Akiu, Yumoto Hirakura, upstream of the main inn strip on the Natori river Ryokan

Kai Akiu

界 秋保

Does Kai Akiu allow tattoos? Yes!

Nothing to cover

The two indoor tubs here are fed by two springs on the property, one run hot and one run warm, and the company that owns the place says in writing that it does not restrict bathers with tattoos.

Hoshino Resorts, which runs this house, publishes one rule for the whole company and it does not restrict tattooed guests. The company adds a condition of its own making: it may refuse the hot spring and large bath if it judges that other guests could be frightened. The eight-seal cover requirement in the same answer applies only to baths open to non-guests, and the company states that the baths at Kai are for staying guests, so a guest here needs no seal. There is no reservable private bath and no room bath.

Where it is

Sendai STN Takeya Kotsu’s Sendai Western Liner 43 Yamagata STN Morioka STN Fukushima STN Hotel location
Akiu Onsen Yumoto STN
Sendai is the door to all of these. Akiu is 43 minutes on one bus from the station, with no change. Nyuto is the Komachi, JR’s Shinkansen across to Akita, as far as Tazawako, then a bus of 47 minutes, about 2 h 20 in all. Naruko is twelve minutes on the Shinkansen to Furukawa and three quarters of an hour up the Rikuu East line. Zao is the Senzan line rapid over the mountains to Yamagata, then a bus of 37 minutes up to the ski village. Kai Akiu · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

What happens when you arrive

Check in and go to the bath. There is no seal to buy and nothing to declare.

How we know

Confirmed from official site (Hoshino Resorts’ own FAQ, ホテルについて, under タトゥー・刺青をしています; the same page states 星のや、界、リゾナーレの温泉・大浴場は宿泊者専用です)

Read on: hoshinoresorts.com/ja/sp/faq/hotelinfo/

私たちは、お客様の文化背景や価値観を尊重し、刺青・タトゥーをされているお客様の利用を制限しておりません。 しかしながら、すべてのお客様が快適にお過ごしいただけるよう、他のお客様が恐怖心を抱く可能性があると私たちが判断した場合、温泉・大浴場のご利用をお断りする場合がございます。

The operator’s own wording on that page. Nothing here needs showing at a desk. If anyone does ask, show them this. It is the operator’s own wording.

Best for: A tattooed traveler who wants a full ryokan evening in Akiu without buying or wearing a seal

Opened on the site of the old Hotel Kiyomizu, which closed and was rebuilt under the Kai brand, so the Kiyomizu name still appears in older directories and on some booking sites. Forty-nine rooms, all in the local Konpeki-no-ma style keyed to the blue of the Rairaikyo gorge. Two source-fed indoor tubs, one hot and one warm, plus a rock-built open-air bath and a foot bath in the Seseraki lounge. Check-in 14:30, check-out 11:00, no shuttle, free parking, whole building non-smoking. The refusal clause is discretionary and sits at the front desk, so a guest with very visible work should expect it to be applied case by case.

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