Aoba Ryokan
青葉旅館
Does Aoba Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
At Aoba every bath in the house locks from the inside, including the open-air pool among garden rocks where the inn serves a sake made for it alone.
Aoba publishes no tattoo rule. Its answer is structural: all three of its baths, two indoor and one open-air, lock from the inside, so a party can bathe with nobody else in the room. Three special rooms also carry their own bath of source-flowing spring water.
The bath
Aoba calls its water motoyu, spring water drawn straight from the source, and it flows through the tubs without recirculation. The inn lists it as a simple spring at 60.8°C with a pH of 8.5, for nerve and joint pain, stiff shoulders, bruises, poor circulation, fatigue and recovery after illness. The baths are open 24 hours.
There are three baths: two indoor and one open-air. Each one locks from the inside, and whoever locks it has it to themselves. The open-air bath is a clear pool set among garden rocks and shrubs, with a small sauna beside it. Straw hats hang ready for rain or strong sun, and the inn serves a local sake named Aoba at the open-air bath, brewed only for this inn.
Three special rooms add a bath of their own, all fed by the same source. Fuji has an indoor bath looking onto the courtyard. Bekkan has both an open-air and an indoor bath, renovated in 2022, and its guests get sake to drink in the bath. Hanare has an indoor bath only, in a room built without steps.
The hotel
The inn is a sukiya-style wooden building from the early Showa era, with ceilings of bush clover wood and cedar bark and old glass doors the inn says are no longer made. Rooms open off corridors around a Japanese courtyard, so each feels like a separate cottage. Six standard rooms take three to five guests. The landlady and her husband cook everything: 20 to 40 small dishes a night, with wild vegetables and mushrooms they gather themselves and seafood sent each morning from Shiogama port. Both meals are served in the room.
Good to know
- Lock the door and the bath is yours, at any of the three baths, around the clock.
- Sake at the open-air bath, a local brew named after the inn and poured only here.
- Straw hats by the open-air bath, for bathing in rain or strong sun.
Getting there
From Fukushima Station, take the Fukushima Kotsu Iizaka line to Iizaka-Onsen Station, the last stop; the inn's chart counts about 25 minutes. From the station the inn is about 10 minutes on foot. The inn publishes no pickup and no taxi time, so plan to walk or take a taxi from the station.
Iizaka-Onsen STN · Fukushima Kotsu Iizaka line
About 10 minutes.
No pickup published; a taxi from the station is the alternative.
Where it is
Iizaka-Onsen STN
- Tohoku Shinkansen 1 hr 35 min from Tokyo
- Iizaka line 23 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Fukushima, the Yamabiko or the Tsubasa.
- 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 bath page and the special-rooms page);
Best for: couples who want a rock garden pool to themselves and dinner of many small homemade dishes in the room
Three baths, two indoor and one open-air, all lockable from inside for private use, open 24 hours; the inn names no fee and no booking for them. The open-air bath has a small sauna, straw hats for rain or sun, and a local sake brewed for the inn served at the bath. Three special rooms have their own bath: Fuji (an indoor bath over the courtyard), Bekkan (an open-air and an indoor bath, renovated in 2022, with meals in the room) and Hanare (indoor bath only, step-free room). Dinner and breakfast are served in the room. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m. The kitchen cannot adjust for allergies or dislikes.
Book your stay
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