Honoka no Yu Ibii
日南温泉 貸切露天風呂 ほのかの湯 伊比井店
Does Honoka no Yu Ibii allow tattoos? In a private bath
Honoka no Yu Ibii sits on the coast road in the Nichinan national park, renting private rooms on a sulfur spring whose decks open to the sea sky.
No tattoo rule is published. The shop has only private rooms, each with its own tub and outdoor deck and rented to one party by the clock, so nobody shares a bath.
The bath
The water is Nichinan Onsen, a simple sulfur spring that the shop's analysis calls hypotonic and tepid at the source. The shop stands inside the Nichinan Coast national park, and the decks of its rooms open to the sea and the sky.
Every bath is a private room. A standard room has a narrow wooden deck and an indoor bath. A semi-premium room has a wide deck, an indoor bath and a reclining bath. A premium room adds a Shigaraki ceramic tub on the deck and a roomier changing area. The photos show tiled tubs lined with cypress planks, wooden decks walled in black boards, a round purple-brown ceramic tub fed from a wooden box spout, and a pair of wicker chairs set out for cooling off. Each room takes up to five people, with ¥500 for each person beyond that.
Rooms are sold in 55, 85 and 115-minute blocks at ¥2,500 to ¥3,500, ¥3,750 to ¥5,250 and ¥5,000 to ¥7,000 by grade; weekends and holidays add ¥1,100. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Book online through the shop's reservation calendar or by phone. A towel set is ¥500, a body towel ¥200, shampoo ¥500 and a skincare set ¥300.
The hotel
A single-story family-bath house on the coast road, the Nichinan branch of a small Miyazaki chain whose first shop is at Kaeda near Aoshima, with parking at the door. Admission is by the room for the block of time booked, not per person, and nothing is shared but the parking lot. The desk sells towels, shampoo and skincare sets to anyone who arrives without them.
Good to know
- Weekend and holiday prices are ¥1,100 higher, and the shop stays open an hour later, to 10 p.m.
- Five people in one room for one price, then ¥500 a head.
- Bring towels and shampoo or rent them at the desk.
- The premium rooms put a ceramic tub out on the deck beside the reclining bath indoors.
Getting there
The shop publishes no train or bus directions and no walking time; it gives its address and a map link, which places it on Route 220 beside Ibii Station on the JR Nichinan Line, about 35 minutes from Miyazaki Station. Most visitors come by car along the coast road between Aoshima and Udo Shrine; from the Aoshima hotels it is a short drive south.
Ibii STN · JR Nichinan Line
The shop publishes no walking time; the map puts it beside the station.
On Route 220, the coast road; parking at the shop.
Where it is
Ibii STN
- Kyushu Shinkansen 1 hr 16 min
- Kirishima express 2 hr 10 min
- JR Nichinan line 52 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 you’re coming by train from Hakata.
- Takachiho day tour Takachiho Gorge, Takachiho and Amanoiwato shrines and the Amanoyasukawara cave.
- 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 online.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site:
Read on: honokanoyu.com/information/ほのかの湯-伊比井店
Best for: a private tub with the Nichinan coast sky over it, halfway between Aoshima and Udo
Three grades: standard with a narrow deck and an indoor bath; semi-premium with a wide deck, an indoor bath and a reclining bath; premium with those plus a Shigaraki ceramic tub and a big changing room. Up to five per room, ¥500 a head beyond that. Weekends and holidays add ¥1,100. The spring is a simple sulfur spring, hypotonic and tepid. Blocks are 55, 85 and 115 minutes.
The map shows every hotel close by. We haven’t checked their tattoo rules: sleep there, bathe here. Search Booking.com instead
Booking 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.
For current hours and prices, see the official website.