Marucho Ryokan
丸長旅館
Does Marucho Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Marucho Ryokan keeps the wavy glass doors and carved transoms of its first building, rebuilt in 2004, and has no shared bath: its three baths are all family baths, taken one party at a time.
Marucho Ryokan publishes no tattoo rule, and it needs none: every bath in the inn is a family bath taken by one party at a time. There is no shared bath to be turned away from.
The bath
The inn's water is a carbon dioxide-bearing magnesium, sodium and calcium bicarbonate spring at 41.9°C, run straight through the tubs. Nagayu is known as the strongest carbonated spring in Japan, and the inn says its own source is high in carbon dioxide. It also says not to expect bubbles on the skin: at this temperature, with the other minerals, the gas stays dissolved in the water. The inn lists it for neuralgia, muscle pain and bruises in the bath, and for diabetes, chronic digestive trouble and gout when drunk, since the water is safe to drink. In winter it heats the spring to keep the tubs at a good temperature.
There is no large shared bath. The inn gives all its space to three family baths, which it says it chose for privacy, so a couple or a family always bathes alone. The photos show a dim room of dark weathered timber, a slate-faced wall, a slatted wooden floor and a sunken tub of grey water under a window screened with reed blinds. A cloth curtain hangs at the door.
The hotel
Six Japanese rooms: two of ten mats, the largest, with a sitting corner over the river; two of eight mats on the river side; and two of six mats facing the hill, each with its own toilet and washbasin. The inn was rebuilt in 2004 and kept the wavy glass of the front doors, the carved transoms and the old dining room; it won a prefectural prize for wooden buildings in 2007. Meals are served in private dining rooms, some with a sunken kotatsu table, and there is a small reading corner.
Good to know
- Every bath is a family bath, three in all, with no shared hall.
- Meals come in a room of your own, with floor seats, a sunken table or chairs.
- No smoking anywhere in the inn, since April 2020.
- Check in between 3 and 5:30 p.m.; there is no pickup.
Getting there
The inn gives only a driving route, about 50 minutes from the Yufuin interchange by way of Yunohira, and says it runs no pickup. Without a car, take the JR Hohi line from Oita to Bungo-Taketa, about 1 hour 15 minutes, then the Taketa city bus on the Nagayu line or a taxi of about 25 minutes. The inn publishes no walking time from the Nagayu stop.
Bungo-Taketa STN · JR Hohi Line, then the Taketa city bus to Nagayu
Not walkable.
No pickup; Taketa city bus or a taxi of 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
There's no shared bath here, so every bath you use is private.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the home page says every bath is private, and the bath page lists three family baths)
Best for: a small inn where every bath is private and every meal is served in a room of your own
Three family baths and no shared bath. The water runs free-flowing; the inn heats it in winter to keep the temperature right. Meals are served in private dining rooms. No pickup service. Check-in 3 to 5:30 p.m., check-out by 10 a.m. The whole inn is non-smoking.
Check availabilityBooking through this link costs you nothing extra and earns us a small commission, which keeps this guide free and up to date for our tattoo community. Thanks for your support.