Japan
Kyushu
Kyushu, the southern main island, is volcanic country with more hot springs than anywhere else in Japan, from the spa towns of Yufuin and Kurokawa in the hills to Kirishima and the islands further south.
Our places run from Fukuoka and the old spa towns of Saga, through Yufuin and Kurokawa, to Kirishima in the south and the islands of Iki, Goto, Amakusa and Yakushima; many are ryokans of detached houses, each with its own spring-fed bath, such as Sanso Murata in Yufuin or Takefue near Kurokawa. We know 17 places to stay here, 10 of them ryokans. At 12 of them, every room has its own hot-spring bath.
How to choose
For a house of your own, with dinner in it
Takefue: villas in a bamboo grove, each with an open-air spring bath and kaiseki served in the villa
With children
Sanso Murata: children welcome, 6 and under free, each house with its own spring bath
For the food
Enowa Yufuin: a farm tasting menu at JIMGU, from its own farm
For an island
Tayuta: twelve villas alone on Hiai Island, for guests 13 and over
In the city
The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka: five minutes' walk from Tenjin station, about 15 minutes from the airport
When to go
Autumn, when the hills around Yufuin and Kurokawa colour from late October to late November, and spring are the best times; the rainy season is heavy here in June and early July, and typhoons can reach the south from August to September.
How long
A week, as a trip of its own or after Kyoto and the Inland Sea.
Getting there
Flights from Haneda reach Fukuoka in about two hours, and the Sanyo Shinkansen runs from Shin-Osaka to Hakata in about 2 hours 30 minutes; Yufuin is about 2 hours 10 minutes from Hakata by limited express, and Tenku no Mori and Gajoen are about 15 minutes from Kagoshima airport.
Ready to stay here?
Tell us where and when. Our team in Japan books the room we would choose, at the inn’s own rate, settles your requests with the inn, and stays in touch before and during your stay. Price and cancellation terms are confirmed with you first.
Already have an itinerary in mind?
Have it reviewed for USD 85Ryokans and hotels
Kawakami, Yufuin
AubergeEnowa Yufuin
ENOWA YUFUIN
Ten villas on a farm hillside facing Mount Yufu
Lake Kinrin, Yufuin
RyokanKamenoi Bessou
亀の井別荘
Eleven cottages in a 1921 villa's woods on Lake Kinrin
Mifuneyama Rakuen, Takeo
RyokanOnyado Chikurintei
御宿 竹林亭
Inside the Takeo lord's 1845 garden below Mount Mifune
Myoken Onsen, Kirishima
RyokanWasure no Sato Gajoen
忘れの里 雅叙苑
Thatched farmhouses; Japan's first room with its own onsen
Abunze, Goto
HotelGoto Retreat ray by Onko Chishin
五島リトリート ray by 温故知新
Sea baths on the Abunze lava coast, facing sunrise
Myoken Onsen, Kirishima
RyokanMyoken Ishiharaso
妙見石原荘
A Showa stone rice warehouse, rebuilt stone by stone
Unzen Onsen
RyokanRyotei Hanzuiryo
旅亭 半水盧
Sukiya houses by Kyoto temple carpenters in Unzen's hills
Mugio, Yakushima
HotelSankara Hotel & Spa Yakushima
sankara hotel & spa 屋久島
Forest villas above the sea at Mugio, a 24 m infinity pool
Hiai Island, Amakusa
HotelTayuta
TAYUTA
Twelve villas alone on an island in the Amakusa sea
Daimyo, Fukuoka
HotelThe Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka
ザ・リッツ・カールトン福岡
Nine top floors over Hakata Bay, dressed in Hakata-ori silk
Yufuin Onsen
RyokanYufuin Tamanoyu
由布院 玉の湯
Cottages in a coppice wood, once a Zen temple's rest house
Yunomoto Onsen, Iki
RyokanIki Retreat Kairi Murakami by Onko Chishin
壱岐リトリート 海里村上 by 温故知新
Its own golden 69.2°C spring on every sunset terrace
Hizen Hamashuku, Kashima
AubergeOnyado Fukuchiyo (Nabeshima Auberge)
鍋島オーベルジュ 御宿 富久千代
The Nabeshima sake brewery's houses in an old port town
Kawakami, Yufuin
RyokanSanso Murata
山荘 無量塔
Twelve old farmhouses, moved and rebuilt in the woods
Ureshino Onsen
RyokanSuimeiso at Wataya Besso
和多屋別荘 水明荘
Seven sukiya rooms, one a Nabeshima-domain villa
Manganji, Kurokawa Onsen
RyokanTakefue
秘境 白川源泉 山荘 竹ふえ
Bamboo-grove villas, all 30 baths straight from the source
Makizono, Kirishima
HotelTenku no Mori
天空の森
Three villas on 60 hectares of hills cleared from bamboo
Sample trips through Kyushu
Routes we have drawn up that stay in Kyushu: starting points for a trip we build around your dates and pace.
7 nights · Summer 2027
Kyushu in summer: Yufuin, a day train round the coast, and the Seven Stars to Unzen
A trip built around the Seven Stars in Kyushu, JR Kyushu's cruise train, on its summer journey to the hot springs of Unzen.
8 nights · Autumn
Kyushu in autumn: a dining train to Yufuin, and the spa villages of the hills
A trip through the hot-spring country of Kyushu, flying into Fukuoka and out of Kagoshima, with a castle town on the sea, two spa villages in the hills and a villa in Kirishima.
7 nights · Spring or autumn
The islands off Kyushu: Iki, Goto and Yakushima
From Fukuoka by jetfoil to Iki, then by air to Fukue in the Goto islands and south to the cedar forests of Yakushima.
Collections for Kyushu
Elsewhere in Japan
Q&A
Yufuin is a small town in a basin under Mount Yufu, easy by train from Hakata, with Sanso Murata, Kamenoi Bessou, Yufuin Tamanoyu and Enowa Yufuin. Kurokawa is a smaller onsen village deep in the hills, best by car; Takefue is ten minutes from it.
Many do: Takefue, Tayuta, Onyado Chikurintei, Goto Retreat ray and Iki Retreat Kairi Murakami have an open-air hot-spring bath in every room. In Yufuin, every house at Sanso Murata and every room at Kamenoi Bessou, Tamanoyu and Enowa has its own hot-spring bath.
Sanso Murata, Takefue, Ryotei Hanzuiryo and Wataya Besso welcome children of all ages, and Kamenoi Bessou takes them in its cottages. Enowa Yufuin takes none under six, and Tayuta, Sankara and Onyado Fukuchiyo none under 13.
Iki Retreat Kairi Murakami asks guests with tattoos not to bathe in its shared baths. Takefue, Tayuta, Enowa Yufuin and Sanso Murata have no shared baths, so you bathe privately.