In February 1981, Duke Klauck opened Ten Thousand Waves after years spent living out of a van, seeking out hot springs across the U.S. and Mexico. What he built combines what he calls "Japanese Adobe" — an architecture drawn from both the American Southwest and Japan, shaped by a philosophy he first encountered on his own trip to Japan in 1983, when he experienced omotenashi, the country's tradition of hospitality, firsthand. Klauck speaks to the three principles that have guided the resort since: that everything be built from real materials and offer a real physical effect, that the practice of kaizen — constant, mindful improvement — never stop, and that the massage therapy meet the highest standard he can offer. Bathing here is framed as an intentional act rather than an obligation, a deliberate step away from the world into water, wood, and the mountain forest that holds it.