Hotel Iyaonsen
和の宿 ホテル祖谷温泉 Hotel Iyaonsenわのやど ホテルそたにおんせん Hotel Iyaonsen
Day Use
YesDay-use bathing (cable car, outdoor bath, and indoor bath) runs 7:30 to 17:00, with last reception at 16:00. Closed on Wednesdays; if a Wednesday falls on a public holiday, the closure moves to another day instead.
The day-use price (2,000 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for children) covers the cable car plus both the outdoor bath (Kiyora no Yu) and the indoor scenic bath (Sora no Yu). If you only want the indoor bath, there's a separate, cheaper ticket: 700 yen for adults, 300 yen for children. The private outdoor bath, Yamagiri no Yu, costs an extra 3,000 yen per 60 minutes on top of the regular bathing fee, and can't be booked ahead for day-trippers, only on a first-come basis after arrival.
Bathing & Water
Uses natural hot spring water
Open-air outdoor bath
Enclosed indoor bathing area
Capabilities
Private bath available for day-use visitors or hotel guests to reserve
Private outdoor bath "Yamagiri no Yu"; bookable by both overnight guests (3,000 yen/60min, reserve ahead by email/phone) and day-use visitors (3,000 yen/60min + separate 2,000 yen/person bathing fee, no advance booking).
Private onsen bath in guest rooms, for overnight guests only
Only the higher room categories ("露天風呂・足湯付き", "露天風呂付き", "展望風呂付き") have private in-room onsen baths - not all 17 rooms.
Shared bathing area for all genders
Policies & Services
Allows entry with visible tattoos
Unverified
Shower, wash stations, soap and shampoo provided
Per a 2026 Google review, the river-fed outdoor bath (Kiyora no Yu) prohibits soap/shampoo and has no showers, to protect the river; the indoor scenic bath (Sora no Yu) does have shampoo/soap available. No official-site statement found either way.
On-site or nearby parking available
Views
Mountains
River
ForestHighlights
Lukewarm Bath
Foot BathPrograms
About
The bath everyone comes for isn't even inside the hotel: a private cable car carries guests down to the valley floor, to an open-air bath (Kiyora no Yu, 絹泡夢想の湯) built right against the Iya river, where the spring keeps flowing fresh into the tub. The water is soft, faintly milky, with a trace of sulfur, and locals say it leaves skin silky smooth. Back up at the hotel there's an indoor scenic bath (Sora no Yu, 雲遊天空の湯) with a wide window onto the gorge, and a private outdoor bath (Yamagiri no Yu) you can book by the hour. Hotel Iyaonsen sits deep in Shikoku's Iya valley, a steep gorge with old legends about the defeated Heike clan hiding out here. The spring itself turned up by accident in the 1920s, when a crew boring a tunnel for a hydroelectric plant hit an underground vein. The hotel that grew up around it, now 17 rooms, is a member of the Association for the Preservation of Japan's Secluded Hot Springs (日本秘湯を守る会), and the narrow mountain roads getting here mean it still feels remote.
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Last updated July 22, 2026