Ueki Onsen Kirinoyu
植木温泉 桐乃湯
Does Ueki Onsen Kirinoyu allow tattoos? In a private bath
Kirinoyu was among the first Ueki inns to put open-air baths in its rooms, and now eight of its ten rooms have one, including a suite with a Shigaraki ceramic tub.
Kirinoyu publishes no tattoo rule. Eight of its ten rooms have their own bath of the inn's spring water: open-air, semi-open-air, or a Shigaraki ceramic tub. A tattooed guest who books one of those rooms can bathe privately and leave the shared baths alone.
The bath
Eight of the ten rooms come with a bath of their own, and the inn says they run with its plentiful spring water straight from the source. Five rooms, two of 10 mats and three of 12, have a semi-open-air bath, the inn's budget way into a room with a tub. Two 12-mat rooms on the ground floor have an open-air bath set in a small garden, with a handrail for safety; one of them is barrier-free, and these two do not take children of elementary-school age or younger. The largest room joins 12 and 7.5 mats and has a Shigaraki ceramic tub; it is booked for two or more. Two plain 10-mat rooms have no bath.
The spring was found along the Goshi river around 1897 and called Hirashima Onsen; a new source was drilled between 1955 and 1964 and revived it as Ueki Onsen. The water is a weakly alkaline simple spring that the inn calls soft and calming, good for the skin, with baking-soda content that keeps it moist. The shared baths are a large bath for each sex and an open-air bath set with big boulders under a roof that opens and closes, so it works in rain too. Staying guests bathe from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The hotel
A renovated ten-room inn with a spacious lobby, a small courtyard garden and a dining area of ten private rooms, some with tables and some with sunken seating; say which you want when you book. Dinner and breakfast use fish from Amakusa, lean beef and pork, free-range chicken and local vegetables, and the inn polishes its own rice. It also sells homemade puddings and roll cakes. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out at 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Book from two guests, and two or more for the Shigaraki tub suite.
- The open-air bath has a roof that slides shut, so rain does not end your soak.
- Arriving after 6 p.m.? Let the inn know ahead.
Getting there
Kirinoyu gives car times only: about 5 minutes from the Ueki interchange on the Kyushu Expressway, 40 minutes from central Kumamoto, 45 minutes from Kumamoto Airport and 15 minutes from Yamaga or Kikuchi. JR Ueki Station on the Kagoshima main line is about 20 minutes from Kumamoto, but the inn publishes no bus, taxi or walking directions from it. Parking is for 50 cars.
Ueki STN · JR Kagoshima main line
Not walkable.
The inn gives car times only: 5 minutes from the Ueki interchange, 40 minutes from central Kumamoto.
Where it is
- Kyushu Shinkansen 40 min
- JR Kagoshima line 20 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 if Kikuchi or Ueki is one stop in a longer Kyushu trip by train.
- 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 rooms page and the rates page)
Best for: a couple or family who want a semi-open-air or garden tub in the room at a modest step up from a plain room
Room baths: two 10-mat rooms and three 12-mat rooms with a semi-open-air bath, two ground-floor 12-mat rooms with a garden open-air bath and a handrail (one is barrier-free, and neither takes children of elementary age or younger), and one two-room suite of 12 and 7.5 mats with a Shigaraki ceramic tub (two guests or more). Two 10-mat rooms have no bath. Bookings from two guests. Shared baths open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for staying guests. Check-in from 3 p.m.; tell the inn if arriving after 6 p.m. Check-out 10 a.m. Parking for 50 cars.
Book your stay
- AAgodaCheck availability
- TTrip.comCheck availability
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