Hanaakari no Yado Tsukinoike
花明りの宿 月の池
Does Hanaakari no Yado Tsukinoike allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tsukinoike draws its water straight from the spring said to have been found at the temple across its front door, and three ground-floor rooms have an open-air tub of it on their deck, with roses to float on top.
Tsukinoike publishes no tattoo rule. It has no private bath to book, but three of its eighteen rooms have a deck with a source-fed open-air tub, so a guest in one of them can bathe without the shared baths.
The bath
Kaminoyama's spring is said to have been found by the monk Gesshu, who saw a crane healing its injured leg in it, and the town still calls it Tsuruhagi-no-yu. The stone the crane rested on stands in the grounds of the Yakushi-do hall opposite the inn's front door, and the inn says it pipes that source in as it comes. It is a sodium-calcium chloride-sulfate spring at 62 to 68°C, listed for neuralgia, hardening of the arteries and women's complaints. The large baths each have a cypress open-air bath where floating candle lights are set on the water from dusk, plus Sasabune, single-person open-air tubs shaped like bamboo-leaf boats: one on the men's side, two on the women's. Hours are 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 to 10 a.m. There is no day bathing.
The three open-air bath rooms are the private option. Anemone, Canna and Amaryllis sit on the ground floor in the style of an old Japanese house, each with a deck and a source-fed open-air tub, and the inn provides Yamagata roses for a rose bath. Each takes two guests aged junior high or older.
The hotel
Eighteen rooms in all: the three open-air bath rooms, ten Japanese rooms all facing the Zao range, and seven Japanese-modern rooms with twin or low beds, renovated in 2019 and 2022. All rooms are non-smoking, and the open-air bath rooms carry massage chairs, coffee machines and DVD players. The lobby has free drinks under floating flower lights, which give the inn its name, and the Hana dining room has been refitted with semi-private booths. A covered foot bath stands at the Yakushi-do across the street.
Good to know
- Roses for the tub, supplied in the three open-air bath rooms.
- Adults and teens only in the bath rooms, two guests of junior-high age or older.
- No station pickup at present, so plan on the 15-minute walk or a taxi.
Getting there
From Yamagata Station, take the JR Ou line to Kaminoyama-Onsen Station, about 12 minutes. From there it is about 15 minutes on foot. The inn says it runs no station pickup at present and gives no taxi time. Drivers should slow down near the inn, where the streets narrow; free parking for 20 cars is behind the building.
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN · JR Yamagata Shinkansen / Ou line
About 15 minutes.
No pickup at present; walk or take a taxi.
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
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the rooms page)
Best for: a couple who wants a ground-floor room with a rose-strewn open-air tub on its own deck
The three open-air bath rooms, Anemone, Canna and Amaryllis, are 8-mat twin rooms on the ground floor with a veranda, an indoor shower bath and a deck holding a source-fed open-air tub; the inn supplies Yamagata roses to float in it. Each takes two guests of junior-high age or older, and each has its own massage chair. The shared baths open 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 to 10 a.m. No day bathing. All rooms non-smoking. The inn runs no station pickup at present.
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