Isaribi
いさり火
Does Isaribi allow tattoos? In a private bath
Isaribi sits on a well 600 meters deep that delivers iron-rich water at 73.3°C, hot enough to need no reheating. It pipes it to an open-air tub in each of its 13 rooms and to a big bath that guests take turns having to themselves.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule, and its layout makes one unnecessary. All 13 rooms have their own open-air bath, usable around the clock, and even the large bath and open-air bath downstairs are handed over for private use, without a reservation, from 3 p.m. to 11 the next morning. A guest here never has to share a tub.
The bath
Every room has its own open-air bath, fed from the source and left running, and you may use it at any hour of the day or night. The inn says the water is soft on the skin, keeps you warm for a long time and is unlikely to leave you light-headed, and that with the sea air on your face you will not want to get out.
Downstairs there is a large indoor bath, a little bigger than you would expect for an inn of this size, and an open-air bath reached along a bamboo fence. Both are given over to one party at a time, from 3 p.m. until 11 the next morning, with no reservation. In the large bath, spotlights pick out ceramic pieces by the potter Hiroyuki Tomita, and light off the water moves across the tiled wall.
All of it comes from a well on the grounds, 600 meters deep. The water is a sodium and calcium chloride and sulfate spring, neutral, rich in iron, 73.3°C at the source, so it is never reheated. The inn takes no day visitors; it points them to Iso-no-yu, a public open-air bath at the water's edge 5 minutes away on foot, which is fed from the inn's own source.
The hotel
A 13-room inn at Okawa, whose motto is to spend time doing nothing. Seven rooms are Western twins for two; the others sleep four to six. Dinner starts at 6 or 6:30 p.m. and should finish by 9; breakfast starts between 8 and 9. Breakfast-only and room-only plans are sold. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out is as late as noon. Massage, shiatsu and acupuncture are offered by reservation. A bathing tax of ¥300 is charged separately. Free parking holds 20 cars. Pets are not accepted.
Good to know
- Room baths never close, and every one is open-air and free-flowing.
- The big bath is private too, one party at a time from 3 p.m. to 11 a.m., no booking.
- Check-out at noon leaves a whole morning for the tub.
- Give your arrival time at Izu-Okawa Station and the inn meets you, 2:30 to 7 p.m.
Getting there
The inn is 8 minutes on foot from Izu-Okawa Station on the Izukyu Line, about an hour from Atami by local train on the Ito and Izukyu lines. From Tokyo, take the Shinkansen or the Tokaido Line to Atami and change. If you give your arrival time in advance, the inn collects you at Izu-Okawa between 2:30 and 7 p.m. and takes you back between 9 a.m. and noon.
Izu-Okawa STN · Izukyu Line (local trains from Atami)
8 minutes.
Pickup from Izu-Okawa Station on request, 2:30 to 7 p.m.
Where it is
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Three days of JR East trains from Tokyo, and the Izukyu line from Ito on to Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori.
- Izukyu Discovery Pass Worth it if your stay also stops at Ito or Shimoda. It covers two or three days in a row on the Izukyu line between Ito and Izukyu-Shimoda, Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori included, and a vacant ordinary seat on the Odoriko. It doesn’t cover the JR part of the ride from Tokyo.
- Mt Omuro and the Izu coast day trip The Mt Omuro lift, the Atami beach road, the Jogasaki cliffs and Ito’s harbor.
- 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
Use the bath in your room.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the FAQ says every room has a free-flowing open-air bath and that the basement large bath and open-air bath are offered for private use)
Best for: anyone who wants a stay in which every bath, large or small, is used alone
Room baths are open 24 hours. The basement large bath and the open-air bath beside it are let privately from 3 p.m. to 11 a.m., no reservation. No day-use bathing. Check-out is noon. The whole inn is non-smoking, e-cigarettes included. Most rooms are Western twins for two; rooms 103, 105, 106, 203, 205 and 206 take four to six.
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