Azumaen
雲仙温泉 東園
Does Azumaen allow tattoos? In a private bath
Azumaen says no to tattoos in its large bath and says it in writing, then offers eight rooms with their own spring-fed tub instead, three open-air and five semi-open-air, looking down on Oshidori Pond.
Azumaen refuses the large bath to anyone with a tattoo, and says a fake tattoo counts. Its FAQ gives the alternative in the same answer: three rooms with an open-air bath and five with a semi-open-air bath, all filled from the inn's own spring. Book one of those and the refusal does not touch you.
Show this at the front desk
刺青・タトゥー(フェイクタトゥー)がある場合、大浴場は利用できますか？利用できません。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
Azumaen's water is a simple acid spring containing hydrogen sulfide from the inn's own source at 55 degrees, and the inn says its 210.4 mg of metasilicic acid is the highest in Unzen. It lists neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, frozen shoulder, bruises, digestion, piles, cold sensitivity, recovery, fatigue and chronic skin complaints. The shared bathhouse has an indoor bath, an open-air bath looking down on Oshidori Pond, a sauna and a cold bath of mountain spring water, open 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to midnight to staying guests only; there is no day use. A tattoo, including a fake one, keeps you out of this bathhouse.
The rooms are where you bathe instead. Three rooms have their own open-air bath: Suishoku, rebuilt in 2023 with four beds and a sofa, and Riyu and Matsurika, redone in 2015 with a tatami room and a twin bedroom, each 66 square meters. Five more have a semi-open-air bath: Suien (99 square meters), Koryoku and Wakakusa (132 square meters), and the two VIP suites Azuma and Subaru. The inn says the tubs in Suishoku, Riyu, Matsurika, Suien, Koryoku and Wakakusa run free-flowing from its own source; for the two suites it does not say what fills the tub. Its photo of Suishoku shows a round pale wooden tub on a terrace with the green pond below.
The hotel
A lakeside inn whose every room looks over Oshidori Pond, with 16 ordinary tatami rooms, two special rooms and three Japanese-Western rooms beside the eight with their own bath. Dinner is served 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the restaurant or private dining rooms, breakfast 7 to 8:30 a.m.; allergies must be declared three days ahead, and vegan or fish-stock-free meals are not offered. Check-in is 3 p.m., check-out 10 or 11 a.m. The whole building is non-smoking, no pets, free Wi-Fi in the main building, and cards and PayPay are taken.
Good to know
- Fake tattoos count: the FAQ names them in the same breath as real ones.
- Free pickup from the Unzen bus office, three minutes by car; call when you arrive.
- The round terrace tub in Suishoku is the newest, rebuilt in 2023.
- Book early for holidays: reservations open six months ahead.
Getting there
From Isahaya Station take the Shimatetsu bus from the Isahaya terminal toward Unzen, about 80 minutes by the inn's count, to the Shimatetsu Unzen bus office, then call the inn for its free car, three minutes. From Nagasaki Station the Kenei express bus for Unzen takes about 100 minutes and runs three times a day; or ride the JR line 30 minutes to Isahaya and change to the bus. From Hakata the Kamome reaches Isahaya in about 90 minutes. The inn also runs free pickups anywhere inside Unzen Onsen.
Isahaya STN · JR Nagasaki Main Line and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome), then the Shimatetsu bus
Not walkable.
Shimatetsu bus about 80 minutes to the Unzen bus office, then the inn's free car, three minutes.
Where it is
Unzen bus stop
- JR limited express 57 min
- Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen 20 min
- Shimatetsu bus 1 hr 26 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.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the FAQ answer on tattoos, which refuses the large bath and names the rooms with their own bath as the alternative; the rooms page lists them)
Best for: someone who wants a room tub over the pond and a clear written answer from the inn
The FAQ says the large bath cannot be used with a tattoo, fake tattoos included, and offers the three open-air-bath rooms and five semi-open-air-bath rooms instead. Rooms page: open-air bath rooms Suishoku (renovated 2023), Riyu and Matsurika (2015), 66 square meters; semi-open-air rooms Suien (2021, 99 square meters), Koryoku (2021), Wakakusa (2020, 132 square meters), all free-flowing from the inn's own source; the two VIP rooms Azuma and Subaru (2020) also have a semi-open-air bath, water not stated. No day use. Shared bath hours 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to midnight.
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