Tarutama Onsen Takihiyori is a day-trip hot spring facility tucked into the gorge of the Tarutama River at the northern foot of Mount Eboshi on the southern outer rim of Mount Aso, located at 2331 Kawayo, Minamiaso Village, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture. Directly in front of the bath roars Kinryu no Taki, a waterfall of roughly ten meters, and the open-air baths set within sight and sound of its plunge pool have long marked Tarutama as one of Kyushu''s classic hidden spring retreats. The waters trace their roots to the Tensho era (1573-1592), when the temple Kinryuzan Tarutama-ji is said to have already drawn on these springs. After the source was buried in a landslide during the Edo Kyoho era, it was restored in the Bunka era (1804-1818), and in 1886 (Meiji 19) the inn known as Yamaguchi Ryokan opened on the site. In 1907 (Meiji 40), the five young poets Yosano Tekkan, Kitahara Hakushu, Kinoshita Mokutaro, Hirano Banri, and Yoshii Isamu stayed here on their journey through Kyushu and later introduced Tarutama to readers through their famous travelogue Gosoku no Kutsu (Five Pairs of Shoes). The poet Noguchi Ujo also visited in 1934, adding to a literary lineage stretching back more than two centuries. As Tarutama Onsen Yamaguchi Ryokan, the inn was a longstanding member of the Japan Secret Hot Spring Preservation Society, but suffered severe damage in the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. After five years of recovery work, the site reopened on April 16, 2021 -- exactly five years after the main shock -- as the day-use facility Tarutama Onsen Takihiyori. The waters are classified as a simple hot spring (neutral, source temperature about 52 degrees Celsius), drawn from several wellheads, blended, and supplied as free-flowing source water with no added cold water and no reheating. The complex offers a large indoor bath called Tomoshibi no Yu, gender-separated waterfall-view open-air baths Ten no Yu and Kajika no Yu, a sauna, reclining bath, spring-water bath, and three private rental baths, while the on-site Tama Cafe serves light meals and sweets featuring Aso ingredients.