Kyomachi Onsen Matsuo Ryokan

Matsuo Ryokan is a two-storey wooden inn founded in 1923 (Taisho 12), standing midway along the Kyomachi Gintengai shopping arcade in the Kyomachi Onsen district of Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture. Local lore holds that Kyomachi Onsen was born in the early Taisho era when hot water burst from a well during drilling, at the moment lightning struck nearby, earning it the old nickname Kaminari Onsen (Thunder Hot Spring). With 43 separate sources, it remains one of the largest hot spring districts in Miyazaki. The inn sits a two-minute walk from Kyomachi Onsen Station on the JR Kitto Line and about five minutes by car from the Ebino IC.

The water is a simple hot spring (hypotonic, weakly alkaline, high-temperature), issuing at 47.5C with a pH of 7.8. The inn draws on its own private source and serves it at 100 percent free-flowing, with no dilution, no recirculation and no chlorination. The water is clear and colourless with a soft, silky feel on the skin, and is traditionally recommended for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, frozen shoulder, bruising, poor circulation and general fatigue.

Bathing consists of one bath each for men and women plus one family bath. A free footbath and hand bath sit at the entrance, with towels provided, so passers-by are welcome to use them. Day-use bathing costs 300 yen for adults and 200 yen for children between 10:00 and 20:00, and is free for anyone who eats a meal at the inn. There are eight six-mat Japanese-style guest rooms, with one night and two meals from 6,500 yen plus tax. Charcoal-grilled eel and nanban-style river fish caught in the Sendai River are the house specialities.