Yunoshima, facing the river in the middle of the inn street Ryokan ★★★☆☆

Gero Onsen Ogawaya

小川屋

Does Gero Onsen Ogawaya allow tattoos? In a private bath

Private bath only

Nine baths here lock from the inside, seven of them in the Yuragi annex where each has its own courtyard or terrace and free-flowing water, and the inn will sell you one for 45 minutes without a room.

Ogawaya’s public-bath page says plainly that people with tattoos are refused entry to its large baths. It says nothing about the nine reservable baths, and silence is not permission, so do not read it as covering them. What holds up is the structure: nine baths that lock, seven of which the inn also sells to day visitors.

Show this at the front desk

※誠に申し訳ありませんが、入れ墨、タトゥーのある方はご入浴をお断りしております。

The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.

Where it is

Nagoya STN Hida, JR’s limited express on the Takayama line 1 h 50 Takayama STN Hotel location
Gero STN
Nagoya is the door, 1 h 40 from Tokyo and 50 minutes from Osaka on the Shinkansen. The Hida limited express runs up the Hida river valley to Gero in 1 h 50 and on to Takayama, where the Nohi Bus for Hirayu and the other Okuhida villages leaves from beside the station.. Gero Onsen Ogawaya · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

JR Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass Five days for 19,800 yen on JR trains between Nagoya, Gero, Takayama and Toyama, with six reserved seats, which covers the Hida from Nagoya to Gero both ways. Worth it if Takayama, Shirakawa-go or Kanazawa is on the same trip. Sold on Klook.

What happens when you arrive

Skip the shared baths and reserve the private one the way this page describes. Once the door is closed, the bath is yours.

How we know

Confirmed from official site (the large-bath page at gero-ogawaya.net/hotspring/public_bath/). The private-bath page carries no such line.

Read on: gero-ogawaya.net/hotspring/public_bath/

Best for: Nine reservable baths in one inn, seven of them open to day visitors as well

Seven reservable baths in the Yuragi annex, each a different design with courtyard or terrace, plus two in the main building, the black-and-white Suzuri-yu and Kasuri-yu. The Yuragi seven run 12:30 to 21:45 by advance reservation, 4,400 yen for 45 minutes, or 4,950 yen for Kohaku, and the inn says they are free-flowing spring water. It also sells them for day use.

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