Harumiya Ryokan
はるみや旅館
Does Harumiya Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Harumiya has ten rooms, and each has its own source-flowing tub, in cypress, granite or open to a private garden; its four other baths, one a rock pool on the Arakawa, lock from the inside for whoever gets there first.
Harumiya publishes no tattoo rule. Every one of its ten rooms has its own source-flowing tub, and any of its four baths can be locked from the inside whenever it is free, so a tattooed guest never has to share a bath.
The bath
Every bath at Harumiya uses Tsuchiyu's natural hot spring. The inn calls the water a simple sulfur spring, colorless and clear and gently alkaline, cooled with spring water from the foot of Mount Azuma, which is why it is labeled a simple spring. It lists it for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, stiff joints, bruises and sprains, chronic digestive complaints, hemorrhoids, cold sensitivity, recovery after illness and fatigue.
The point here is that nobody has to share. All ten rooms have their own tub of source-flowing water. The four Akashiya rooms on the second and third floors have an open-air tub, the ground-floor Akashiya room a granite half-open-air tub, the four upper Sakura rooms a granite open-air tub, and the ground-floor Sakura room a cypress open-air tub in its own garden, which the inn offers as a snow-viewing bath in winter.
The four other baths work as private baths with no booking: when one is free, go in and lock the door from inside. The riverside open-air bath is a rock pool for about 15 facing the Arakawa; the rooftop bath on the Sakura wing is a tub of koyamaki (Japanese umbrella pine) wood with a mountain view; the two indoor baths are recirculated. All stay open through the night until 9:30 a.m.
The hotel
Harumiya is a small family inn of ten rooms in two wings, Akashiya and Sakura, in four types, from Japanese rooms for one to four to Japanese-Western rooms with a living room, dining area and bedroom. Meals are what the inn calls country cooking, made with produce from local farms through the seasons. The car park has two free EV chargers.
Good to know
- Every room has its own tub, fed straight from the source.
- No booking for the private baths: lock the door from inside when one is free.
- The baths stay open all night, until 9:30 a.m.
- Check the way to the entrance before you arrive; the inn warns that it is hard to find.
Getting there
From JR Fukushima Station, take the Fukushima Kotsu bus to Tsuchiyu, about 45 minutes; the inn names no stop and publishes no walking time from it. A taxi from the station takes about 30 minutes. Drivers leave the Tohoku Expressway at Fukushima-Nishi, about 15 minutes away. The inn says its entrance is hard to find and asks guests to confirm the way ahead.
Tsuchiyu Onsen bus terminal · Fukushima Kotsu bus from Fukushima Station
The inn publishes no walking time.
Taxi from Fukushima Station about 30 minutes.
Where it is
Tsuchiyu Onsen bus stop
- Tohoku Shinkansen 1 hr 35 min from Tokyo
- Fukushima Kotsu bus 42 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
Skip the shared baths and use one of the private baths. No reservation needed.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site ()
Best for: couples who want a hot spring tub in the room and a riverside rock bath they can lock for themselves
All ten rooms have a source-flowing tub: four Japanese-Western rooms on the second and third floors of the Akashiya wing with an open-air tub and a shower room; one Akashiya ground-floor room of Fukushima cedar with a granite half-open-air tub; one Sakura wing ground-floor room with a cypress open-air tub and its own garden; four Sakura wing rooms on the upper floors with a granite open-air tub. The four shared baths (a rock open-air bath by the river for about 15, a rooftop open-air tub of koyamaki wood and two indoor baths) need no booking: lock the door from inside when one is free. The inn says the indoor baths are recirculated. The baths stay open through the night until 9:30 a.m. The inn warns that its entrance is hard to find and asks guests to check the way before arriving.
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