Ryokan Kazokuyu Imamura
旅館・家族湯 いまむら
Does Ryokan Kazokuyu Imamura allow tattoos? In a private bath
Imamura sits at the top end of Hirayama with a family-bath house beside its rooms, where up to four people take a boulder-ringed open-air tub, an indoor tub or both for 50 minutes.
No tattoo rule is published. The inn rents family baths, private bath rooms with an indoor tub, an open-air tub or both, to staying guests and day visitors for 50 minutes at a time, and four of its rooms have a bath of their own, so a tattooed guest never needs the men’s and women’s baths.
The bath
Imamura's water is Hirayama's alkaline simple spring, with a smell of sulfur and a slick, soft feel that the inn sells as a skin bath. The inn says every bath runs on 100 percent natural spring water, kakenagashi (spring water that flows through the tub and isn't reused), with nothing artificial added.
The shared side is one indoor bath and one open-air bath each for men and women, open until 10 p.m. and again from 7 a.m. Visitors who only want a soak pay ¥500.
The family baths are the reason to come. They are private bath rooms rented by the room for up to four people and 50 minutes at a time: ¥1,400 for an indoor tub, ¥1,800 for an open-air tub and ¥2,100 for a room with both. The inn's photos show open-air tubs ringed with dark boulders between timber walls, looking through a slatted fence into the woods, and an indoor tub laid in flagstone. Reception runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., for staying guests and day visitors alike, with body soap and rinse-in shampoo in each room. Four of the inn's rooms also have a bath of their own: Ajisai, an 8-mat room with an indoor bath, Sendan with 8 and 6 mats, and the 14-mat Ume and Kunugi.
The hotel
Nine Japanese rooms at the last turn of the Hirayama valley, in an inn that calls itself simple and surrounded by nature. Dinner is a kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) of local, seasonal food, and the menus add an eel rice box, an Aso red beef rice set and Kumamoto horse sashimi. A banquet hall takes groups. Free Wi-Fi in every room and free parking. Check-in 4 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Three kinds of family bath, indoor, open-air or both, priced by the room for up to four.
- Fifty minutes per booking, with reception from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Four rooms come with a bath: Ajisai, Sendan, Ume and Kunugi.
- Pickup can be arranged for a fee set by group size and distance, free for ten or more within 30 km.
Getting there
The inn publishes its access by car only: about 25 minutes from the Nankan or Kikusui interchange on the Kyushu Expressway. From Shin-Tamana, the city's guide puts the Kyushu Sanko bus to Yamaga bus center at about 50 minutes, and the inn publishes no bus stop or walking time beyond that. It will collect guests for a fee that depends on group size and distance, free for ten or more within 30 km. Free parking.
Shin-Tamana STN · Kyushu Shinkansen, then the Kyushu Sanko bus to Yamaga bus center
Not walkable.
Paid pickup on request, free for groups of ten within 30 km; the inn publishes no bus stop.
Where it is
- Kyushu Shinkansen 40 min
- Sanko bus 50 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 Yamaga is one stop in a longer Kyushu trip by train.
- Kyushu SunQ Pass Worth it if you’d rather ride buses. It covers the Sanko buses from Shin-Tamana and Kumamoto to Yamaga 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
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the family-bath page gives the private rooms, their prices and the 50-minute slot; the rooms page lists the rooms with a bath)
Best for: a family or couple who wants an hour alone in a boulder-ringed open-air tub at the quiet top of the Hirayama valley
Family baths are priced per room for up to four people and 50 minutes: ¥1,400 with an indoor tub, ¥1,800 open-air, ¥2,100 with both; reception 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The city’s tourism guide counts ten family-bath rooms and six guest rooms with a bath. The inn’s own rooms page names Ajisai (8 mats, indoor bath), Sendan (8 and 6 mats, room bath, up to six) and the 14-mat Ume and Kunugi (bath) among nine Japanese rooms, plus three plain 8-mat rooms. The shared side is one indoor and one open-air bath each for men and women, open until 10 p.m. and from 7 a.m.; bathing only, ¥500. Spring: alkaline simple, with a sulfur smell and a slick feel, 100 percent natural spring water run kakenagashi. Check-in 4 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.; bath tax ¥150. Paid pickup by group size and distance, free for ten or more within 30 km. Free parking.
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