Yuyado Unzen Shinyu
ゆやど雲仙新湯
Does Yuyado Unzen Shinyu allow tattoos? In a private bath
Shinyu has four springs of its own on one plot, and the first of them fills only the family bath Madoka, a 50-minute private soak for staying guests behind a closed door.
Shinyu’s FAQ refuses tattoos in its two bath halls, fashion and religious ones included. The answer is the family bath Madoka, fed by the inn's first source and rented to staying guests for 50 minutes at ¥2,200, booked by phone on a first-come basis, or one of the four Tsukitei rooms with a garden open-air tub on the fourth source.
The bath
Shinyu owns four sources on its own grounds, and each bath draws a different one. The first, an acid sulfur simple spring, feeds only the family bath Madoka, free-flowing; the inn says the water bites at first and then turns soft. The second, a simple acid spring, feeds the large bath Kasensho, an indoor bath and a rough open-air bath among the trees; this one is filtered and recirculated. The third, acid sulfur, feeds the two halls Kinugasa and Kasho, renewed in 2019, each with an indoor bath and an open-air bath on a garden of seasonal flowers, free-flowing. The fourth, a simple sulfur spring, goes to the Tsukitei rooms. The inn lists chronic muscle and joint pain, neuralgia, cold sensitivity, atopic skin, fatigue and stress among what the three water types are used for. Kasensho is women's from 3 p.m. to midnight and men's 6 to 9 a.m.; Kinugasa and Kasho open 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9 a.m.
Madoka is the private bath. It runs 4 to 11 p.m. in 50-minute slots at ¥2,200 including tax, for staying guests only, booked by phone on a first-come basis. The inn's photo for the first source shows a small open-air tub edged in rounded boulders, with a dark plank fence, ferns and a stone lantern behind it.
Tsukitei is four rooms with their own garden open-air bath on the fourth source, free-flowing, looking onto a century-old Japanese garden; the inn says the room bath carries a paid reservation.
The hotel
A hotel-scale ryokan on the main road beside the Jigoku, with the four Tsukitei garden rooms, a suite called Tsuzuki, two royal suites, tatami superior rooms and standard Japanese-Western rooms named Kan and Zen. Dinner is kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) built on Nagasaki produce; Trip.com guests single out the meals. Guests park free in two lots 50 meters from the door, 31 cars in all, with staff to guide you. An online shop sells the inn's goods.
Good to know
- Madoka is first come, first served: phone the inn before you arrive to hold a slot.
- Only the first source is behind a door; the other three run the shared halls and the Tsukitei rooms.
- Kasensho is recirculated, Kinugasa and Kasho are not, by the inn's own description.
- Get off at the Oyama information center stop, one before the Unzen terminus from Isahaya.
Getting there
From Isahaya Station take the Shimatetsu bus bound for Unzen, about 80 minutes by the inn's count, to the Unzen Oyama Johokan-mae stop, in front of the information center. From Nagasaki Station the Kenei bus for Unzen is direct in about 100 minutes, three a day and four on weekends; or take the Kenei bus 40 minutes to Isahaya and change. From Hakata the inn names the highway bus, about 120 minutes to Isahaya, then the same Shimatetsu bus. The inn publishes no walking time from the stop.
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 Oyama Johokan-mae stop; no walking time published.
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
Skip the shared baths and use one of the private baths. No reservation needed.
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、入れ墨（刺青）・タトゥーのあるお客様の大浴場のご利用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、お断りしております。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: bathers who want to compare an inn's four different sources, one of them behind a locked door
Family bath Madoka: first source, free-flowing, 4 to 11 p.m., 50-minute slots, ¥2,200 including tax, staying guests only, first-come reservation by phone. Tsukitei: four rooms with a garden open-air bath on the fourth source, free-flowing; the inn says the rooms carry a paid reservation. The large bath Kasensho (second source) is filtered and recirculated; Kinugasa and Kasho (third source, renewed 2019) are free-flowing. Shared halls swap sides morning and evening. The inn publishes nothing on day use.
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