Nasu Kogen no Yado Sansuikaku
那須高原の宿 山水閣
Does Nasu Kogen no Yado Sansuikaku allow tattoos? In a private bath
Sansuikaku runs the Omaru spring into two private baths that guests book by the hour, and several of its rooms come with a tub of their own.
Sansuikaku publishes no tattoo rule. It has two private baths, booked ahead for an hour at a time, and several rooms with a bath of their own.
The bath
The inn draws the Omaru spring, a simple spring (hypotonic, neutral, high temperature) at 60.8°C, nearly colorless, astringent, with a smell of hydrogen sulfide; it lists it for skin, neuralgia, joint pain and stiffness, digestion, cold sensitivity, muscle pain, recovery and fatigue, and as safe in pregnancy. The inn says every bath in the house, room tubs included, is filtered and recirculated for hygiene, with water or heat added to set the temperature.
The two private baths are Goyo, for up to six, and Uro, for up to four. Each is booked for a 60-minute slot: nine slots a day from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 a.m. Staying guests pay ¥3,300 a turn for Goyo and ¥2,200 for Uro, day visitors twice that; book when you reserve or at check-in, collect the key at the front desk and return it after. A drink is brought in, and the bath is cleaned between parties. The men's and women's halls, in hinoki cypress, swap at midnight; the men's was enlarged in April 2016, and the women's changing room has a baby bed. Some nights one hall closes for cleaning.
Five rooms have a bath of their own: Genpei, a maisonette whose corner bath downstairs is the largest room bath in the house; Fukube; Sujaku and Aogiri, whose lattice doors open for an open-air feel; and Shinonome, with a big family-sized tub.
The hotel
A wooden inn from the early Showa era with 13 rooms, each a different layout, in a protected forest beside the Nasu Imperial villa; the same company runs Nasu Bettei Kai next door and has kept an inn here for nearly a hundred years. Rooms have custom Japanese bedding, and several are closed to children. Meals are in the dining room Mori-no-an, with tables and private rooms: dinner 6 to 9 p.m., breakfast 8 to 9:30 a.m., a mountain-village kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) built on Nasu black wagyu and local produce. A lunch-and-bath day plan runs Friday to Monday for up to six parties. The whole inn is non-smoking.
Good to know
- Book the private bath when you reserve or at check-in: nine 60-minute slots, 1 to 11 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 a.m.
- Goyo takes six, Uro takes four, ¥3,300 and ¥2,200 a turn for staying guests, with a drink brought in.
- The men's and women's halls swap at midnight, and one may close some nights for cleaning.
- Ride the Kanto bus with a pass from the inn, arranged before you travel; no seat reservation.
Getting there
Take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Nasushiobara Station (1 hour 8 minutes from Tokyo on the Yamabiko), then the Kanto route bus toward Nasu-Yumoto. Tell the inn first and it issues a boarding pass; it is an ordinary bus, so you may stand or wait for the next one. Get off at Shin-Nasu, the stop its sister inn next door names, a few minutes' walk. The highway bus from Busta Shinjuku runs to Nasu Onsen daily, and a sightseeing loop bus serves the inns and sights.
Nasushiobara STN · JR Tohoku Shinkansen, then the Kanto bus toward Nasu-Yumoto
Not walkable.
Kanto bus with a boarding pass from the inn; or the highway bus from Busta Shinjuku.
Where it is
Shin-Nasu bus stop
- Tohoku Shinkansen 1 hr 8 min
- Kanto Jidosha bus 39 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Worth it if Nasu is one stop in a longer Kanto trip.
- 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 at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site ()
Best for: a booked hour in a private bath fed from the Omaru spring
The two private baths are booked in advance for 60 minutes; collect the key at the front desk and return it after. Rooms marked as having a bath include a maisonette with the inn’s largest room bath. The inn says all its baths, room baths included, are filtered and recirculated, with water or heat added to adjust the temperature.
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