Only places that allow tattoos outright or with a cover.
33 Facilities
Many Japanese onsen and spa complexes still turn away bathers with tattoos. In a Japan Tourism Agency survey more than half of lodgings said tattooed guests could not use their baths, and being refused at the door mid-trip is not unusual.
This list contains only facilities confirmed as tattoo-friendly or allowing entry with cover stickers. Private baths and in-room open-air baths are another way round the rule, so if your tattoos are large see our private-bath collection too. Policies change — check the official site before you go.
Two halves: the swimsuit spa zone 'Yunessun' and the traditional nude 'Mori no Yu'. Wine baths, coffee baths and water slides make it family-friendly and an easy first onsen for visitors. Tattoos allowed if covered with a sticker. Dynamic pricing in 2026: passport (both zones) from ¥3,500, swimsuit zone from ¥2,500, Mori no Yu only from ¥1,500.
Founded in 1879, with its 1938 wooden building and curved gable, Takegawara is the symbol of Beppu Onsen. A regular bath costs ¥300 — a deep, hot pool down a flight of steps. The famous sand bath has you buried in warm sand by staff while wearing a yukata. Bring your own soap and shampoo.
The most popular of Kinosaki's seven public baths. In a building modeled on the Kyoto Imperial Palace, a waterfall rotenburo faces the hillside and a glass-roofed 'sky bath' sits indoors, all renovated in 2020. Overnight guests get free entry with the 'Yumepa' pass, so evenings are busy with yukata-clad bathers — go at 7 am when it opens.
Built in 1894 and the first public bathhouse designated an Important Cultural Property, the Honkan is Dogo's symbol. Full operation resumed in 2024 after a five-and-a-half-year restoration. The ground-floor 'Kami no Yu' is ¥700 for bathing only; upper floors add a rest room with tea. Soft alkaline water. Quietest right after the 6 am opening or after 9 pm.
The centerpiece of Nozawa's 13 public baths, a traditional bathhouse in the middle of the village. Local 'yunakama' associations have cleaned it daily since the Edo period; payment is a donation in the box at the door. Two pools, hot and 'mild' — though even the mild one exceeds 42°C. Adding cold water is bad manners: rinse first, then keep soaks short. No soap or shampoo.
A thatched communal bath on the shore of Lake Kinrin. Unstaffed — drop ¥300 in the box at the door. Changing area and bath share one room; an indoor pool and a half-open pool facing the lake, and it is mixed bathing with clear water and little screening, so it's a challenge for women. Right in busy central Yufuin, but quiet at the 10 am opening.
A giant bath complex next to Tsutenkaku Tower in Shinsekai. The 'Europe zone' (Rome, Greece, Mediterranean) and 'Asia zone' (Bali, Persia) swap between men and women each month. There's also a swimsuit pool, stone saunas and hotel floors. Open 24 hours, so it doubles as a place to stay after the last train. Tattoos OK if covered with a sticker.
The municipal facility for Ibusuki's famous natural sand bath. Change into a rental yukata, walk down to the beach, and staff bury you in hot sand for about ten minutes; afterwards rinse off in the indoor onsen. At high tide the sand baths move under a roof. ¥1,500 includes the yukata; bring or buy a towel. 20 minutes on foot or 5 by bus from Ibusuki Station.
A communal bath with over a thousand years of history as the shrine's sacred spring. Milky acidic sulfur water pours like a waterfall from log flumes into cypress tubs. ¥300; bring your own soap.
Kinosaki's flagship outer bath, praised as 'the best under heaven' by an Edo-period physician. Its cave bath carved into rock is the draw; the kabuki-theatre-style building is the town's landmark.
The locals' bath for anyone who wants to skip the Honkan queue. Same source water for ¥500 with almost no wait. Bring or buy soap.
An annex opened in 2017 in Asuka-period style with Ehime craftwork throughout, plus an open-air bath the Honkan lacks. Upstairs rest rooms and a private special bath limited to five groups a day.
