Hitoyoshi Onsen Nabeya
人吉温泉 鍋屋
Does Hitoyoshi Onsen Nabeya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Nabeya has kept an inn on this bend of the Kuma since 1829, and its new building puts a spring bath in every suite and semi-suite, with the castle walls across the water.
Nabeya publishes no tattoo rule. Its three suites and the semi-suites in the new building each have a spring bath of their own, open-air in the suites, and the bath floor also has a family bath, so a tattooed guest can bathe without the large bath.
The bath
Hitoyoshi's springs have drawn bathers since 1492, when the inn says the Sagara lord came for a cure, and Nabeya's own bath is a weakly alkaline bicarbonate spring that flows straight through the tubs, gentle enough, it says, for the old and the young. The inn lists it for stomach complaints, fatigue, rheumatism, neuralgia, cuts, burns, muscle and joint pain, stiff shoulders, chills and recovery after illness, and says drinking it helps the stomach.
The large bath is on the top floor of the new building, a wide indoor hall with an open-air bath that looks down the Kuma river to the castle ruins, and a sauna with a broad window on the valley. It runs 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9 a.m., with body soap, shampoo and conditioner provided. The same floor has a family bath, a private room with a stone tub and a window, which the inn lists with no hours, charge or booking method; ask at the desk.
The in-room baths are in the new building. All three suites and all the semi-suites have a spring bath. The suite Sakura (92 square meters) has an indoor bath and a two-meter-square open-air pool on its terrace that becomes a warm pool in summer; Tsubaki (82 square meters) has an open-air bath over the river; Ume (86 square meters) an open-air bath with the mountains in view. The photo on the hot spring page shows a glazed ceramic tub on a balcony above the water.
The hotel
Nabeya began in 1829 as the inn where the Sagara clan's guests stayed, and today it is a modern hotel of 37 rooms in four grades, suite, semi-suite, superior and standard, all non-smoking and all facing the Kuma river and the castle ruins. Dinner is a creative local cuisine in the restaurant Crescent over the river, with seven private dining rooms; there are no room meals. A cafe and bar stocks about 30 Kuma shochu (a distilled spirit), and there is a foot bath over the river, a kids' corner, a coin laundry and Edo-period boulders at the entrance. Check-in 3 to 6 p.m., check-out 10 a.m., doors lock at 1 a.m.
Good to know
- Only suites and semi-suites have a spring bath in the room; superior and standard rooms use the large bath.
- The family bath has no posted hours or fee; ask at the front desk when you arrive.
- Last check-in is 6 p.m., and leaving before 7 a.m. needs notice.
- Free parking, 5 minutes from Hitoyoshi IC by Prefectural Route 54.
Getting there
From Kumamoto Sakuramachi bus terminal take the Sanko highway bus down the Kyushu Expressway to Hitoyoshi, about 1 hour 50 minutes by the city's count. The inn's own route from Hakata is about 1 hour 55 minutes: the Shinkansen to Shin-Yatsushiro (about 50 minutes), the B&S Miyazaki highway bus to the Hitoyoshi IC stop (about 40 minutes), then about 25 minutes on foot to the door. By car it is 5 minutes from Hitoyoshi IC on Prefectural Route 54. The inn publishes no walking time from Hitoyoshi Station and no shuttle.
Hitoyoshi IC bus stop · Sanko highway buses from Kumamoto Sakuramachi; B&S Miyazaki bus from Shin-Yatsushiro
About 25 minutes from the Hitoyoshi IC stop, by the inn's count.
No shuttle; free parking.
Where it is
Hitoyoshi Sanko bus stop
- Kyushu Shinkansen 40 min
- highway bus 1 hr 50 min
- 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 only if the rest of the trip is by train.
- Kyushu SunQ Pass Hitoyoshi’s railway has been cut since the 2020 floods, so the way in is the highway bus from Kumamoto. Worth it if you’re riding buses elsewhere in Kyushu too; it covers that bus and the island’s highway lines.
- 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, or reserve a private bath at the front desk.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the hot spring page says every suite and semi-suite has a spring bath, and lists a family bath)
Best for: a river-view suite with its own open-air tub in an inn founded in 1829
Suites: Sakura (92.1 m2, indoor bath and a 2 m by 2 m open-air pool on the terrace, a warm pool in summer), Tsubaki (82.4 m2, open-air bath over the river), Ume (86.4 m2, open-air bath), each for four. Semi-suites also have a spring bath; count not published. The family bath is listed on the hot spring and facilities pages with no hours, fee or booking method. Large bath with open-air bath and sauna on the top floor of the new building, 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9 a.m.; no day use published. Founded 1829 as an inn for the Sagara lords; 37 rooms, all non-smoking. Check-in 3 to 6 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.; doors lock at 1 a.m. Parking given as 30 cars on one page and 40 on another, free.
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