In shortSuppon (soft-shell turtle) full courses at the 1920 house that started Ajimu's suppon tradition. You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request the table for you.
Price
Courses ¥6,050–15,730 and a weekday set lunch at ¥3,800, all tax and 10% service included
Seven private rooms for 2–12, a hall for 12–35 — around 70–100 seats; four guest rooms upstairs
Payment
Cards and PayPay accepted; 10% service charge; no fee for cancellation by the previous day, 50% same day
Getting there
A car is needed — 5 minutes from the Ajimu interchange, 25–30 minutes from JR Yanagigaura or Usa, 55 minutes from Oita Airport
Dress code
No dress code
Ajimu is a basin in northern Oita ringed by hills and cut by three
clear rivers, and the suppon — the soft‑shell turtle that Japanese
cooking prizes above almost any other slow food — has been its
signature dish for a hundred years. The house’s own account is that
the tradition began here: in 1920 the founder, Sakutaro Yamakami,
opened a suppon restaurant at the urging of the politician and
gourmet Kenjiro Kinoshita, whose bestselling Bimi Kyushin named
Ajimu the ideal ground for raising the turtle. The novelist Seicho
Matsumoto ate here whenever his research brought him to Oita and had
the nabe sent to his sickbed in later life. Four generations on,
under Yoshito Yamakami, the house holds a Tabelog Award Bronze for
every year from 2017 to 2026 and a place among Tabelog’s hundred best
Japanese restaurants in western Japan (2021).
What you eat
Suppon from the house’s own ponds, fed on the valley’s spring water
for at least two years and taken only above a kilogram; before
cooking, the turtles are held without feed to strip any muddiness.
The full course — the ¥15,730 Bimi Kyushin — moves through the raw
blood, liver dressed in vinegar, blanched fin, soup, sashimi, savory
custard, grilled liver, karaage, charcoal‑grilled turtle and dessert.
Shorter courses run ¥13,310, ¥11,495 and ¥6,050 for the nabe course
alone. The nabe is cooked plain, mizutaki style, and dipped in the
mild house ponzu and a long‑aged yuzu‑kosho rather than masked with
ginger and soy. Weekday lunches only, the ¥3,800 suppon set is one
of the better‑value plates in Kyushu. Wines from Ajimu’s own vineyards
are paired on request.
The booking reality
No release day, and several doors. The house takes reservations
by telephone in Japanese on a toll‑free line (0120‑393‑803,
10:00–21:00) or at 0978‑44‑0002, by email, and online through its own
ResReserve page — which also runs in English — closing two days before the date; Ikyu sells the
same courses. In April 2026 the house confirmed that meals‑only guests
are welcome — you need not stay overnight — and that each party gets a
private room sized to its number; same‑day tables are possible by
phone. Reviewers describe calling ten days ahead. Our desk phones the
house in Japanese and fixes course, room and time in one call.
Cancellation is generous by the previous day (no fee), 50% on the day,
and 100% for no‑shows or a smaller party after arrival. Children are
welcome and a children’s course can be arranged. The house does not
publish a solo‑diner policy, though its online form accepts a party of
one.
You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request it for you. Request this table →
Go if you
Travelers driving between Beppu, Yufuin and the Kunisaki peninsula
who want the one dish this valley does better than anywhere, and
anyone curious about suppon who would rather taste it at the source
than at a Tokyo price.
The house's cancellation charge
Same day, with notice100%
Same day, no notice (no-show)100%
Charged by the house, not by us. A plan's own policy takes precedence.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Ryotei Yamasa Ryokan: common questions
Can you book Ryotei Yamasa Ryokan from abroad?
Yes. Phone in Japanese, email, or online via the house's ResReserve page (which works in English) and Ikyu; no release day. You can book online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request the table for you; our ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
Cite this page
Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
Ryotei Yamasa Ryokan — Ajimu, Usa, Oita — SHOKU NOREN (checked September 2026). https://shokunoren.com/restaurants/yamasa-ryokan-usa
