Daimaru Ryokan
大丸旅館
Does Daimaru Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Daimaru Ryokan sits over the Serikawa river, and every room looks down on the water; the inn says its spring was struck at 90 meters after the third landlady dreamed of hot water under the tea field next door.
Daimaru Ryokan publishes no tattoo rule. It keeps two family baths that a party has to itself, so a tattooed guest can bathe without using the shared halls.
The bath
The water is a magnesium, sodium and calcium bicarbonate spring that leaves the ground at 46.7°C, and the inn runs it straight through the tubs. Nagayu calls itself the first spa town in Kyushu to declare all its baths free-flowing, and the inn says that is the point of the place. It lists the water for muscle and joint pain, high blood pressure, rheumatism and cold sensitivity in the bath, and for diabetes, gout, stomach trouble and anemia when drunk. The main bath, Tei-no-yu, is named for the landlady who dreamed the spring; the men's and women's sides each have an open-air bath looking toward the river.
The inn has two family baths that a party takes on its own. The one it names is Midori-no-yu, after the fourth landlady: a small, quiet room it compares to a tea house, with a view of the Serikawa just below. The photos show a square tub with a pale stone rim, a wooden spout and cedar walls. Day visitors may use them too, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at ¥1,500 an hour, or ¥500 for the large bath.
Staying guests may also bathe free at Ramune Onsenkan, the inn's outside bath about 300 meters away, with its 32°C carbonated pool and three family baths.
The hotel
Fifteen rooms in two buildings, all looking down on the river. The main building, from the start of the Heisei era, has eight Japanese rooms in four types, one with a sunken kotatsu table. The annex Tokaro was rebuilt to the inn's original 1917 design and has seven Western, Japanese and mixed rooms. Dinner is served in the room or a private dining room, breakfast in a dining hall. The lounges hold letters from the novelist Yasunari Kawabata and paintings tied to the inn, and its riverside cafe Kawabataya serves siphon coffee.
Good to know
- Ramune Onsenkan is free for staying guests, with its 32°C carbonated open-air pool and a sauna.
- Every room faces the Serikawa, and the inn says fireflies show along it in early summer.
- Station pickup is available if you book it ahead; the inn does not say which station.
- Day visitors can use a family bath from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., ¥1,500 an hour.
Getting there
Take the JR Hohi line from Oita to Bungo-Taketa, about 1 hour 15 minutes. From there the Taketa city bus on the Nagayu line runs to the Nagayu Onsen roadside station in about 45 minutes, and the inn is in the bath town beside it; it publishes no walking time. The inn offers station pickup if booked ahead. A taxi from Bungo-Taketa takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
Bungo-Taketa STN · JR Hohi Line, then the Taketa city bus to Nagayu
Not walkable.
Bus about 45 minutes to the Nagayu Onsen roadside station; pickup on request; taxi about 25 minutes.
Where it is
Nagayu Onsen roadside station STN
- Kyushu Shinkansen 40 min
- Kyushu Odan limited express 2 hr 21 min
- Taketa city bus 45 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.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the rooms page lists two private family baths)
Best for: a river-view room and a small cedar-walled family bath of carbonated spring water
Two family baths, one of them Midori-no-yu, a tearoom-sized bath facing the river. The inn does not say how staying guests book them. Day visitors 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.: ¥500 for the large bath, ¥1,500 an hour for a family bath. Staying guests also bathe free at Ramune Onsenkan, the inn’s outside bath about 300 m away, which has three family baths of its own. The inn offers station pickup if booked ahead but does not name the station.
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