area -- a lot of moaning and snoring all night. Unfortunately the cutest guy was just coming in at 5am as I was leaving to catch the train back to Narita." -- tallguyusa, Jul 19, 2009

B1 Dai-2 Seiko Bld (see map), 2-18-5 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, 3226-4006. Red sign on the corner of the building. Dark cruise space with theme nights and DJ spinning. Open 9pm-4am.

1/F UI Bld, 5-9-6 Shinjuku-ku (see map), 3226-4448. There is a small sign above the door. Type is younger to middle-aged butch guys. Open Mon-Thu, 3pm-10am and 24 hours Sat-Sun.

TAKADANOBABA

Waseda Dori, 3-13-3 Takadanobaba, Utopia Map, 03-6304-0792, FAX , email. Discretely located. Walk west from Takadanobaba Station along Waseda Dori and look for the big green sign that says "Hair Snick" in white lettering. Turn right and go upstairs. Open the black door and you're in for a good time. Creative theme nights such as Thick Day, Blow Fiesta, Edging Day and Facial Galore (check their website). Dance vibe. English spoken. Any age 18 or over and no racial discrimination. Discount entry for foreigners with picture ID. Utopia Member Discount

UENO

Showa Do-ri, 3847-2424. From Ueno Station, exit and look for the elevated highway running along side the station. Walk two short blocks to this highway, make a left, and follow the main road which runs under the elevated road for approximately eight minutes (this side of the main street is lined with motorcycle shops). Watch the opposite side of the road for a 7-11 convenient store and, just beyond it on the corner, a large reddish-tiled building with a sign in Japanese and the number "24". Cross the street. Entrance is around the corner, by stairway to the second floor. (Or take the Hibiya Subway to Iriya Station, and take Exit 1. Walk along Showa Do-ri towards Ueno Station, about 3 minutes walk). Note that the shoe lockers have two kinds of keys: the red keys are for expensive, private rooms, the white keys for a standard locker (2,400. yen before 21:00 for 12 hours of use; 2,800. yen after 21:00 for 14 hours). Take your shoes off before stepping onto the carpet. Put your shoes in a locker with a white key, add a 10 yen coin, close the door and remove the key. Give the attendant your shoe locker key. Signs and announcements here are in English and Japanese. The attendant will give you a plastic bag with your towels and robe, as well as a wristband with your locker key. Be sure to return all towels and robe in this same plastic bag when you leave. There are also toiletries and small toys available in the display cases which you may purchase. This branch of the popular "24 Hour" sauna chain is new, clean, and ten stories high. Age range is late 20s to 40s, short hair, beards, bear and G-men type (masculine). Chubby is very popular in Japan and so many of these bears are, though there are also younger, thinner and non-bear chasers as well. Lockers and TV relax room are on the third floor. Note the Zen koan-like sign which admonishes "No hair dyeing or gum chewing." The fourth floor has a large and lovely bathing area with washing area, three different temperature pools (two hot, one icy cold), sun tanning beds, misted shower room, steam room, dry sauna, and a wonderful warm water mist room that makes you feel like you are in a dark rain forest. Leave your robe in a cubbyhole locker outside and carry your washcloth modestly positioned over your crotch, or on top of your shoulder or head while submerged in the relaxing pools (remember, wash first in the showers or at the soaping stools before entering the relaxing tubs). After bathing, head upstairs to the various mix rooms, specialty lounges, dude ranch bunk beds, spy hole room, fundoshi S/M playroom, a fully equipped gym on the 10th floor or the rooftop sunbathing deck which closes at 7pm. If you are brave, try your hand at the controls on their Space Age commodes.

Comments from Utopians:

"Went to 24 Kaikan in Ueno last weekend and stayed overnight on Sat. Easy to find with the directions above. English spoken at the entrance. Clean. Limited cruising in the bath and shower, but very active in the common rooms. Mostly 4Oish and not the young, slim, cute Japanese you see in the street. Overall, good fun and a cheap place to stay for the night." -- ztheplayer, Oct 3, 2009

"Went to 24 Kaikan in Ueno a few times this month. Usually after work, (around 5pm) on weekdays. Great place. Pretty darn clean, but kind of an odd/awkward experience when you`re in the middle of cruising and an employee walks in and starts tidying up. The employees don't pay any attention, though. The staff is real friendly and the ones working at the front desk speak some English. One time one of the receptionists asked me to fill out a form that asked some really personal information. I just pretended to write things down, and gave the paper back to him, and he didn't even look at it and let me through. The crowd is mostly 30-50+. The youngest guy was probably in his mid 20s. There are very few non-Asians. It's mostly bear/cub types. However, there's a gym on the top floor where you'll find all the muscle dudes working out, sometimes in the nude. However, a lot of guys were cruising on them and they never paid any attention. The bath area, for me, seemed surprisingly quiet. There was a lot of looking, but no one talked or made any moves. I still had fun every time I went. A bit pricey, in my opinion, but still a fun experience." -- daisuke69, Sep 13, 2009

OTHER AREAS

Email. Young gay nudist cruise spot.

1-1-15 Negish, Taito-ku, 3844-4567. Sauna.