At the foot of Mount Yufu, this botanical retreat pairs striking contemporary architecture—floor-to-ceiling glass, open-air terraces—with deep Japanese sensibility. Every room and villa includes a private onsen overlooking the valley, while hilltop saunas and a spring-fed communal bath steeped in botanicals complete the wellness offering. Chef Tashi Gyamtso, a Blue Hill at Stone Barns alumnus, serves plant-forward farm-to-table cuisine at Jimgu restaurant.
A 1920s villa at the foot of Mount Yufu, meticulously restored by architect Schri Kakinuma into a 17-room ryokan where Danish furniture sits alongside traditional Japanese craftsmanship. Gardens and forest views frame every angle of the property. Guests choose between tatami and Western-style rooms, unwind in natural hot spring baths, and dine on exclusively Japanese cuisine—an intimate retreat suited to couples and families seeking authentic onsen culture.
This sprawling resort channels Beppu's volcanic heritage through its HARNN Heritage Spa, where two public onsen baths and a private option draw from the region's celebrated hot springs. Rooms extend onto terraces surveying the landscape, with select accommodations adding private onsen soaking tubs. The wood-paneled bar frames mountain vistas, while Atelier delivers refined French cuisine—a polished retreat for families and spa devotees alike.
Once a retreat for Zen monks, Yufuin Tamanoyu keeps a contemplative rhythm across 16 Japanese-style rooms in low villas linked by quiet paths. Each has tatami sitting space, a separate bedroom and a wooden indoor bath fed by onsen water. At Budo-ya, seasonal cooking leans on nearby farms; Nicol’s Bar closes the day at a single-slab senoki counter facing the grove.
On Yufu’s eastern edge beneath Mount Yufudake, Gekkoju Yufuin keeps its scale intimate: five detached villas, each an all-suite retreat of more than 130 square meters. The color-named interiors draw on traditional Japanese tones, while private Yufuin Onsen baths, saunas and in-villa dining suit travelers seeking privacy over resort bustle. Cuisine follows a modern Japanese Tsukikouju style, shaped by selected Kyushu ingredients.
Spread across a 6,000-tsubo forested hillside once mined for gold, this eleven-villa ryokan draws its thermal waters from those same ancient veins. Each detached cottage features a private open-air or hinoki bath; the communal Kin no Yu pool lines its floor with pure gold tiles and tourmaline. Kaiseki dinners arrive in-room, built around seasonal Bungo ingredients. Birdsong and forest bathing define the mood.
Tucked into the volcanic highlands of Yufuin, Oku Yado Buaisou offers traditional onsen bathing fed by the region's celebrated hot springs. The ryokan-style property welcomes families with spacious accommodations and dedicated spa facilities, a rarity in this intimate onsen town. Guests find a retreat calibrated for multigenerational stays, where mineral-rich waters and unhurried Japanese hospitality define each day.
Thirteen detached cottages scatter across a 4,500-tsubo estate removed from central Yufuin, each blending Japanese craftsmanship with Asian and European decorative influences. Every bath here is private—the large rotenburo frames Mount Yufu from dawn until midnight, while a secluded bamboo grove bath echoes with shishi-odoshi. Meals unfold in Chisouan, a 150-year-old farmhouse transported from Niigata, where vegetable-forward kaiseki showcases the inn's own garden harvest.
Hita's centuries-old hot spring heritage finds contemporary expression at this riverside ryokan, where traditional onsen bathing coexists with dedicated sauna facilities. The property welcomes families with accommodations suited to multi-generational travel, a rarity among Japan's thermal retreats. Guests alternate between mineral-rich waters and dry heat sessions, following rituals refined over generations in this mountainous corner of Oita Prefecture.
Twelve rooms scatter across the forested base of Mount Yufudake, each drawing from a natural free-flowing hot spring—the purest form of onsen bathing. Mornings bring a choice between Western and Japanese breakfast; evenings might lead to Tan's bar, where theater-grade acoustics fill an intimate space. The on-site boutique '匠舗 蔵拙' stocks regional artisan pieces, appealing to travelers seeking craft alongside contemplation.
Beppu's geothermal wealth—seven of the world's ten onsen water types—finds refined expression here, where mineral-rich myoban springs fill public and private baths overlooking the bay. Local artisans crafted bamboo partitions and cypress jacuzzis for the couples suites, while therapies draw on traditional Asian medicine and regional botanicals. Five consecutive World Spa Awards confirm what the waters have known for centuries.
Beppu is a coastal city with eight onsen districts, a working-port atmosphere, and concentrated bathing facilities ranging from public jigoku (hell springs) to sand baths along the beach. Yufuin, inland and smaller, developed around a single thermal basin with a village character — rice fields, art galleries, and a slower pace. Many visitors combine both: Beppu for variety and spectacle, Yufuin for quiet immersion.
Autumn brings comfortable temperatures and foliage around Lake Kinrin, while winter amplifies the contrast between cold air and steaming baths — snowfall is rare but possible. Spring offers cherry blossoms along Yufuin's main street. Summer remains pleasant at Yufuin's elevation, though Beppu's coastal humidity intensifies. Each season shifts the bathing experience, but the hot springs operate year-round.
Ryokan in this region typically include kaiseki dinner and breakfast, futon bedding laid out by staff each evening, and access to multiple onsen baths — some private, others shared. Guests wear yukata throughout their stay. Check-in often occurs mid-afternoon, with an expected rhythm: arrival, bath, dinner, sleep, morning bath, breakfast. Many establishments limit bookings to encourage an unhurried atmosphere.
Beppu sits along Oita Prefecture's eastern coast, its skyline punctuated by steam columns rising from nearly three thousand natural hot springs. The town divides into eight distinct onsen districts — the Beppu Hatto — each with different mineral compositions and bathing traditions dating to the eighth century. Kannawa's narrow lanes wind past ryokan with stone baths fed by milky sulfur waters, while Myoban preserves thatched-roof huts where yunohana bath salts have been harvested using Edo-period techniques.
Forty minutes inland by rail, Yufuin occupies a misty basin beneath the twin peaks of Mount Yufu. The town developed as an artists' colony in the 1970s, and that creative sensibility persists in galleries, craft workshops, and small museums scattered along Yunotsubo Street. Unlike Beppu's urban density, Yufuin's accommodation clusters around rice paddies and the shores of Lake Kinrin, where hot springs bubble up through the lakebed. Morning walks here reveal the water's surface steaming in the cool air, with ryokan guests in yukata robes heading to communal baths before breakfast.