A stone steam-bath chamber in use since the Kamakura period. Lie in a yukata on a bed of medicinal sweet-flag herb and sweat heavily in 8–10 minutes. Yukata rental ¥220 (or bring a T-shirt and shorts). Free foot steaming outside.
The heart of Kusatsu, where 4,000 litres a minute cascade down wooden channels. The Yukemuri-tei pavilion beside it is a free 24-hour foot bath, lit up at night. Start your visit here.
Closest of Kinosaki's seven public baths to the station. A striking hexagonal lantern-motif window; indoor bath only, simple and quick.
The smallest and hottest of the seven baths — a little wooden bathhouse on the willow-lined canal, where you soak shoulder to shoulder with locals. Opens at 3 pm.
The bath tied to Kinosaki's founding legend. Popular for its cypress open-air tub and barrel baths facing the wooded hillside; at the quiet end of town. Opens at 3 pm.
Arima's biggest day-spa complex: gold spring, silver spring and (artificial) carbonated baths — 26 baths plus stone saunas, with loungewear and towels included. Free shuttle from Arima-Onsen Station.
A free foot bath in an actual river of hot spring water flowing out of Ōyunuma pond, at the end of a forest boardwalk. The perfect finish to a Jigokudani walk. Daylight hours; the trail may close in deep snow.
A huge boulder-lined mixed open-air bath on the Gamata riverbed, looking up at the Northern Alps and a suspension bridge. Open only late April to the end of October; swimwear or bathing gowns allowed. Pay a cleaning donation of about ¥300.
Kamata, 15 minutes by train from Haneda Airport, has Tokyo's densest cluster of 'kuroyu' black-water springs. Kaiseiyu, founded in 1929, is the classic: a coffee-dark natural bicarbonate bath, a high-concentration carbonated pool and a cold plunge, with a goldfish aquarium set into the bath wall. ¥600; a toiletries-and-towel set is sold at the desk. Ideal before a flight or after a late arrival. Tattoos are fine, as in most sento.
A roadside-station onsen on the hill of Shōdoshima Olive Park, right beside the Greek windmill made famous by film shoots. Big windows frame olive groves and the Seto Inland Sea; there are a herb bath, waterfall shower and sauna. The water is a radioactive (radon) spring. Owing to staff shortages, hours are shortened to 15:00–20:00 (last entry 19:30) from 17 July 2026 until further notice; ¥1,000, towel set rental ¥200. Closed all day Wednesday, and the onsen only on Thursday (holidays vary). Five minutes by car from Kusakabe port, ten from Ikeda port. Pair with a stroll around the park and the adjacent Olive Beach at island dusk.
Founded in 1691 and regarded as Japan's oldest surviving hot-spring inn building, this Shima Onsen institution in Gunma stands across a red bridge; the main house, said to be one of the models for the bathhouse in Spirited Away, is an Important Cultural Property. The celebrated Genroku-no-yu, built in 1930 in Taishō-romantic style, has five tubs set into a stone floor lit by arched windows, with water welling up from below. Shima's sulphate water is counted among Japan's three great baths for digestive ailments and can be drunk. Day use 10:00–17:30 (last entry 17:00), ¥1,500 with face towel, covering Genroku-no-yu, the mixed rock bath and private baths. Tattoos accepted if covered with stickers. About 40 minutes by bus from Nakanojō Station to the Shima Onsen terminus.
A hot-spring inn on a rise above the Chikugo River in Ukiha, Fukuoka, whose pH 8.7 alkaline simple-sulphur water is so silky people say it feels like bathing in skin lotion. Chikugogawa Onsen lies across the river from Harazuru, a quiet designated health resort, and this inn actively welcomes day bathers. Besides the main and open-air baths there are characterful private family baths — 'Stone', 'Rock', even one with a slide — at ¥2,500 for 60 minutes, booked at the desk on the day; the inn states that guests with tattoos may use the private baths only. Day bathing: adults ¥800, children ¥600, 13:00–21:00, closed Wednesdays plus irregular days. The Harazuru–Chikugo River area is known for cormorant fishing and fruit picking, and many families drop in on the way home from the orchards. About 5 minutes by taxi from JR Chikugo-Ōishi Station or 3 minutes by car from Haki IC.
