Yamaguchi · Kawatana Onsen, Shimonoseki
Kawatana Grand Hotel Otafuku
川棚グランドホテル お多福
A long-established inn at Kawatana Onsen in Shimonoseki, where the great bath Santoka takes day bathers for 950 yen on weekdays from 8:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. Reception runs until 22:00, so a day can be used at length. It has open-air and indoor baths, a sauna and a cold bath, and there are meal sets with the local kawara-soba.
- Price (adult)
- ¥950
- Hours
- 8:00–23:00 (last entry 22:00)
- Closed
- Open daily (occasional closure days; check ahead)
- Access
- About 3 minutes by bus from Kawatana-Onsen Station on the JR San'in Line, then about 5 minutes on foot from the last stop. By car it is about 20 minutes from Ozuki IC on the Chugoku Expressway, with parking for 200 to 250 cars.
- Tattoos
- Not allowed
- Day bathing
- Day bathing at the great bath Santoka is 950 yen on weekdays and 1,150 yen on weekends and holidays, with children at 450 yen on weekdays.
- Baths
- It has open-air and indoor baths, a sauna and a cold bath, and there are four private onsen.
- Day bathing
- There are bathing sets with kawara-soba. It opens from 8:00 to 23:00, with reception until 22:00.
- Tattoos
- The official page states clearly that bathing is refused to those with tattoos.
- Access & parking
- About 3 minutes by bus from Kawatana-Onsen Station, then about 5 minutes on foot. Parking holds 200 cars or more.
- Phone
- 083-774-1111
- Official site
- kgh-otafuku.co.jp ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- From 8:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night
- Bathing sets with kawara-soba
- Four private onsen
The home of soba baked on a tile
Kawatana Onsen is a quiet spa in the hills of Shimonoseki. This inn is a long-established house of that spa, known too as the origin of the local kawara-soba. Eating soba served on a hot tile with beef and vegetables, then bathing in the open-air bath facing the hills, fills out a day. Since it receives from 8:00, an early stop works well.
Prices and checking
Rates differ by weekday, weekend and holiday, and on special days such as the New Year, so checking for the day of the visit is needed. Bathing alone and the meal sets also cost differently. As tattoos are not accepted, those concerned should ask by phone about the private onsen.
Before you go
- Tattoos are explicitly not allowed, even if covered.
- Ryokan day-use hours are limited and may be suspended in peak season — phone the same morning.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Sauna & wellness
Rules & private
Mood & scenery
Price
Amenities
✔ Verified operating: 2026-10 Operating status and rates cross-checked against the official site and onsen guides (full source notes in Japanese on the JA page)
Prices and hours change. Check official sources before visiting.
More in this area
Nagato-Yumoto Onsen Onto
The source bath of Yamaguchi's oldest hot spring, opened some 600 years ago. Local volunteers rebuilt the aging public bath in 2020; the bathroom sits directly on the spring, so you stand chest-deep in a 1-m pool watching water seep from the bedrock. Around 39°C — made for long soaks. The riverside lounge doubles as a café open to non-bathers. Pair with a stroll through the town redeveloped around Hoshino Resorts' KAI Nagato.
Yuda Onsen Onsen-no-Mori
A large day-spa at Yuda Onsen in Yamaguchi city. The men's 'Byakko-no-yu' faces a Japanese garden while the women's 'Xavier-no-yu' is Western in style; both offer rotenburo, lie-down and jet baths, a walking pool and sauna. The pH 9.2 alkaline water feels silky. ¥1,000 including a face towel, open 10:00–24:00 every day. Upstairs there's a manga and rest lounge plus a canteen. Ten minutes' walk from Yuda-Onsen Station.
Kawatana Onsen Peaceful Seiryūsen
The municipal bathhouse that serves as the source bath of Kawatana Onsen, Shimonoseki's hinterland spa with some 800 years of history — the Mōri lords bathed here. Sodium-potassium chloride water (source about 41 °C) fills the indoor bath, with an open-air tub and sauna; adult admission is a modest ¥480. Family baths (from ¥1,100 for 80 min weekdays / 60 min weekends) and a rest-room package (¥800) allow a leisurely cure-style visit. Open 10:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30); closed the first Thursday of even-numbered months. Kawatana is the birthplace of kawara-soba, noodles grilled on a roof tile — try it after your bath. An easy stop on the way back from Tsunoshima Bridge.
