Takegawara Onsen
竹瓦温泉
Does Takegawara Onsen allow tattoos? Yes!
The 1879 bathhouse rebuilt in 1938 under a karahafu gable, the building Beppu puts on its own posters. Its sand bath is the municipal one: you change into a yukata, lie in the trough, and an attendant shovels spring-heated sand over you.
Nothing to cover, in either bath. Beppu City owns and runs Takegawara, and the city’s own onsen site prints the rule in the facility line at the foot of its page. The city’s tourism listing carries the same tattoo mark, current to 30 June 2026. It covers the 300-yen communal bath and the 1,500-yen sand bath alike.
The bath
The two sides do not share water. The men’s tub takes a sodium, calcium and magnesium chloride and bicarbonate spring, the women’s a sodium bicarbonate one, and both run from the source without recirculation. The bathing room is plain: tiled floor, one deep tub, the changing space open to it, and water hot enough that the regulars pour cold into a wash bowl before they get in. What you come back out to is the high-ceilinged lobby, tatami along one side, where people sit until they stop sweating.
The sand bath is a second ticket at 1,500 yen and takes eight people at a time, so there can be a wait. The city accepts no reservations for it of any kind, by phone or online, so you turn up at the desk and take your turn. Bath-wear is lent free if you ask the facility in advance.
Communal bath 06:30 to 22:30, 300 yen; sand bath 08:00 to 22:30 with last reception at 21:30. Both closed the third Wednesday. The basin is free, a towel 350 yen, a locker 100 yen. There is no car park.
What is good about it
- Two different springs under one roof, chloride on the men’s side, bicarbonate on the women’s.
- No reservations for the sand bath, eight people at a time, last reception 21:30, 1,500 yen.
- Bath-wear lent free, if you ask the facility ahead of your visit.
Getting there
About ten minutes on foot from JR Beppu STN, straight down the station approach and left into Motomachi. The bus from the east exit reaches Nagarekawa Yumetown-mae in about five minutes, two minutes short of the door.
Beppu STN · JR Nippo line; the Sonic limited express runs in from Hakata
About 10 minutes down the station approach.
Bus 15, 16, 17 or AS60 from the east exit to Nagarekawa Yumetown-mae, about 5 minutes, then 2 on foot.
Where it is
Hakata STN
JR Sonic limited express 1 h 55
Kokura STN
Oita STN
✈Oita Airport
LocationBeppu STN
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 the operator (Beppu City): its enjoyONSEN facility page, and its tourism listing, which flags the bath タトゥー可
Read on: enjoyonsen.city.beppu-jp.com/onsen/takegawaraonsen/
TATTOO: Allowed
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 sand bath in a 1938 wooden hall, buried by an attendant with a wooden hoe
Communal bath 06:30–22:30, 300 yen; sand bath 08:00–22:30, last reception 21:30, 1,500 yen, eight people at a time, no reservations of any kind. Both closed the third Wednesday. Men’s and women’s sides draw different springs, chloride on one side and bicarbonate on the other. No car park. Bath-wear (nyuyokugi) is lent free if you ask in advance.
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