Japan Tattoo Friendly
Onsen Guide
Ishikawa · about 50 min from Kanazawa · Onsen town

Tattoo friendly onsen in Awazu

Awazu is a small onsen town east of Komatsu, reached by local train and a short bus. Hoshi, which dates itself to 718 and to 47 generations of one family, rents a private bath and sells rooms with spring water running into their own tubs. The Ooedo hotel here takes a cover seal, and Manten no Tsujinoya sends tattooed guests to the tub in their room.

1 property

Cover seal required

Smaller tattoos accepted when fully covered by a waterproof patch. What this means

Illustration of Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel in Awazu Onsen, Awazumachi, one street from the town bath
Awazu Onsen, Awazumachi, one street from the town bath Hotel (buffet onsen hotel) Confirmed

Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel

大江戸温泉物語 あわづグランドホテル

The hotel’s bath page bars tattoos from the large baths unless they are completely covered with the paid cover seals the hotel sells. Ooedo’s group FAQ puts the ceiling at two 10 × 14 cm seals, 220 yen each, bought at the front desk. There is no private bath for guests who need more cover than that.

※入れ墨・タトゥーのある方は大浴場をご利用いただけません。ただし、当館指定のカバーシール（有料）を貼って、入れ墨、タトゥーが完全に覆える場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます

Best for: A tatami-floored bath hall for a tattoo two seals can hide

Closed 1–23 October 2026 (important notice on the hotel’s own top page); open today. Women’s Myorei-no-yu and men’s Enjaku-no-yu, indoor and open-air, not swapped; the indoor floors are tatami. Diluted, heated and recirculated. Bath hours match the group pattern, 15:00 to midnight and 2:00 to 10:00. Buffet dinner. Formerly Yukai Resort Awazu Grand Hotel.

Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel tattoo policy → Check availability
2 properties

Private baths only

Tattoos are fine in a private or in-room bath. The communal baths are restricted, or the policy is unconfirmed. What this means

Illustration of Hoshi in Awazu Onsen, Awazumachi, in the center of the small hot spring town
Awazu Onsen, Awazumachi, in the center of the small hot spring town Ryokan Confirmed

Hoshi

法師

Hoshi publishes no tattoo rule on its bath page, FAQ or room pages. What it does publish is a rentable private bath, two indoor tubs (granite and tatami-lined) in one room, 3,630 yen for 50 minutes, booked at the front desk after check-in in order of arrival, and a set of rooms whose own baths run on spring water. A tattooed guest should book one of those rooms or claim a private-bath slot on arrival.

Best for: Sleeping in a house that has kept one family name for 47 generations, with a spring-fed tub in the room

Private bath: not open-air, no phone booking, lock the door while in use. Rooms with their own spring water, all free-flowing: the detached Meiji-era Enmeikaku (a dedicated source), Horai (semi-open-air), Yoro (open-air plus indoor), Choyo (maisonette with open-air bath), Choga (semi-open-air, facing the Edo-period garden) and Yoshino (hot spring indoor bath). The large baths are recirculated and heated, not diluted; the private bath too. From 1 September 2026 the large baths run 15:00–24:00 and 6:00–10:00; day bathing 15:00–18:00, last entry 17:00, not taken in busy periods. The oldest-inn claim, checked on the inn’s own page: it dates itself to 718, says it was entered in Guinness in 1996 as the world’s oldest hotel, and names the current head as the 47th Zengoro (older text on the same page still says 46th). Guinness moved that record to Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi in 2011, so the site should say “one of the oldest” or quote the inn. Open: news posts through August 2026 and rooms on sale.

Hoshi tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Manten no Tsujinoya in Awazu Onsen, Yunokamimachi, at the south edge of town in a large garden
Awazu Onsen, Yunokamimachi, at the south edge of town in a large garden Ryokan Confirmed

Manten no Tsujinoya

満天ノ 辻のや

Manten no Tsujinoya’s FAQ asks guests with tattoos to stay out of the large baths and the Hanamawari-yu bath area and to use the bath in their room instead. The suites and twins sold with an open-air tub are the ones to book; the four- and three-person rooms have no bath of their own.

Note: The tubs in the rooms are ordinary heated water, not hot spring water. The inn’s own FAQ says so. The spring is only in the large baths, which tattooed guests are asked not to use.

当館では刺青・タトゥーのあるお客様には大浴場、花廻湯のご利用をご遠慮いただいております。お部屋に備え付きのお風呂をご利用ください。

Best for: A room with its own open-air tub, when a bath to yourself matters more than the spring

FAQ: 客室の露天風呂は天然温泉ではございません. Room page: open-air bath suites and twins (cypress tub, 天然温泉ではございません); the four- and three-person rooms have no bath and send guests to the large bath. The old Tsujinoya Hananosho closed in 2020; H.I.S. bought the building and reopened it as Manten no Tsujinoya in July 2021, and the former operating company and its Roten-no-yu Kinkaku annex went bankrupt in August 2022. 57 rooms. Booking.com lists it (man-tian-no-sip-noya), taking reservations for 2027-02-10.

Manten no Tsujinoya tattoo policy → Check availability
Traveler’s note

Know one thing before you book Manten no Tsujinoya: its room tubs are ordinary heated water, not hot spring water, and the inn says so in its FAQ. The spring is only in its large baths, which it asks tattooed guests not to use. The Awazu Grand Hotel is closed from 1 to 23 October 2026.

Getting there

Tickets for the ride in

The simple ride is the IR Ishikawa Railway, the local line that took over the old JR Hokuriku line, 38 minutes and 670 yen from Kanazawa, then the Hokutetsu Kaga bus for 250 yen. No pass covers that train.

Sold on Klook. Booking through these links costs you nothing extra and sends a small commission our way.

Common questions

Awazu questions

Can I use a shared bath in Awazu with a tattoo?

Only at Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel, under the hotel’s paid cover seals: the group allows what two seals of 10 by 14 centimeters can hide. Nobody else in town publishes permission.

Is Hoshi the oldest hotel in the world?

Hoshi dates itself to 718 and was entered in Guinness as the oldest hotel in 1996. Guinness gave the record to Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi in 2011, so the fair description is one of the oldest.

How do I get to Awazu from Kanazawa?

The IR Ishikawa Railway, the local line that took over the old JR Hokuriku line, to Awazu in 38 minutes, then eight minutes on the Hokutetsu Kaga bus. The Shinkansen does not stop at Awazu.

More places to bathe

Other guides

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