Kokonoe Iyashi no Sato Hotel Daikogen
九重いやしの里 ホテル大高原
Does Kokonoe Iyashi no Sato Hotel Daikogen allow tattoos? In a private bath
Hotel Daikogen has seven private baths around its grounds, two of them riverside pools where, the hotel says, the stream can turn cobalt blue, and two of them caves.
Hotel Daikogen publishes no tattoo rule. Besides its men’s and women’s baths it has seven private baths, from riverside open-air pools to two cave baths, so a tattooed guest can bathe privately all evening.
The bath
The hotel's water is a simple spring, run straight from the source and good enough to drink, it says. It lists it for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, stiff shoulders, bruises, motor paralysis, stiff joints, sprains, cold sensitivity, recovery after illness and fatigue. The women's large bath has a falling-water shower and the men's a steam bath.
The seven private baths are the hotel's pride, each built differently. Down steps to the stream are two big open-air pools, Hotaru-yu and Momiji-yu, where the hotel says the water below can turn a mysterious cobalt blue and the maples blaze in autumn. Hinoki-buro is a small half-open-air cypress bath for two; Waita-no-yu, a half-open-air stone bath, catches the wind off Mount Waita. Taru-buro is a big indoor barrel bath for cold days. Iwakagami is a cave bath with Sujiyu's falling-water shower, and Yamaboshi a cave that runs deep, with a lie-down bath. The photo of Hotaru-yu shows a wide pool rimmed with mossy boulders under a timber shelter, with autumn trees above. Hours are 3 to 11 p.m. and from 6 a.m., the open-air pools until 10 p.m.
The hotel
Eleven rooms, ten Japanese and one Western twin, looking onto the stream and the Kuju range. The twelve-mat rooms sleep five and were refloored with Ryukyu tatami mats in autumn 2021; the eight-mat rooms have a veranda; the twin has a big sofa. The hotel cannot take requests for a particular room. Dinner is a creative kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) with wagyu grilled on a roof tile, served in the room on most plans or in the restaurant; breakfast is in the restaurant. It calls itself the closest inn to the Kuju ski slope. Cash only. Check-in 3:30 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Seven private baths, including two caves and two riverside pools.
- Open-air baths close at 10 p.m.; the others run to 11 p.m. and reopen at 6 a.m.
- Cash only; cards are not taken at the hotel.
- The trail up Mount Waita starts beside the hotel, it says.
Getting there
Get off the JR Kyudai line at Bungo-Nakamura; the hotel says a bus runs for each train and takes about 40 minutes to Sujiyu Onsen. By car it is about 25 minutes from the Kokonoe interchange of the Oita Expressway, or about an hour from Beppu by the Yamanami Highway.
Bungo-Nakamura STN · JR Kyudai Main Line, then the bus to Sujiyu Onsen
Not walkable.
Bus about 40 minutes, timed to each train; the hotel 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 a private bath.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the hot spring page lists seven private baths)
Best for: seven different private baths in one stay, including a cave bath with Sujiyu's falling water
Seven private baths: riverside open-air Hotaru-yu and Momiji-yu, half-open-air Hinoki-buro and Waita-no-yu, the indoor barrel bath Taru-buro, and the cave baths Iwakagami (with a falling-water shower) and Yamaboshi (with a lie-down bath). Hours 3 to 11 p.m. and from 6 a.m.; the open-air baths close at 10 p.m. The page does not say whether they cost extra or how they are taken. Cash only. Day bathing on request.
Book your stay
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