Kur Park Nagayu
クアパーク長湯
Does Kur Park Nagayu allow tattoos? In a private bath
Kur Park Nagayu was built in 2019 to a design by the Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban, around a 100-meter walking bath of free-flowing spring water that you wade in a swimsuit.
Kur Park Nagayu publishes no tattoo rule. Its twin cottages each have their own indoor bath behind a screen, so a tattooed guest can bathe in the room; the tub is ordinary heated water with bicarbonate tablets, not the spring.
The bath
The resort is modeled on the German Kurort, a spa town for cures. The ground floor of the spa building is a swimsuit zone, shared by men and women, with an exercise pool, a jacuzzi, an open-air tub, a sauna and a walking bath that runs 100 meters out and back, with shallow and deep sections, a foot-massage section and a lie-down section. The upper floor has separate indoor baths for men and women. The water is a bicarbonate spring, which the resort says is found at less than one percent of Japan's springs, run straight through; it says lukewarm, long soaks are the way to use it. Every tub and the 50-meter pool are drained and refilled after closing each night.
The twin cottages have an indoor bath of their own, with windows that open wide and a screen so no one can see in. The tub is not spring water. Instead the resort supplies HOTTAB, a bicarbonate tablet it developed with Taketa city to come close to Nagayu's water, and leaves out shampoo and soap so you feel the tablets work. The photo shows a tiled tub under floor-to-ceiling windows full of green and red leaves.
The hotel
A spa complex designed by the architect Shigeru Ban, which opened in 2019 and is built of wood and recycled paper: the spa building, a restaurant and a row of cottages. The twin cottages and the loft twins, which sleep three and have a skylight, are 28 square meters with a bath; the singles are 14 square meters with a shower. Every room has a wooden deck, and you can walk to the baths in a gown. Staying guests borrow swimsuits, work clothes, towels and a dryer free. The restaurant serves lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closes on the first and third Wednesday and Thursday.
Good to know
- Bring a swimsuit or borrow one for the walking bath; staying guests get one free.
- The cottage bath is tap water with tablets, not the spring; the shared baths are spring water.
- No shampoo or soap in the rooms, on purpose.
- Lights are kept low at night so you can watch the stars from the deck.
Getting there
From Oita take the JR Hohi line to Bungo-Taketa, about 1 hour 15 minutes, then the Taketa city bus on the Nagayu line or a taxi; the Taketa tourist association puts it about 20 minutes from Bungo-Taketa by car. The resort's own pages give no bus minutes.
Bungo-Taketa STN · JR Hohi Line, then the Taketa city bus to Nagayu
Not walkable.
Taxi about 20 minutes from Bungo-Taketa; no pickup is named.
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.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the rooms page lists an indoor bath in the twin cottages)
Best for: a timber cottage by a Shigeru Ban spa, with a big-windowed bath of your own
The cottage bath is not hot spring water: the resort supplies HOTTAB bicarbonate tablets, developed with Taketa city to imitate Nagayu water, and no shampoo or body soap. Twin and loft-twin cottages (28 m2) have the bath; single rooms (14 m2) have a shower only. The swimsuit zone of the spa building is mixed, and swimsuits are lent free to staying guests. Spa hours: swimsuit zone 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., indoor baths 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; day admission ¥800.
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