Nihon no Yado Koyo
日本の宿 古窯
Does Nihon no Yado Koyo allow tattoos? In a private bath
Koyo puts a tub of its own in 37 rooms, from 26 renovated semi-open-air baths to Takenokura rooms whose outdoor tubs are a single hollowed rock, a granite oval or Oishida-ware ceramic.
Koyo's own FAQ says guests with tattoos may not use the large shared baths. The answer here is a room with its own tub: 37 rooms have one, and the inn says all of them run on hot spring water. There is also one private open-air bath, booked for 45 minutes.
The bath
The water is a sodium-calcium chloride-sulfate spring from Kaminoyama source No. 3. It leaves the ground at 64°C with a pH of 8.0, and the inn cools it to 40 to 43°C by adjusting the flow; in summer some water may be added. Koyo calls it a beauty spring, rich in metasilicic acid. The eighth-floor view bath has an open-air section facing the Zao range and the town's night lights. On the first floor, Benibana-buro has barrel-shaped open-air tubs and a cold sauna at about minus 5°C. The two halls swap: women use the eighth floor from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the first floor from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., men the reverse. The inn takes no bath-only visitors.
The room tubs are the reason to book. Twenty-six semi-open-air bath rooms in the Yuki no Yakata wing and four sixth-floor open-air bath rooms were renovated in May 2019. The seven Takenokura rooms each have an outdoor tub on a wide veranda, of granite, a hollowed boulder, or ceramic from the Jinengo kiln in Oishida. The inn says every one of these room tubs is spring water. For guests in other rooms, a private open-air bath on the third floor holds up to four for 45 minutes at ¥3,000 plus tax, with sessions starting on the hour from 3 to 11 p.m. and 5 to 7 a.m. Book it at the front desk at check-in, or ahead of the stay by phone or email.
The hotel
Koyo is the large inn of the Koyo group on the Hayama hill, with Japanese rooms of 10 plus 6 mats, Western rooms, VIP rooms and the bath rooms above. The semi-open-air and sixth-floor rooms carry the snow theme of the Yuki no Yakata wing and have Simmons beds. The top Takenokura suite adds a sauna for up to five with self-service steam and a private theater room. Check-in is 3 p.m. and check-out 10 a.m. The inn says it has ranked in the top ten of a national 100-best inns list for more than 40 years running.
Good to know
- Thirty-seven rooms with their own tub, from semi-open-air baths with a mountain window to boulder tubs on a veranda.
- The private open-air bath can be booked ahead, 45 minutes for up to four, starting on the hour.
- Free scheduled bus from the station, about 10 minutes, with afternoon pickups until 5:50 p.m.
Getting there
From Yamagata Station, take the JR line to Kaminoyama-Onsen Station, about 12 minutes. Koyo runs a free scheduled bus from there, about 10 minutes, leaving the station at 1:45, 2:45, 3:45, 4:50 and 5:50 p.m. The return runs leave the inn at 8:45, 9:15, 9:45, 10:15, 10:45 and 11:15 a.m. Guests arriving after 6 p.m. should phone the inn. The inn publishes no walking time.
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN · JR Yamagata Shinkansen / Ou line
Not walkable.
Free scheduled inn bus, about 10 minutes; afternoon pickups until 5:50 p.m.
Where it is
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the whole train ride: the Tsubasa, the Yamagata Shinkansen, runs from Tokyo to Kaminoyama-Onsen with no change.
- Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen day trip The Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen, from Sendai.
- 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
Confirmed from official site (the inn's FAQ, opened from its own home page, for the shared-bath refusal; the open-air-bath rooms page and the FAQ for the room tubs)
申し訳ございませんが、入墨・タトゥーのある方の大浴場のご利用はお断りしております。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: a couple who wants a renovated room with its own hot spring tub on a hill above the town
Room tubs: 26 semi-open-air bath rooms of 46 square meters and four sixth-floor open-air bath rooms of 60 square meters, all renovated in May 2019, plus seven Takenokura rooms whose outdoor tubs are cut from granite or made of Oishida-ware ceramic; the Takenokura Iide and Asahi rooms have no indoor bath, and the top Takenokura suite adds a private sauna. The inn says every room with an open-air or semi-open-air bath is on hot spring water. The third-floor private open-air bath costs ¥3,000 plus tax for 45 minutes, holds up to four, and starts on the hour from 3 to 11 p.m. and 5 to 7 a.m.; book it at the front desk at check-in, first come, first served, or ahead of the stay. The baths in ordinary rooms are not hot spring water. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m. The source comes out at 64°C and is cooled by adjusting the flow; the inn says some water may be added in summer. No bath-only day use.
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