Shukubo Kawasemi no Sho, The Kingfisher Resort
宿房 翡翠之庄
Does Shukubo Kawasemi no Sho, The Kingfisher Resort allow tattoos? In a private bath
Seven master carpenters built the Kingfisher Resort’s houses from local timber around a thatched farmhouse whose hearth, the inn says, has been lit every day since it opened in 1992.
The Kingfisher Resort publishes no tattoo rule. Its five private baths, two open-air and three indoor, are free to staying guests whenever the key is on the board, and five of its houses have their own open-air tub, so a tattooed guest never needs the shared baths.
The bath
The source is a high-carbonate spring that leaves the well at 52°C and reaches the tubs at about 49.5°C, rich in bicarbonate, sodium and magnesium. The inn runs it free-flowing with no filter, and says it built its men's and women's baths small on purpose, sized to what the well gives; it calls them its small baths, not a large bath. Each has an open-air tub, a sauna and a cold plunge of spring water. The pump pauses for about a minute every seven to ten minutes to let gas escape; the inn asks guests not to mind.
The private baths are the reason to choose it. The two open-air ones, Tsuki and Kaze, each have a steam sauna and are open to staying guests from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 the next morning. The three indoor ones, Kangetsu, Kogen and Shogetsu, have tubs of slate and Mino stone and changing rooms of about six mats with a massage chair. All five are free: take the key from the box at the front desk when it is there.
Five houses have their own open-air tub. Only Kibe-no-mune runs hot spring water; in the other four the inn heats natural spring water, which it says is not onsen.
The hotel
Twelve rooms on a site of about 99,000 square meters: two special houses and three other houses with an open-air bath, three houses with an indoor bath, and plain rooms in a row called the Hatago. The inn says every frame is local timber from Naoiri, raised by seven master carpenters with no plywood or aluminum sash, and the baths and dining rooms stand apart, joined by covered walkways. It opened in 1992 around a thatched main house and reopened as The Kingfisher Resort after a rebuild in 2017.
Good to know
- All five private baths are free, taken by key from the front desk box.
- Private open-air baths stay open all night, 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m., with a steam sauna until 11 p.m.
- Want spring water in your own tub? Ask for Kibe-no-mune; the other room tubs are heated spring water.
- Check-in is 3:30 p.m., check-out 10:30 a.m.
Getting there
From Oita take the JR Hohi line to Bungo-Taketa, which the inn puts at about 1 hour 30 minutes, then a taxi of about 20 minutes. By local bus from Bungo-Taketa, ride about 30 minutes by way of Kuju to the Nagayu roadside station, then take a taxi of about 3 minutes. The inn runs no pickup.
Bungo-Taketa STN · JR Hohi Line, then a local bus to the Nagayu roadside station
Not walkable.
Taxi about 20 minutes from Bungo-Taketa, or the bus to Nagayu and a 3-minute taxi.
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
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 the private baths and the room baths)
Best for: a thatched compound of timber houses with private open-air baths free all night
Private open-air baths Tsuki and Kaze, each with a steam sauna (3:30 to 11 p.m.), open to staying guests from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m.; private indoor baths Kangetsu, Kogen and Shogetsu. All five are free and taken by key from a box at the front desk. Of the five houses with an open-air tub, only Kibe-no-mune runs hot spring water; the inn says the others are natural spring water heated, not onsen, and not filtered. Check-in 3:30 p.m., check-out 10:30 a.m.
Book your stay
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