Hananomai or Nihon no Ashitaba? A Town Stay or a Private-Bath Retreat
Compare walkable Hananomai, near Yunotsubo and Lake Kinrin, with Ashitaba’s hillside cottages and private-use bath circuit.
Checked: September 27, 2026
These two inns suit very different evenings. At Hananomai, you can spend the afternoon in town, return to a small ryokan and decide whether to use a shared private-use bath or the public bath. At Nihon no Ashitaba, the grounds and bathing options are a bigger part of the destination; most guests will want to settle in rather than keep travelling back to the centre.
What “private bath” means at each inn
Hananomai has eight rooms: four standard Japanese-style rooms in the main building, two main-building rooms with an indoor bath, and two detached Japanese-Western rooms with an open-air bath. Guests can use shared private-use indoor and outdoor baths when vacant; advance booking is not required.
The listed bath window is 3 p.m. to 9:30 a.m., though Yufu City’s booking page says arrangements may change. A regular room allows a private soak as a pair, but does not guarantee availability at a particular time.
At Nihon no Ashitaba, the shared baths are all private-use. There is a large outdoor bath, a smaller bath tucked into a bamboo grove, and six differently styled baths in the Shōwa bath area. The 13 detached guest buildings are not identical: some have an indoor, semi-open-air or outdoor bath in the room, while the room pages do not list a private bath for every cottage. Check the cottage name if an in-room tub matters; the inn’s shared bathing setup is a separate benefit.
Location decides how you will use the evening
Hananomai is about a 15-minute walk from Yufuin Station and close to the town’s walking streets; Yufu City’s visitor listing puts Yunotsubo Street around six minutes away. Station pickup is available from the station and bus center if arranged by the previous day. There is no airport pickup. This is the easier match if you want to leave the inn for a café or a stroll and come back for a soak.
Nihon no Ashitaba is on higher ground away from the busiest part of town. Its official site describes the property as a retreat set apart from the centre, with about 4,500 tsubo of grounds and 13 detached buildings. That space makes sense if you want to spend more of the evening moving between baths and your cottage. It is a less convenient base for repeated trips into town, so confirm your transfer plan before booking if you will not have a car.
| Choose… | When… |
|---|---|
| Hananomai | You want a compact inn near town and are comfortable using a shared bath when it is vacant. |
| Nihon no Ashitaba | You want several distinct private-use baths and expect to spend most of your stay on the property. |
If you need a bath in your room at any hour, choose a room that explicitly lists one at either inn. The Yufuin private-onsen comparison explains how an attached room bath differs from a shared private-use bath; the Yufuin stay-area guide helps with the town-versus-outskirts decision.
Sources
- [Yufu City booking page: Hananomai rooms and baths](https://booking.yufuin.gr.jp/provider/detail?providerId=11) and [access](https://booking.yufuin.gr.jp/provider/map?providerId=11) - Nihon no Ashitaba official [room list](https://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/room/room.html), [baths](https://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/onsen/onsen.html), and [access](https://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/access/access.html) - Images: [Hananomai bath](https://ak-d.tripcdn.com/images/0221712000kzx25699055_R_339_206_R5_D.jpg), [Nihon no Ashitaba bath](https://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/onsen/img/hotspring11.jpg)Tags: Yufuin ryokan, Hananomai, Nihon no Ashitaba, private-use bath, town or countryside stay
