Bessou Kakei
別荘佳景
Does Bessou Kakei allow tattoos? In a private bath
Bessou Kakei is six detached villas on a hilltop above Lake Gosho, each with an indoor bath of Aomori hiba wood and Towada stone and an open-air rock bath that the inn compares to a private pool.
Bessou Kakei publishes no tattoo rule, and it has no shared bath to be turned away from. Each of its six villas has its own indoor bath and open-air rock bath, both fed from the inn’s two private sources around the clock.
The bath
There is no shared bath. Every villa has two of its own: an indoor bath finished in Aomori hiba and Towada stone, with a window framing the view, and a large open-air rock bath on the lake side, which the inn likens to a private pool. Two of the inn's own sources pour into the tubs 24 hours a day, and the same hot spring water runs under the floors to heat the rooms. From the tubs the inn promises Mount Iwate and Lake Gosho, with the Nanatsumori hills below the mountain.
The inn's photos show a hiba-walled indoor tub whose window frames green hills and a blue sky, and a rock-edged open-air pool under a timber roof. The inn does not publish the spring's chemistry on its site. The bath products are Margaret Josefin shampoo, conditioner and body soap, with Imabari towels in two sizes and a shower cap. The villas are for staying guests only; the inn takes no day bathers. Steps lead down into the tubs, so the inn says the villas are not fully barrier-free.
The hotel
Six villa suites of about 100 square meters each, built entirely of Aomori hiba in the sukiya style, on a 23,000-square-meter site with no houses or buildings within 500 meters. Each has an 8-mat bedroom, an 8-mat living room and a 5-mat veranda, made-to-order furniture from Iwaizumi, Simmons beds and Japanese-made fittings. The inn calls its service a mix of resort hotel and small Tohoku inn. The drinks bar, fridge drinks, amenities and extra towels cost nothing. Breakfast is a Japanese breakfast from 8 a.m., and dinner is room service ordered from a menu, last order 7 p.m.
Good to know
- Free pickup, booked ahead, from the Tsunagi Onsen bus stop, JR Koiwai Station or JR Shizukuishi Station, around the 3 p.m. check-in.
- Everything in the room is free, from the drinks bar and fridge to extra yukata (a light cotton robe) and towels.
- Order dinner by 7 p.m. There is no restaurant, and room service takes its last order then.
- Check in by 8 p.m., with self check-in in the villa.
Getting there
From the bus terminal at Morioka Station, take the bus for Tsunagi Onsen from stop 10 and get off at Tsunagi Onsen, about 40 minutes by the inn's count. From the stop it is a 15-minute walk, or the inn's car will collect you if you book the pickup ahead. A taxi from Morioka Station takes about 30 minutes and costs about ¥5,000, the inn says. By car, Morioka IC is about 20 minutes away on Route 46; the inn is about 1 km past Tsunagi Onsen.
Morioka STN · Bus for Tsunagi Onsen from stop 10
Not walkable.
Bus about 40 minutes, then 15 minutes on foot or a free pickup from the stop, booked ahead.
Where it is
Tsunagi Onsen bus stop
- Tohoku Shinkansen 2 hr 13 min from Tokyo
- Iwate Kenkotsu bus 32 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the Hayabusa from Tokyo to Morioka, seat fee included.
- 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 (rooms page):
Best for: a couple who want a whole villa with an open-air rock bath facing Mount Iwate
Six detached villa suites of about 100 square meters, each for two guests, all Japanese style; one is done in an old-farmhouse style. No restaurant: dinner is ordered from the room-service menu and charged on top of the room, breakfast is included, and lunch is included on consecutive nights. Stays only, no day bathing. Check-in until 8 p.m.
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