Asahiya Ryokan
朝日屋旅館
Does Asahiya Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Asahiya, a small family-run inn above Sujiyu’s main street, has six kinds of bath, among them a cave bath with a steam room and a goemon bath, an iron-pot tub you can take privately.
Asahiya publishes no tattoo rule. Some of its baths, among them an iron-pot goemon bath, are private baths that guests take whenever they are free, so a tattooed guest can bathe alone.
The bath
Asahiya runs Sujiyu's water straight from the source, a chloride spring of 58 to 63°C that it calls clear, odorless and silky. It lists the water for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, motor paralysis, cold sensitivity, stomach trouble and chronic women's complaints, and repeats the village story that the name means a bath to loosen the muscles, open since 958.
The inn has six kinds of bath: a view open-air bath, a cave open-air bath with a steam bath beside it, a bath cut from a single rock, a goemon bath, and indoor baths for men and women. The private baths need no booking: if one is free, go in. The goemon bath is marked private on the inn's photos; it is an old-style round iron pot set into a stone-walled room with a wooden lid hanging above. The inn does not list which of the other baths are private.
The village's three public baths, the Utase bath, Yakushi-yu and Iwan-yu, are about two minutes away on foot; they are shared.
The hotel
A small inn run by one family, which says it keeps service simple so guests can relax with the baths and the food. All rooms are Japanese, of eight or ten mats, some with a veranda or balcony looking over the village roofs to Mount Waita and the Utase bath; in winter they are warmed by the hot spring. On arrival the landlady serves a homemade seasonal sweet. Dinner is a country kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) with Bungo beef, served at tables in a dining room beside the kitchen; parties of up to 30 can book a banquet.
Good to know
- Private baths need no booking; if one is free, it is yours.
- Homemade sweets at check-in, made by the landlady.
- Park above the inn; the village lanes are narrow.
- Two minutes on foot to the Utase public bath.
Getting there
Take the JR Kyudai line to Bungo-Nakamura, then the Hita Bus to Sujiyu, about 50 minutes. By car, leave the Oita Expressway at the Kokonoe interchange and follow the Shikisai Road, about 30 minutes. The inn publishes no walking time from the bus stop.
Bungo-Nakamura STN · JR Kyudai Main Line, then the Hita Bus to Sujiyu Onsen
Not walkable.
Bus about 50 minutes; the inn gives no walk from the stop.
Where it is
Sujiyu Onsen bus stop
- Yufuin no Mori 1 hr 47 min
- JR Kyudai line 13 min
- Kokonoe community bus 50 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 Kuju is part of 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
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 (: the bath page says the private baths can be used when free, and labels the goemon bath private)
Best for: a family-run inn with a cave bath, a single-rock bath and an iron-pot bath to take privately
Baths: a view open-air bath, a cave open-air bath with a steam bath, a single-rock bath, a goemon bath (an iron-pot tub) and indoor baths. The private baths are used whenever they are free, with no booking; the operator labels the goemon bath as private but does not say which others are. Rooms are heated with hot spring heat in winter. Parking is above the inn; the village roads are narrow. Check-in 3 to 6:30 p.m., check-out by 10 a.m.
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