Yamaai no Yado Kiyasuya
山あいの宿 喜安屋
Does Yamaai no Yado Kiyasuya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Kiyasuya scatters ten earthen-walled cottages through about 6,600 square meters of woodland, and every one has its own open-air tub of spring water that also heats the rooms.
Kiyasuya publishes no tattoo rule. Every one of its ten detached rooms has its own open-air bath of the spring, and staying guests also have two private open-air baths and two family baths free, so a tattooed guest has no reason to use the shared baths.
The bath
The water is a clear sodium chloride spring at 75.7°C, which the inn says feels smooth on the skin. There is so much of it that it heats the rooms as well as the tubs, and every bath runs straight from the source around the clock. The inn lists it for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, motor paralysis, cold sensitivity, stomach trouble and chronic women's complaints. The bath building has a men's and a women's rock open-air bath and a cut-stone indoor bath.
Every one of the ten detached rooms has its own open-air bath, each built differently: cut stone, cypress or red stone. The photo shows a square stone tub under the deep timber eaves of a cottage, open on one side to a lawn and trees. You use it whenever you like.
Staying guests also have four private baths, all free. Across a small road from the main grounds are two private open-air baths, Fuku-no-yu and Ko-no-yu, open 3 to 10 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Two family baths, Momiji of cypress and Tsukushi of stone, open 3 to 11 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 a.m.
The hotel
Ten detached cottages with earthen walls and black board fences in the style of an old farmhouse, on about 6,600 square meters of woodland, with the dining rooms and baths spread among them. Rooms are Japanese, of eight, ten or twelve and a half mats, for two to five, each with a wooden-floored corner, a small kitchen without a stove, an empty fridge and drinkable spring water. Dinner is served in a private dining room: mountain trout, Bungo beef, wild vegetables and rice from Kokonoe. The whole inn is non-smoking. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Every room has its own open-air bath, but the inn does not take requests for a particular room.
- Four more private baths are free until 10 or 11 p.m. and again from 6:30 a.m.
- No rental cars at the nearest highway bus stop, and no taxis; the inn suggests driving.
- The tap water is spring water you can drink from the room's kitchen.
Getting there
Take the JR Kyudai line to Bungo-Nakamura, then the Kokonoe town community bus to Sujiyu Onsen; the inn gives no minutes, and the Sujiyu tourist association puts the ride at about 50 minutes. The Kyushu Odan bus stops at Sujiyu Onsen Iriguchi, but the inn says that stop is about 8 km away with no bus or taxi on to the inn, and recommends a rental car.
Bungo-Nakamura STN · JR Kyudai Main Line, then the Kokonoe town community bus to Sujiyu Onsen
Not walkable.
Community bus about 50 minutes; the Kyushu Odan bus stop is 8 km away with no onward transport.
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
Use the bath in your room.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the hot spring page says every room has its own open-air bath and lists the private baths)
Best for: a detached farmhouse-style room with its own open-air tub, in woods at 1,000 meters
All ten rooms are detached and have an open-air bath; the inn does not take requests for a particular room. Private open-air baths Fuku-no-yu and Ko-no-yu across a small road: free, 3 to 10 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Family baths Momiji (cypress) and Tsukushi (stone): free, 3 to 11 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Day bathing is suspended. Paths to the rooms have steps. No pets. Member of the Association of Japanese Secluded Hot Spring Inns.
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