Unzen Fukudaya and Yamateru Bettei
雲仙福田屋／山照別邸
Does Unzen Fukudaya and Yamateru Bettei allow tattoos? In a private bath
Fukudaya keeps four private baths, and two of them, Hinoki-no-yu and Santaro-no-yu, cost staying guests nothing for 50 minutes. Its annex, Yamateru Bettei, adds seven rooms with their own open-air tubs.
Fukudaya’s FAQ refuses tattoos in its shared baths, fashion and religious ones included. The answer here is four timed private baths, two of them free for staying guests, and the seven annex rooms, six of which have their own open-air tub of free-flowing spring water. Day visitors can book the private baths too, at a per-person fee.
The bath
Fukudaya's water is an acid sulfur spring with iron, pH 2.4 by the inn's count, cloudy and sharp on the skin, and the inn says every bath in the house runs it free-flowing from the source. It lists high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, chronic skin complaints, cuts and diabetes, and credits the metasilicic acid (around 100 to 227 mg) for calling the spring a beauty bath. The main building has two indoor halls that swap sides morning and evening: Fugen-no-yu, with a sauna walled in charred cedar and brick, and Hakuun-no-yu, with a hot tub and a tepid one. Outside is the open-air Seseragi-no-yu. Annex guests also get Kunpu-no-yu, an infinity-edge panorama bath with a sauna, which swaps sides too.
The private baths are the point. There are four, each for 50 minutes: Marutanbo-no-yu (¥2,000 a room for guests, ¥2,500 a person for day visitors), Yogan-no-yu (¥1,000 a room, ¥1,500 a person), and two that cost staying guests nothing, Hinoki-no-yu (¥1,500 a person for day visitors) and Santaro-no-yu (¥1,000 a person). Children pay half and under-threes nothing. The photos show stone-walled rooms with a timber or log tub and one wall open to a small garden.
In the annex, six of the seven rooms (Kumo, Sora, Shin, So, Rin and Yo) have their own open-air tub on a terrace or in a courtyard, fed free-flowing from the source. Room Fuku has a terrace open-air tub as well, plus an indoor tub the inn says is heated water rather than spring.
The hotel
Fukudaya opened in 1968 and now runs as two buildings. The main building has seven room types of modern Japanese-Western design, from a 23-square-meter casual twin to a 65-square-meter mountain-view twin with a work desk, including a twin with a terrace open-air bath and one with an aroma loyly sauna. Yamateru Bettei, the annex, holds seven rooms of 38 to 64 square meters. Meals come from three restaurants, the hot-pot dining room Nabedanran, the teppanyaki (cooked on an iron griddle) counter Sakurabashi and the tempura counter Kofuku, using vegetables from the inn's own farm. There is also a private gym.
Good to know
- Two private baths are free for staying guests, Hinoki-no-yu and Santaro-no-yu, 50 minutes each.
- Day visitors can book a private bath too, ¥1,000 to ¥2,500 a person depending on the tub.
- Room Fuku's indoor tub is heated water, so pick Kumo, Sora, Shin, So, Rin or Yo for spring water in the room.
- The annex has its own open-air bath, Kunpu-no-yu, an infinity-edge tub with a sauna, for annex guests only.
Getting there
From Isahaya Station take the Shimatetsu bus toward Unzen, about 86 minutes to the Unzen stop; the inn's access page gives only its address and links to the bus and rail operators, with no stop name and no walking time. From Hakata, the Relay Kamome and the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen reach Isahaya in about 80 minutes, then the same bus. Free parking for guests.
Isahaya STN · JR Nagasaki Main Line and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome), then the Shimatetsu bus
Not walkable.
Shimatetsu bus about 86 minutes to Unzen; the inn publishes no stop name or walking time.
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, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the inn’s own FAQ, opened from the questions button on its site, under the question on the large bath, for the refusal; its own bath and room pages for the private bathing)
誠に申し訳ございませんが、当館では入れ墨（刺青）・タトゥーのあるお客様のご入浴はご遠慮頂いております。ファッション目的、宗教的理由による入れ墨であっても、他のお客様に不快な思いを与えてしまう恐れがありますので、何卒、ご理解・ご協力いただきますようよろしくお願いいたします。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: two people who want a free 50-minute private bath without leaving the inn, or an annex room with its own spring tub
Four private baths, 50 minutes each: Marutanbo-no-yu (¥2,000 a room for guests, ¥2,500 a person for day visitors), Yogan-no-yu (¥1,000 a room, ¥1,500 a person), Hinoki-no-yu (free for guests, ¥1,500 a person) and Santaro-no-yu (free for guests, ¥1,000 a person); children half price, under three free. How a slot is booked is not on the page; the inn takes day-use reservations online. Annex rooms Kumo and Sora have a terrace open-air bath, Shin, So, Rin and Yo a courtyard open-air bath, all fed free-flowing from the source; room Fuku has a terrace open-air bath and an indoor tub the inn says is heated water, not spring. The main building's Panorama Twin has a terrace open-air bath; the inn does not say what water fills it.
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