Oiwakeya Ryokan
追分屋旅館
Does Oiwakeya Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Oiwakeya rents out Tsuji-no-hana, a small bath house of cypress and bamboo with a green stone tub indoors and a lying bath outside, and it makes its own wine and cider at a winery beside the inn.
Oiwakeya publishes no tattoo rule. It rents a separate private bath house, Tsuji-no-hana, by the 45 minutes, and its detached room Yuraku-tei has its own indoor and open-air spring baths, so a tattooed guest never has to use the shared baths.
The bath
The water is an alkaline simple spring that the inn lists for joint pain, neuralgia, fatigue and poor circulation. It says the foot bath on the terrace and the fine-bubble bath run on 100 percent source water.
Tsuji-no-hana, the private bath house, stands apart from the main building. Inside is a tub of Towada stone, which the inn says turns emerald green under the water; outside is a shallow lying bath of teppei stone. A party pays ¥2,500 for 45 minutes when staying or on a day plan, in sessions from 10:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. and from 3 to 11 p.m. The last booking is taken at 8:30 p.m., and the lying bath closes in bad weather and midwinter. The detached room Yuraku-tei, reached by its own passage through the garden, has an indoor spring bath and an open-air spring bath for one party a day.
The shared baths are several. Three open-air baths, one of rock facing the garden, one of cypress and one lit in rainbow colors at night, open 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 11 p.m. Two indoor baths, one of black granite behind a single pane of glass and one of red granite with a tatami-style floor, stay usable through the night. Sides swap at about 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The hotel
The main building has 13 rooms on three floors and the annex has one. The third floor is a special floor of three rooms with terraces, a tea room and a counter facing the Northern Alps. Dinner is a kaiseki-style course of Shinshu produce served at chairs in the dining rooms, paired with wine from the inn's own winery, Domaine de Yunohara, which has a wine shop and a galette restaurant upstairs. The lobby has a sunken hearth, and the lounge has a coin-operated wine server. The inn is non-smoking outside its smoking areas. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out is at 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Book the private bath by 8:30 p.m. It costs ¥2,500 a party for 45 minutes when you stay.
- Day bathers can rent it too, at ¥3,500 a party plus bathing tax, until 10 p.m.
- A foot bath sits beside the terrace, under the trees and within sound of the garden waterfall.
- Free parking for 35 cars behind the main building, first come first served.
Getting there
From Shinjuku take the JR Chuo Line limited express Azusa to Matsumoto Station, then the Utsukushigahara Onsen line bus from Matsumoto Bus Terminal, about 20 minutes. The inn publishes no walking time from the bus stop, and it runs a free shuttle only for day-plan groups of ten or more adults. By car it counts about 10 minutes from Matsumoto Castle. From Nagoya the limited express Shinano runs to Matsumoto.
Matsumoto STN · JR Chuo Line (Azusa limited express)
Not walkable.
Utsukushigahara Onsen line bus from Matsumoto Bus Terminal, about 20 minutes; free parking for 35 cars.
Where it is
Utsukushigahara Onsen bus stop
- Azusa limited express 2 hr 35 min
- Alpico bus 25 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the Azusa, JR’s limited express from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, with a reserved seat.
- Miso factory tour and lunch in Matsumoto A guided half day at Ishii Miso, a miso maker more than 150 years old, with lunch.
- 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 hot spring page gives the private bath house, its hours and its fee, and the rooms page lists the detached room with two spring baths)
Best for: a private bath house with an indoor tub of green Towada stone and an open-air lying bath
Tsuji-no-hana is a separate bath house in sukiya style, built with cypress and bamboo. It has an indoor tub of green Towada stone and an open-air lying bath of teppei stone. Staying guests and day-plan guests pay ¥2,500 a party for 45 minutes; day bathers pay ¥3,500 plus bathing tax for each adult. Sessions run 10:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. and 3 to 11 p.m. (to 10 p.m. for day visitors), and the last booking is taken at 8:30 p.m. The lying bath closes in bad weather and deep winter. When nobody has booked it the inn sometimes opens the bath house free as a shared bath, with men and women taking turns. Yuraku-tei, one party a day for two to six guests, has one indoor spring bath and one open-air spring bath. The inn runs its own winery next door.
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