Tsutaya Ryokan
つたや旅館
Does Tsutaya Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tsutaya keeps five private open-air baths on its roof, each in a different stone or ceramic, and staying guests use them free whenever one is empty. All of them look over Tachibana Bay and the 105-meter foot bath below.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule for its shared bathhouse. The answer here is the roof: five open-air private baths that staying guests may use free, as often as they like, whenever one is empty. There is also a private indoor bath inside the bathhouse.
The bath
Obama's water is a sodium chloride spring, and the inn says its source is the hottest in Japan. Tsutaya pipes it straight through: the bathhouse Kippukan covers about 150 tsubo (around 500 square meters) and holds a men's bath, Shuho-no-yu, a women's bath, Rakuyo-no-yu, an open-air section with a jacuzzi, a cold bath, a reclining bath, a stone bedrock bath and a low-temperature sauna at about 70°C heated by the spring itself. The inn lists rheumatism, neuralgia, cuts, poor circulation and fatigue among the complaints the water is good for. Bathing hours are 6 a.m. to midnight.
The point of the place is the roof. Five private open-air baths sit up there, each built from a different material: Fugen-no-yu in soft red granite, Seiten-no-yu in blue Shigaraki ceramic, Benten-no-yu faced with irregular slabs of iron-grey stone, Yoko-no-yu in red-brown Shigaraki ceramic, and Nyutoku-no-yu in black granite. Staying guests use them free, as many times as they like, whenever one is empty, within the same 6 a.m. to midnight hours; there is no booking sheet. From the tubs you look down on Tachibana Bay and the 105-meter foot bath on the shore, and the inn recommends sunset and the lights of the fishing boats after dark. Inside Kippukan there is also a private indoor bath, Yudayu, free for guests.
The hotel
Tsutaya is a five-story inn with 15 rooms on the third to fifth floors, every one facing the sea. Most rooms are tatami or small Western rooms without a bath; one Japanese-Western room has its own bath and one 15-mat room has a semi-open-air bath. Dinner is kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) built on fish landed at nearby Nagasaki ports, served in private dining rooms, with a live-fish sashimi plan and a lobster plan; breakfast is zaru tofu with grilled local fish, and there is free morning coffee in the lobby. Colored yukata (a light cotton robe) can be picked for 300 yen.
Good to know
- No booking for the rooftop baths: if a door is open, go in, and come back later for the next one.
- The baths run 6 a.m. to midnight, so a sunset soak and a morning soak both fit in one stay.
- Free parking for 20 cars, no reservation needed.
- Dinner is served in private rooms, not a hall.
Getting there
From Isahaya Station take the Shimatetsu bus toward Obama and Unzen to the Nishi-Tozanguchi stop, about 60 minutes; the inn is a short walk from the stop and publishes no walking time. From Hakata, the JR limited express Kamome reaches Isahaya in about 1 hour 40 minutes, then the same bus. From Nagasaki city the inn gives about 70 minutes by car on Route 251.
Isahaya STN · JR Nagasaki Main Line and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome), then the Shimatetsu bus
Not walkable.
Shimatetsu bus about 60 minutes to Nishi-Tozanguchi, then a short walk.
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
Skip the shared baths and use one of the private baths. No reservation needed.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the hot spring page lists the five rooftop private baths and says guests use them free whenever one is empty)
Best for: couples who want to try five different rooftop tubs over one night without paying or booking
Five rooftop open-air private baths, each in a different material: Fugen-no-yu (red granite), Seiten-no-yu (blue Shigaraki ceramic), Benten-no-yu (flat iron-grey stone), Yoko-no-yu (red-brown Shigaraki ceramic) and Nyutoku-no-yu (black granite). Free for staying guests, no booking, any time one is empty, 6 a.m. to midnight. The bathhouse Kippukan also holds a private indoor bath, Yudayu. One room has its own bath and one has a semi-open-air bath.
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