Kaze no Tani no Iori
風の谷の庵
Does Kaze no Tani no Iori allow tattoos? In a private bath
Kaze no Tani no Iori is nine detached houses in the forest on the hill above Gamagori, each with an open-air tub fed by the Bihakusen spring. There is no large bath to share.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule, and the bathing here does not depend on one: all nine rooms are detached houses with their own open-air bath of hot spring water. You bathe on your own terrace at any hour. The one shared facility, a bedrock bath and jacuzzi house, is rented whole to one party at a time.
The bath
Every room has an open-air bath on its own terrace, and the inn says all nine are filled with Gamagori's Bihakusen spring, from the second Bihakusen source. It is a low-temperature, weakly alkaline spring that the inn describes as moist on the skin and lists for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, frozen shoulder, bruises, sprains, chronic digestive trouble, cold sensitivity and fatigue. The tubs differ from room to room; the photo on the hot spring page shows a deep blue ceramic tub with a wooden spout on a deck among the trees. Guests can bathe at any hour and as often as they like.
Each room also has a shower booth beside the bath, added so that older guests and several bathers at once can wash in comfort. The booth runs on ordinary hot water. The two-story suite, Yamabuki, adds a barrel sauna with an electric stove, a cold plunge and outdoor chairs on its wooden deck.
A separate rest house named Kira is lent to one party at a time for 90 minutes. Inside are a bedrock bath with beds of mineral stone and a jacuzzi, which the inn notes is not hot spring water.
The hotel
The inn belongs to Kaiei Ryokans and stands in the forest on the same hill as the group's Tennomaru. Its nine rooms are all detached and come in four types: the renovated two-story suite, hearth rooms with a table-style sunken hearth, dining rooms with beds and a table, and home theater rooms with a projector and screen. Meals are served in the room. Every room has Airweave bedding, a refrigerator stocked with beer and water, and free loan items from colored yukata (a light cotton robe) to aroma oils. Check-in runs from 2 to 6 p.m.
Good to know
- Nine rooms, nine spring-fed tubs. The inn has no large shared bath.
- A shower booth in every room, on ordinary hot water, beside the open-air bath.
- The bedrock bath and jacuzzi house goes to one party at a time for 90 minutes.
- Last check-in is 6 p.m., earlier than most inns in the area.
Getting there
From Nagoya, the JR Tokaido Line special rapid service reaches Gamagori in about 40 minutes. The inn's free shuttle leaves from stand 4 at the station's south exit and takes about 20 minutes up the hill; it must be reserved. From Tokyo, the inn suggests the Shinkansen to Toyohashi, about 1 hour 20 minutes, then 15 minutes on the Tokaido Line to Gamagori. By car it is about 30 minutes from the Otowa-Gamagori interchange or 35 from the Okazaki interchange.
Gamagori STN · JR Tokaido Line
Not walkable.
Free shuttle from stand 4 at the south exit, reservation needed, about 20 minutes.
Where it is
Hotel shuttle stop
- JR Tokaido line 45 min
- inn's shuttle about 20 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Mt. Fuji-Shizuoka Area Tourist Pass Mini ¥6,500 · 3 consecutive days Worth it only if Shizuoka or Mount Fuji is on the same trip.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
There's no shared bath here, so every bath you use is private. No reservation needed.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (rooms and hot spring pages):
Best for: couples who want a detached house in the woods with a spring-fed tub on the terrace and meals served in the room
All nine rooms have a hot spring open-air bath and a separate shower booth; the inn says the shower booths are not hot spring water. The suite also has a barrel sauna and a cold plunge on its deck. The rest house Kira holds a private bedrock bath and a private jacuzzi, used by one party for 90 minutes; the jacuzzi is not hot spring water. Check-in is from 2 p.m., and the last check-in is 6 p.m.
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