Ritouen
鯉登苑
Does Ritouen allow tattoos? In a private bath
Ritouen rents two private baths, the open-air Kirari and the indoor Nagomi, free for 30 minutes to staying guests, and gives several rooms a spring tub of their own.
The bath structure is right: two rented private baths (kazoku-buro), the open-air Kirari and the indoor Nagomi, free for 30 minutes to guests, plus rooms with open-air or indoor spring baths.
The bath
The spring is Ureshino Onsen, a sodium bicarbonate-chloride spring, and the inn calls it one of Japan's three great beauty waters. Slippery to the touch, it softens hardened skin; in the inn's words you step out feeling peeled smooth. The shared baths are indoor only, a men's and a women's on the first floor, open 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. There are no towels down there, so carry the ones from your room.
The private baths are the two rented family baths on the first floor. Kirari is an open-air tub the inn recommends for stars at night and cherry blossom in spring. Nagomi is an indoor tub where the slippery feel of the water is strongest. They run 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in 30-minute slots. Guests get one slot free, in either bath, chosen at check-in. Day visitors can have one for an hour at ¥2,000 on top of the bathing charge, by phone, with guests taking priority.
Eight of the ten rooms have a tub of their own on the spring. Ume, Suisen and Izumi have hinoki cypress open-air tubs, which take 40 to 50 minutes to fill. Takimi has a hinoki indoor tub, the barrier-free Kasumi a hinoki and Towada-stone tub, Mizuki a jetted unit bath. In the annex, Matsu and Take add a private sauna, Matsu with both open-air and indoor tubs. Kiri and Ayame use the shared baths. Day-use bathing is 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., ¥900 for adults and ¥450 for children, towel set ¥300.
The hotel
A kappo (counter-style Japanese dining) ryokan, meaning the owner is also the chef, with ten rooms: two Japanese and eight Japanese-Western, most with Simmons semi-double beds. Matsu and Take sit in a separate building. Dinner is a seasonal kaiseki served in the second-floor dining room, with lobster sashimi among the specialties, and breakfast comes with the inn's own sweets made with Ureshino tea. Kasumi is built barrier-free for three generations traveling together, with electric beds. Kiri and Ayame were redone in 2023 as the inn's budget rooms. Free parking for about 25 cars beside the inn.
Good to know
- Free pickup from Ureshino Bus Center or the interchange, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., if you phone the day before; same-day requests are refused.
- Book the family bath the moment you check in: the 30-minute slots run 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and go to guests first.
- Bring your room towels to the big bath, which keeps none; day visitors rent a set for ¥300.
- Kirari in spring looks straight up into cherry blossom over its wooden fence.
Getting there
From Hakata, the Relay Kamome limited express reaches Takeo-Onsen in about an hour. Cross the platform to the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen for the 6-minute ride to Ureshino-Onsen. The inn puts the station about 3 km away, 10 minutes by car. The JR Kyushu bus from Takeo-Onsen Station reaches Ureshino Bus Center in 30 minutes, and the Fukuoka-Nagasaki highway bus stops there too. From the Bus Center the inn is 10 minutes on foot, or take the free pickup between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., booked by phone the day before.
Ureshino-Onsen STN · Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen
About 3 km from the station, 10 minutes by car; 10 minutes on foot from Ureshino Bus Center.
Free pickup from Ureshino Bus Center or the Ureshino interchange, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., phoned in the day before.
Where it is
Ureshino-Onsen STN
- JR limited express 57 min
- Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen 6 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.
- 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 at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the inn’s hot spring page)
Best for: a free half hour alone in the open-air Kirari before a kaiseki dinner
Day visitors can use the private bath for an hour at ¥2,000 plus the bathing charge, by phone. Large bath 16:00–23:00 and 06:00–10:00, private baths 16:00–22:00 in 30-minute slots taken at check-in, day-use bathing 16:00–21:00. The inn describes the water as a sodium-rich bicarbonate spring.
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