Kuma, on the Mikuma river in the Hita Onsen hotel strip, 10 minutes on foot from Hita Station Ryokan (three room types with their own open-air bath over the river) ★★★★☆

Caffel Hinanosato

caffel ひなのさと

Does Caffel Hinanosato allow tattoos? In a private bath

Private bath only

Hinanosato, the old Sanyokan rebuilt in 2019 as a cafe-inn, sets a deep open-air tub on the veranda of its river rooms and runs its own cafe boats on the Mikuma.

Hinanosato publishes no tattoo rule. Three of its room types have an open-air bath on the room's own veranda, so a tattooed guest can book one of those and bathe without using the shared baths.

Illustration of Caffel Hinanosato in Kuma, on the Mikuma river in the Hita Onsen hotel strip, 10 minutes on foot from Hita Station

The bath

The water comes out at 44°C, an alkaline simple spring that the inn calls weakly alkaline and smooth on the skin. It lists the spring for rheumatism, joint and muscle trouble, skin complaints, nervous complaints and fatigue, and says the lithium in it makes for a calming bath. The men's side is an observation bath with an open-air bath and a sauna. The women's side has a large bath behind big windows on the Mikuma river, a half-open-air bath and a loyly sauna. The baths open 6 to 9 a.m. and from noon to midnight, with 9 a.m. to noon kept for cleaning; day visitors come from noon.

The point for a tattooed guest is the three room types with their own open-air bath on the veranda. The Western twin, for one or two, has a tub from which the inn says you can see the whole river and the town lights at night. The Japanese-Western room is a 28-square-meter corner room with twin beds, 8 mats and a tub over the river, for up to four. The 10-mat Japanese room has a wide veranda-style open-air bath, also for up to four. The inn does not say whether these tubs carry the spring.

The hotel

This was Sanyokan, a riverside inn, until 2019, when it reopened as caffel Hinanosato, a cross between a cafe and an inn. The lobby looks over the Mikuma and Kizan Park, with free cookies and self-serve coffee for guests, and the cafe Gu-gu has a manga library and work desks. The inn runs its own cafe boats on the river and offers SUP and cycling. Dinner centers on a tomato-based Western shabu-shabu (thin-sliced meat swished in hot broth) of local Tenryo mochi pork, with Bungo beef as an upgrade; breakfast is Western. All rooms are non-smoking.

Good to know

A free foot bath on the terrace faces the river and Kizan Park, noon to 8 p.m.
Cookies and coffee are free in the lobby for the whole stay.
No bathing from 9 a.m. to noon, while the baths are cleaned.
Free parking for 40 cars in front of the inn, with two more lots nearby.

Getting there

From Hita Station on the JR Kyudai Main Line, the inn is about 10 minutes on foot, by its own count; it counts about 1 hour 30 minutes by train from Hakata. Drivers leave the Oita Expressway at Hita IC, about 15 minutes away. The inn publishes no shuttle.

Hita STN · JR Kyudai Main Line
About 10 minutes.

No shuttle published; free parking for 40 cars.

Where it is

Caffel Hinanosato · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
JR Kyushu Rail Pass from ¥12,000 · 3, 5 or 7 consecutive days Worth it if Hita is one stop on a longer Kyushu trip by train.
Yufuin and Hita day tour Yufuin and Hita in a day, with the Yufuin no Mori train as an option.
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 rooms pages list three room types with their own open-air bath)

Best for: a veranda tub over the Mikuma river at an inn run as a cafe, with free cookies and coffee in the lobby

Rooms with an open-air bath: the Western twin (12 mats in size, one or two guests), the Japanese-Western corner room (28 m2, twin beds and 8 mats, up to four) and the 10-mat Japanese room with a wide veranda bath (up to four). The inn does not say whether the room tubs carry spring water. The shared baths are a 44°C alkaline simple spring that the inn says contains lithium. Formerly Sanyokan, rebranded in 2019. All rooms non-smoking since July 2018.

Book your stay

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Others in the same group

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