Asahiya
天然温泉 浜辺の宿 あさひや
Does Asahiya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Asahiya on Shimao beach has no shared bath at all: its three spring baths, hinoki, stone and step-free, are locked from the inside by whoever is in them, any hour from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m. The villa Tsuki adds an open-air tub of the same spring.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule, and it does not need one: there is no shared bath. Its three bath rooms, Kikyo-no-yu in hinoki, Nadeshiko-no-yu in stone and the step-free Katakago-no-yu, have all been used as private baths since April 2022, free to guests from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m. with no time slots. You check which one is empty on your phone, go in and lock the door. The detached villa Tsuki has a hot spring open-air tub of its own as well.
The bath
The water is a sodium chloride spring, low-tonicity and weakly alkaline, which the inn serves as 100 percent natural hot spring; it says nothing about heating or recirculation. There is no large bath. Instead the inn has three bath rooms, and since April 2022 all three have been private: Kikyo-no-yu, lined in hinoki with the smell of the wood; Nadeshiko-no-yu, in stone under soft light; and Katakago-no-yu, built step-free with an easy route in for a wheelchair or an older guest. Each has four washing stations, so they are family-size rather than tiny.
There is no timetable and no charge. The baths are open from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m., all night, and you simply go when one is free; a QR code in the room shows on your phone which of the three is empty. Once inside, bolt the door, as the inn asks. The detached villa Tsuki has its own open-air tub on the deck, a round black ceramic bath filled by a wooden spout, which the rooms page lists as hot spring.
The hotel
A small inn that calls itself a house of food, facing the Sea of Japan on Shimao beach. Six room types: the villa Tsuki, a detached house of two rooms, a loft and an open-air tub for two to six; Tateyama, a 12-mat Japanese room with the sea in view; and the Japanese-Western rooms Ariso, Futagami, Miyabi and Ume with twin bedrooms, most of them sea-facing. Dinner is Toyama Bay fish with as little done to it as possible: crab and winter yellowtail, firefly squid in spring, rock oysters in summer, nodoguro. Check-in is 3 to 6 p.m. (2 p.m. for the villa) and check-out 10 a.m. (11 for the villa); tell the inn if you will arrive after 6.
Good to know
- No shared bath, no booking, no clock: three private baths free to guests from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Check the empty bath on your phone through the QR code in the room, then bolt the door.
- Katakago-no-yu is step-free, built for wheelchairs and older bathers.
- Five minutes on foot from Shimao Station, the one Himi inn here you reach without a shuttle.
Getting there
From Toyama Station take the Ainokaze Toyama Railway to Takaoka, about 20 minutes, then the JR Himi line to Shimao, about 25 minutes. The inn is a 5-minute walk from Shimao Station. By car it is about 15 minutes from the Takaoka-kita interchange on the Noetsu Expressway along the coast road toward Shimao; parking is free.
Shimao STN · Ainokaze Toyama Railway to Takaoka, then the JR Himi line
About 5 minutes, by the inn's count.
Free parking; no shuttle is published.
Where it is
Hotel door STN
- Hokuriku Shinkansen 2 hr 8 min from Tokyo
- Ainokaze Toyama Railway 17 min
- JR Himi line 25 min
- hotel shuttle about 5 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- Hokuriku Arch Pass ¥35,000 · 7 days Seven days between Tokyo, Kanazawa and Osaka, with reserved seats on the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Toyama, and the Ainokaze Toyama Railway and JR Himi and Johana lines on to the coast and the Shogawa valley.
- 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 hot spring page and FAQ say all three baths are private; the rooms page gives the villa its own spring tub)
Best for: an inn where every bath is yours alone, untimed and free, a short walk from a Himi line station on the beach
Three private baths of 100 percent natural sodium chloride spring, each with four washing stations: Kikyo-no-yu (hinoki), Nadeshiko-no-yu (stone) and Katakago-no-yu, built step-free for wheelchairs and older guests. Open 3 p.m. to 9 a.m., through the night, with no booking and no time limit; a QR code in the room shows which baths are free, and the inn asks guests to lock the inside bolt. The detached villa Tsuki, two rooms with a loft for two to six, has an open-air hot spring tub. A ¥150 bathing tax is charged per adult.
Book your stay
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