Kabeyu Tennen Dokutsu Onsen Ryokan Fukumotoya
壁湯天然洞窟温泉 旅館 福元屋
Does Kabeyu Tennen Dokutsu Onsen Ryokan Fukumotoya allow tattoos? In a private bath
At Fukumotoya a spring has bubbled out at 39°C beneath a rock wall over the river for more than 300 years; the inn adds two private baths of hand-cut stone for guests who would rather bathe alone.
Fukumotoya publishes no tattoo rule. Its famous riverside cave bath is mixed and shared, but it also has two private baths, one of storehouse stone and one of stone the owner cut himself, which guests take whenever they are free.
The bath
The spring rises on its own beneath a rock wall that juts out over the river, and the inn says it has flowed for more than 300 years, used by people on cures and traveling merchants since early Meiji. It is a simple spring at 39°C, soft and lukewarm, so you can stay in a long time; fresh bubbles cling to the skin, and it is drinkable, traditionally for the stomach and skin. The inn lists it for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, stiff shoulders, motor paralysis, bruises, sprains, digestive trouble, hemorrhoids, cold sensitivity and recovery after childbirth. The cave bath on the river is mixed bathing and open 24 hours; a smaller cave bath, hand-dug with a chisel by the previous owner, is indoors for women only.
The two private baths need no booking: take one when it is free. Komoriku-no-yu, on the ground floor and named by the writer Mayumi Mori, is built of stones from the family storehouse and opens 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Kiridashi-no-yu, in a separate building a short walk away, is made of stone the owner cut himself, set in old-style lime mortar, with a few heart-shaped stones hidden for luck. The photo shows a round tub faced in dark stones under timber walls and small windows.
The hotel
A nine-room inn founded in 1907 and kept in folk style, with the family's old bridal chests and an irori hearth room for resting after a bath. Most rooms face the river: one 12-mat room with two rooms and a toilet, three of six to eight mats with a toilet, four small rooms for two without a toilet, and a 10.5-mat ground-floor room. Meals use rice the family grows and local vegetables, cooked to the landlady's grandmother's recipes; dinner from 6 or 6:30 p.m., breakfast from 7:30. A member of the Association of Japanese Secluded Hot Spring Inns.
Good to know
- Two private baths, no booking; take one when it is free.
- The river cave bath is mixed; the women's cave bath is indoors.
- Free shochu (a distilled spirit) at night and coffee in the morning, poured by the owner.
- Four small rooms have no toilet; ask for a room with one if it matters.
Getting there
The inn's site gives no public transport route. The nearest station is Bungo-Mori on the JR Kyudai line; Hosenji, a short way downstream, is about 20 minutes from Bungo-Mori by the hourly bus, according to Yumotoya there. A taxi from Bungo-Mori is simplest.
Bungo-Mori STN · JR Kyudai Main Line
Not walkable.
Taxi from Bungo-Mori; the inn names no bus.
Where it is
- 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 hot spring page lists two private baths)
Best for: a 39-degree river cave bath next door and two private stone baths to retreat to
Private baths Komoriku-no-yu (in the building, from old storehouse stone, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and Kiridashi-no-yu (in a separate building a short walk away, of stone the owner cut): no booking, take one when free. The cave bath on the river is mixed bathing, 39°C, open 24 hours; a hand-dug cave bath indoors is for women only. Some rooms share toilets. The owner pours free shochu at night and coffee in the morning.
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