A new sauna and seaside bathing facility has appeared on the west coast of Awaji Island. Opened on July 17, 2026,SUNAMERI Spa&Saunais a place to unwind while watching the sun set over the Seto Inland Sea, but the cold plunge and thermal spring are not the only things worth noting. Right beside the spa sits an outdoor court where you can play pickleball. A resort that draws people with hot baths and saunas has slipped a racket sport into one corner of its grounds. For anyone thinking about where pickleball will take root in Japan, this spread out of bathing resorts is worth studying if you run a facility.
An outdoor court next to the spa
It is operated by Balnibarbi Co., Ltd., a company in food service and space production. The site sits inside Frogs FARM ATMOSPHERE, the stay-and-play area the company is developing on the west coast of Awaji Island, at 1107-3 Gunge, Awaji, Hyogo. SUNAMERI puts separate men's and women's indoor baths on the first floor and a sauna and thermal spring (bathing spa) on the second, selling an infinity design that merges into the sea. The outdoor pickleball court was built right next to that spa.
Court use is walk-in on the day, with no advance booking needed. Reception is handled by IrregularGarage, a shop nearby, which also rents out paddles and balls. Showing up empty-handed and playing a few rallies in the sea breeze before or after a bath was part of the plan from the start. As a sports facility attached to a bathhouse, moving between the water and the court is easy.
Unwinding and moving in one place
Hot baths and saunas are powerful draws on their own. But to stretch the length of a stay and create repeat and group visits, it helps to have one more thing to do after the bath. SUNAMERI likely chose pickleball because the sport's low barrier to entry fits that need. The rules are simple, and you can return a ball straight away without any tennis background. Four people make a doubles game, and differences in fitness do not stop people playing together. For families and groups visiting a resort, it is easy to try on the way out of the sauna.
The idea of adding pickleball to an existing draw is no longer unusual on its own. Noah, a major tennis school chain, is combining its own expertise with saunas to reach new audiences (Tennis operator Noah takes on a new market built from pickleball and sauna), and SUNAMERI is heading in much the same direction. Several operators have arrived at the sauna-and-pickleball pairing at around the same time.
Pricing is built around keeping it casual
SUNAMERI prices the spa and the court separately. The pickleball court is rented by the hour, and bathing has tiered rates.
| Type of use | Price (incl. tax) |
|---|---|
| Pickleball courts | 1,000 yen per hour / per group |
| Bathing (adult, standard) | 2,500 yen |
| Bathing (adult, opening rate / overnight guests) | 2,000 yen |
| Bathing (elementary school age and under, standard) | 1,250 yen |
At 1,000 yen per hour for one group, the court is cheap even next to the rates at dedicated pickleball venues. It is priced less as a place to train seriously than as a casual trial where a few people move around after a soak. Set plans bundling a spa ticket are also offered, keeping guests circulating between the baths and the court to lift spend per stay.
A third model: neither a large complex nor a single downtown court
Pickleball courts in Japan are multiplying in a few distinct patterns. There are projects lining up dozens of courts on a large plot to build a destination (A 20-court hot spring resort, and the day Izu Inatori becomes Japan's biggest pickleball home), and there are light-footed openings that drop a single court into unused space in a city. SUNAMERI is neither. It adds an outdoor court to a bathing resort people already travel to.
That approach echoes Fuji-Q, which placed pickleball among the many activities at its racket facility (Fuji-Q opens an all-weather racket facility, with pickleball one of seven activities). The resort experience remains the main attraction, with pickleball there as one element that makes the stay richer. Rather than growing the playing population directly, its role is to give people who have never picked up a paddle their first swing.
Hot baths plus sport as a weapon for regional resorts
What makes SUNAMERI interesting is that it is doing this on the shore of Awaji Island, a tourist destination. Unlike an indoor city facility, an outdoor court turns the sea and the sunset directly into value. The outdoor cool-down that sauna fans love and a rally in the open air sit on the same continuum. Draw guests with baths and saunas, then hand them one more reason to stay with an outdoor court that costs little to add. This model travels well to bathing facilities, glamping sites and resorts nationwide.
The flip side is that an outdoor court is at the mercy of weather and season. How to keep a seaside court busy through the year, and how to plan for rainy days and winter, will decide whether it lasts as a business. Because the bathing facility at its core is weather-proof, the court can sit comfortably as a bonus for sunny days. Starting as an add-on, then building out the setup once the response is clear, is the realistic way in for resorts.
What to know before you go
| Facility Name | SUNAMERI Spa&Sauna |
|---|---|
| Operator | Balnibarbi Co., Ltd. |
| Location | 1107-3 Gunge, Awaji, Hyogo (inside Frogs FARM ATMOSPHERE) |
| Hours | 9:00-23:00 (last entry 22:00) / open daily |
| Pickleball | Outdoor court, 1,000 yen per hour per group, paddle and ball rental available, same-day reception (IrregularGarage) |
| Bathing rates | Adults 2,500 yen / elementary school age and under 1,250 yen (opening rate and overnight guests: 2,000 yen and 1,000 yen) |
| Parking | Free |
| Open | July 17, 2026 |
Summary
SUNAMERI is a stay-and-play resort that adds an outdoor pickleball court to the familiar draw of hot baths and a sauna. The casual rate of 1,000 yen per group per hour and the walk-in reception are not designed to lock in competitive players but to give people who have never played their first swing by the sea. For operators running bathing facilities or glamping sites, it is a concrete example of a low-cost move: add one court to unused outdoor space and you add a reason to stay. If you visit Awaji Island, start by unwinding in the sauna and then spending an hour rallying with friends in the sea breeze. The next courts to appear may come less from large complexes than from corners of resorts like this one.
Source:Balnibarbi Co., Ltd. press release (PR TIMES) ／ SUNAMERI Spa&Sauna official site
