Nemunohana
北郷 音色香の季 合歓のはな
Does Nemunohana allow tattoos? In a private bath
Nemunohana is ten villas in the Inohae gorge, each with a rock open-air bath of Kitago spring in its own garden, and no shared bath anywhere on the grounds.
No tattoo rule is published. There is no shared bath: each of the ten detached villas has its own open-air rock bath of Kitago spring water in its garden, so a tattooed guest bathes alone.
The bath
The water is Kitago Onsen, a sodium chloride bicarbonate spring at pH 7.2 that comes out at 35.0°C and is heated for the tubs. The inn sells it as a beauty-skin bath and lists it for poor circulation in the hands and feet, cold sensitivity, dry skin, small cuts, low spirits, fatigue, neuralgia and muscle pain, saying the minerals hold moisture and warmth in the skin.
There is no bathhouse. Every villa has an open-air rock bath in its own garden, and each one is different. Hi, Sora and Hana, the premium suites, have a reclining open-air bath; Yuki and Yume have the Keion bath, renewed in July 2025 and set so you hear the Inohae stream from the water; Tsuki, Cho, Mizu and Chi have a rock bath, and Chi's upper floor looks down the valley; Kaze has a rock bath outside and a bedrock bath where its indoor tub used to be. The inn is clear that only the outdoor bath is spring water: the indoor tubs are heated tap water. Photos show pools rimmed with rounded grey boulders under a shade canopy, with a bamboo fence and a stone lantern beyond. The pages read list no day-use plan and no hours; the baths are yours for the stay.
The hotel
Ten detached suites of about 70 square meters each with a private garden, some gardens over 200 square meters: the maisonettes Kaze and Chi for two, the premium suites Hi, Sora and Hana for four, the NEMU suites Yuki and Yume for four, and the junior suites Tsuki, Cho and Mizu for two, on Simmons or France Bed mattresses. Dinner and breakfast are included, a seasonal kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) in the evening and a Japanese or Western breakfast. The inn plans stays around gorge walks, forest therapy, a bar, stargazing and table tennis among the trees. Check-in 3 to 6 p.m., check-out 11 a.m.
Good to know
- Free pickup from Kitago Station if you tell the inn ahead.
- Only the outdoor tub is spring water; the indoor bath is heated tap water in every villa.
- Hana is the largest villa, with a garden the inn built around moss.
- Yuki and Yume's baths were rebuilt in July 2025 to put the sound of the stream in the water.
Getting there
From Miyazaki Station take the JR Nichinan Line to Kitago Station, about 60 minutes by the inn's count, then about 10 minutes by car; the inn will collect you at the station for free if you ask in advance. From Miyazaki Airport by car it is about 30 minutes by way of the Miyazaki IC. The airport line links the airport to Miyazaki Station in about 10 minutes.
Kitago STN · JR Nichinan Line
Not walkable.
Free pickup from Kitago Station by arrangement; about 10 minutes by car.
Where it is
Kitago STN
- Kyushu Shinkansen 1 hr 16 min
- Kirishima express 2 hr 10 min
- JR Nichinan line 1 hr
- 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
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:
Best for: a two-night forest stay where the only hot spring tub is the one in your own garden
The outdoor baths are the spring; the inn says the indoor tubs are heated tap water in the villas, and Kaze’s indoor bath was rebuilt as a bedrock bath. The source is 35.0°C, so the water is heated. The Keion baths of Yuki and Yume were renewed in July 2025.
Book your stay
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