Iseya
伊勢屋
Does Iseya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Iseya has stood in Obama for more than 350 years, and its main-building rooms now each carry a semi-open-air tub running on the inn's own 100°C source. Three family baths rent by the hour for anyone who wants more room.
Iseya publishes no tattoo rule. Every room in the main building has its own semi-open-air bath fed from the inn's own source, so a tattooed guest bathes in the room. There are also three family baths booked by the hour at 3,000 yen. The annex Ocean Suites have a sea-view bath that is not spring water.
The bath
Iseya draws its own source, a weakly alkaline sodium chloride spring that comes up at about 100°C, and the inn repeats the town's claim that no hot spring in Japan gives off more heat. Bathing is listed for rheumatism, nerve complaints, gout and women's ailments, and drinking the water for gastritis, anemia and constipation. The large bath is an airy room the inn says lets the Obama breeze through, with an open-air section and a rest area; day visitors use it 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., last entry 6:30, for 1,000 yen (children 500, infants free) with shampoo, soap and towels included.
The rooms are where a tattooed guest bathes. Every Standard and Junior Suite room in the main building has a semi-open-air bath of its own, fed from the inn's source and flowing through, with a handrail and steps into the tub, a Hansgrohe rain shower beside it and the sea in the window. The annex Ocean Suites have a sea-view bath on the terrace, but the inn marks it plainly as not spring water; those guests walk over to the main building's large bath.
Three family baths rent by the hour at 3,000 yen a group, booked through the inn's reservation system with reception until 6 p.m.; the inn assigns whichever is free, so the bath cannot be chosen. Children of about seven and up bathe separately under the prefecture's rule.
The hotel
The inn says it was founded in Obama more than 350 years ago, and it now runs as a modern building with Danish furniture in the lobby, a library of chosen books, a select shop and a terrace café selling lemonade, paninis and hot-spring eggs. Main-building rooms are 39 or 51 square meters with two semi-double beds and a tatami corner, sold with dinner and breakfast of local seafood, farm vegetables, Nagasaki beef and Unzen pork; the annex Ocean Suites are 56.5 square meters with a terrace and are sold room-only. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Pick a main-building room: only those have the spring-fed tub; the annex bath is plain water.
- Family baths are 3,000 yen an hour, booked ahead, reception until 6 p.m.
- Face and bath towels are in the room, and day-use towels are included in the fee.
- Parking is the city lot a minute away, 250 yen, refunded at the desk for guests.
Getting there
The inn publishes no transit directions, only its address and the municipal car park a minute away. From Isahaya Station the Shimatetsu bus toward Obama and Unzen takes about an hour, by the count of the neighboring inns; Iseya shares the 905 block with Yunoka, whose stop is Nishi-Tozanguchi, a minute's walk. From Hakata the JR Kamome reaches Isahaya in about 1 hour 40 minutes.
Isahaya STN · JR Nagasaki Main Line and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome), then the Shimatetsu bus
Not walkable.
Shimatetsu bus about an hour to Obama; the inn publishes no stop or walking time.
Where it is
Obama bus stop
- JR limited express 57 min
- Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen 20 min
- Shimatetsu bus 58 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 from Hakata by train.
- Kyushu SunQ Pass Worth it if you’d rather ride buses. It covers the Shimatetsu buses from Isahaya and the direct bus from Nagasaki Station to Unzen, and highway buses across the island.
- 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.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the rooms page lists the source-fed semi-open-air bath in each main-building room; the day-use page prices the family baths)
Best for: someone who wants a spring tub by the window of a modern room in a 350-year-old inn
Main-building Standard (39 square meters) and Junior Suite (51 square meters) rooms each have a semi-open-air bath running on the inn's own source, with a handrail and steps, two semi-double beds and a 7.5-mat tatami area. The annex ISEYA OCEAN SUITE rooms have a sea-view bath that the inn marks as not hot spring water, and are sold room-only. Three family baths: one hour per group, 3,000 yen, booked through the inn's reservation system, reception until 6 p.m., bath cannot be chosen. Large bath day use 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., 1,000 yen adults, 500 yen children, towels and soap included. Municipal parking a minute away at 250 yen, refunded for guests.
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