Soan Cosmos
由布院温泉 草庵秋桜
Does Soan Cosmos allow tattoos? In a private bath
Both private baths at Soan Cosmos put an indoor tub and an open-air one in the same locked room, and neither takes a reservation: you walk over and try the door. The detached rooms carry their own open-air spring, so 2 a.m. is as good an hour as any.
The two kashikiri baths here are not booked and not charged for: each pairs an indoor tub with an open-air one, and you take whichever is free. They run 15:00 to 23:00 and again 6:30 to 10:00. The detached rooms have their own open-air hot spring on tap around the clock. The operator says nothing about tattoos in the men’s and women’s baths, so do not assume those are open.
The bath
The water is a weakly alkaline simple spring at pH 8.2, run straight from the source, and the ryokan says it arrives hot enough that they hold the temperature down by adjusting the flow instead of adding cold water. What they are proud of is the metasilicic acid in it, which they compare to a beauty serum on the skin.
The men’s and women’s baths sit alongside the private ones, which run 15:00 to 23:00 and 6:30 to 10:00 with no list at the desk to get onto. The bath page counts two of them; the facility outline on the About page counts four, two large and two small. The detached rooms have the same source-fed water in their own open-air bath, at any hour. The main building is not uniform, so the room type decides what you get: the ground-floor type has an indoor tub, while the second-floor rooms and the special room upstairs have a shower room only.
The hotel
The inn opened in 1987 and was reworked in 2017 by Eiji Mitooka, who designed the Seven Stars train; his hand shows in the yukata as well as in the building. The detached rooms stand along a wooden covered walkway over a mossy garden, and the special one sits furthest back. Dinner is in private rooms, with a jazz restaurant for adults and a separate one for children. The kitchen holds four red pavilions in the 2018 Michelin guide to Kumamoto and Oita.
What is good about it
- The private baths run 15:00 to 23:00 and 6:30 to 10:00, first come, with no list at the desk.
- pH 8.2 from the source, cooled by turning the flow down rather than by adding water.
- Some main-building rooms have a shower and no tub, so read the room type before you book.
Getting there
About 15 minutes on foot from Yufuin STN, which the ryokan suggests you spend walking the shops on Yunotsubo street. A pickup runs for overnight guests only and cannot be reserved: phone once you have arrived at the station.
Yufuin STN · JR Kyudai line; the Yufuin no Mori from Hakata in about 2 hours 10 minutes
About 15 minutes through the Yunotsubo shops.
Pickup for overnight guests, arranged by phone on arrival, not bookable in advance.
Where it is
Hakata STN
JR Yufuin no Mori limited express 2 h 14
Kokura STN
Oita STN
✈Oita Airport
Hotel locationYufuin STN
What happens when you arrive
Skip the shared baths and reserve the private one the way this page describes. Once the door is closed, the bath is yours.
How we know
Confirmed from official site, bath structure rather than a tattoo policy (the operator’s hot spring page)
Read on: yufuin-kosumosu.jp/hotspring/
Best for: A late soak with no reservation to make and no clock to watch but the closing hour
Weakly alkaline simple spring at pH 8.2, delivered straight from the source. Kashikiri baths are first-come, no advance booking. Reception answers 9:00–21:00.
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