The oldest of the seven sotoyu public baths of Kinosaki Onsen, said to be the spa's earliest spring. Its name comes from the legend that 1,400 years ago a wounded stork healed its leg here, and it has a garden rotenburo. Adults ¥800, children ¥400, 7:00–23:00 (last entry 22:40), closed Tuesdays (open on holidays). 20 minutes on foot from JR Kinosaki-Onsen Station, at the far end of the spa street in front of the ropeway, with the first hour of parking free. Note: closed for renovation from 11 May to 30 October 2026, due to reopen 31 October.
A large onsen hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group standing high above the Kinugawa gorge. Day bathing runs in two sessions, 7:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00), at ¥2,200 weekdays / ¥2,400 weekends and holidays (¥2,600 on peak days), ¥1,100–1,300 for elementary pupils, infants free, towels rented for ¥330. There are eight kinds of tub including a semi-open bath where you hear the river and a rock bath, all with views of the gorge. Guests with tattoos may use the great bath only if they are completely covered with the hotel's paid cover seals. Free parking for 200; 15 minutes on foot from Tōbu Kinugawa-Onsen Station or about 10 minutes by dial bus.
An onsen hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group along the Kinugawa gorge, said to have the finest view in Kinugawa. The glass-walled lobby looks straight out over the gorge, and day bathing runs 7:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00 (last entry 22:00) at ¥1,000 weekdays / ¥1,400 weekends and holidays (¥1,600 peak days), which is inexpensive. Elementary pupils ¥440–630, infants free, towels rented for ¥330. It is 8–10 minutes on foot from Kinugawa-Onsen Station, close to the station and easy to combine with Tōbu World Square or Nikkō. Free parking.
A large inn in Minakami, formerly Gensen-yu no Yado Matsunoi, now part of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari Premium line. Three open-air baths face a garden of 10,000 tsubo, Akane-no-yu, Aono-yu and Wakaba-no-yu, with great baths as well. Akane-no-yu switches between men and women, and the men's open-air bath has a barrel sauna. Day bathing needs no reservation and runs 7:00 to 10:00 and 15:00 to 24:00 with last entry at 22:00, at 1,150 yen for adults on weekdays, 1,400 yen on weekends and holidays and 1,600 yen on peak days. Towels rent for 330 yen. People with tattoos may use the great baths only if they are fully covered with the designated cover stickers, which are sold on site.
A large hot-spring resort at Awara Onsen, where day bathing needs no reservation. It opens from 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning and from 15:00 to midnight, with last entry at 22:00. Prices are 900 yen on weekdays, 1,300 yen at weekends and holidays and 1,500 yen on busy days; elementary pupils pay 500 yen except 580 yen on busy days, and infants and children under three are free. Towels can be rented for 330 yen, and consumption tax and bathing tax are included. There is also a plan combining a dinner buffet with bathing, which must be booked in advance. Entry may be refused when it is crowded.
An iodine-bearing sodium chloride spring drawn from 500 m beneath central Naha. Indoor and open-air baths plus a sauna, and guests with tattoos may bathe after filling in a form. Visitors pay ¥2,000 from junior-high age.
The natural spring of a resort hotel on a hill named among Japan's 100 best sunsets. Its sky-high open-air bath looks over the Seto Inland Sea; day bathing runs 15:00–20:00 for ¥1,200.
An onsen hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari chain in Awazu Onsen, said to have been opened by the monk Taicho some 1,300 years ago. Its own drilled spring (a chloride/sulfate spring at 54°C) fills the Enjaku-no-Yu and Myorei-no-Yu main baths and an open-air bath; day bathing needs no reservation.
An onsen inn of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari chain, famed for its scenic and herb open-air baths overlooking Lake Shibayamagata. The chloride spring of Katayamazu Onsen fills the panoramic and herb open-air baths; day bathing needs no reservation.