Tsuwabuki No Hana

What stood out most was how kind and attentive the staff were. They greeted us at the car when we arrived at the end of the long rural road, and waved us off until the car was out of sight. We never felt rushed. I’ve stayed in lots of places around the country, and I was very happy with both the meals and the service. My kids want to come back, which says a lot to me. The rooms are clean, lodge-like, and connected in pairs rather than fully detached. Each has an indoor and an outdoor bath, so we could enjoy the hot spring whenever we wanted. Meals are served in private rooms in the main house, which worked well with children. Every dish was carefully made and tasty, and the kids got food suited to their ages. There was plenty for them to enjoy outside too. They loved feeding the goats. We also found a room with a piano, books, and massage chairs, plus another with a hearth and shochu, though it was too cold to sit there for long this time of year. I also enjoyed hearing about the inn, including the magnificent carp gifted by Kiyoshi Maekawa and the story of Toyonoboryu staying there. Maekawa has a video of the stay on YouTube. It’s a lovely hidden spot in Higashisonogi-cho, Nagasaki. Some people seem to look for faults wherever they stay, but this was a wonderful inn for us.

The room was clean, and the bath was spacious. The indoor bath is outside, but it’s covered and enclosed, with a door leading out to it. There’s a hot spring bath there too, though the water was lukewarm at 36 degrees. The inn sits a bit deep in the mountains, surrounded by nature. There are crops growing in the fields, goats in a shed that we fed mugwort to, rabbits we could pet, and ducks and chickens as well. Come at the right time and you can see lots of fireflies, though we got bitten by quite a few mosquitoes. Breakfast was delicious. It was a very nice inn.

The kids had a great time feeding the goats on the walk from the inn toward the observation deck. The front desk had feed for them. My husband and I booked the anniversary plan for our birthdays and stayed in the Tsukushinbo room. The path from reception was beautiful, and the room’s open-air bath and the food were amazing. We were more than full after dinner and breakfast. Drinks were included with dinner, so there was juice for the kids, and we could choose from several bottled beers, including Asahi and Kirin. My husband and the children were all very happy with the stay, and we’d love to come back someday. The one letdown was learning that the private open-air bath is closed from November through March. We’ll avoid those months next time. I wonder if that was mentioned on the website. If it wasn’t, I wish it had been.

It was nice to sit around the hearth in a separate building and have free shochu after dinner. The staff, both men and women, seemed to work hard, despite some negative reviews about the male staff. We tried both a special room and a regular one. The high vaulted ceiling gave the room a nice feel, but the dust and bugs were awful. The in-room bath was too lukewarm to use in cold weather, so they drained some water and added hot spring water to warm it up first. I came to a hot spring to relax, so having to get the bath ready myself was a bit much 😅 The food was pretty average, and the rice cooked in a pot was average too. I don’t think this place is a good fit for someone who wants to relax in their room, enjoy several baths, and put food first.