Resonate Club Kuju
レゾネイトクラブくじゅう
Does Resonate Club Kuju allow tattoos? In a private bath
Resonate Club Kuju is a village of small European-style houses on old pastureland at 865 meters, and its spring carries more than 180 mg of metasilicic acid, over three times the level that makes a beauty bath.
Resonate Club Kuju publishes no tattoo rule. It has Japanese-Western rooms with their own hot spring open-air bath and a private open-air bath, so a tattooed guest can bathe without using the large bath.
The bath
The hotel's spring runs over the rim of the tubs and is rich in minerals. Its selling point is metasilicic acid, a natural moisturizer: 50 mg is enough to count as a hot spring, the hotel explains, and its water has more than 180 mg, which is why it calls it a beauty bath. The large bath is called Benkara-no-yu, after the red iron-oxide pigment, and day visitors may use it for ¥800.
For privacy there are two options. The Japanese-Western rooms with a hot spring open-air bath are, in the hotel's words, a special space for two, softly lit, each with its own open-air tub. The hot spring page also lists a private open-air bath, though it does not give the fee, hours or how to book it, so ask at check-in. Other rooms have a bath with a view indoors; the hotel does not say whether that tub is spring water. The photo of the private open-air bath shows a long pool edged with rounded white stones below a grassy bank.
The hotel
A resort hotel of small houses laid along the slope of former grazing land in Aso-Kuju National Park, joined by gently sloping covered walkways. Rooms range from standard Western and Japanese-Western rooms to maisonettes with a viewing deck, rooms with a view bath, a room near the front desk for guests with limited mobility, and six rooms with a private garden for dogs. There is a glamping area of dome tents, a library corner and a shop, and two restaurants, Meteo and Washin, serve lunch and dinner by reservation.
Good to know
- Ask for a room with a hot spring open-air bath if you want to bathe privately.
- A shuttle bus runs from JR Yufuin; a taxi from Bungo-Taketa takes about 30 minutes.
- Dogs welcome in six rooms with their own garden.
- Carry chains or snow tires on winter roads.
Getting there
The hotel runs a shuttle bus from JR Yufuin station on the Kyudai line. Otherwise take the JR Hohi line to Bungo-Taketa, about 1 hour 15 minutes from Oita, and a taxi of about 30 minutes; from Yufuin a taxi takes about 60. By car it is about 60 minutes from Oita city.
Bungo-Taketa STN · JR Hohi Line
Not walkable.
Taxi about 30 minutes; or the hotel shuttle from JR Yufuin.
Where it is
- Kyushu Shinkansen 40 min
- Kyushu Odan limited express 2 hr 21 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, or reserve a private bath at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the rooms page lists rooms with a hot spring open-air bath; the hot spring page lists a private open-air bath)
Best for: a highland resort with its own spring open-air tub in the room and a shuttle from Yufuin
Room types with a bath: Japanese-Western rooms with their own hot spring open-air bath, and Western and Japanese-Western rooms with a view bath indoors (the operator does not say whether that one is spring water). A private open-air bath is listed on the hot spring page; its fee, hours and booking are not published there. Six dog-friendly rooms. Day bathing ¥800 for adults. Shuttle bus from JR Yufuin. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out by 11 a.m.
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