Arimakan
有馬館
Does Arimakan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Arimakan gives every staying party one free 40-minute session in a private bath, either the seventh-floor open-air bath over the town or one of three indoor tubs, among them a white grotto modeled on Pamukkale.
Arimakan answers this in its own FAQ: guests with a tattoo of any size, anywhere on the body, may not use the large shared baths. The inn points them to its private baths instead, a seventh-floor open-air bath and three indoor baths, each booked at check-in for 40 minutes with the first session free. It also suggests the room's own bath, which the inn says is not hot spring water.
The bath
Arimakan struck its own source in 1921, and the water was known as Kin-no-yu, the gold water. The inn lists it as calcium sulfate, calcium-sodium sulfate and sodium-calcium chloride springs, for cold sensitivity, fatigue and women's complaints, and it is cleared by the health office for drinking at a fountain that pours from the medicine jar of a Yakushi Buddha statue. There are two large baths. Kin-no-yu, on the original spring site, has a Shigaraki-ware tub of source-fed water and a stone-bed sauna. Roman-yu has a source-fed main tub, a Kihoseki stone bath and a stone-bed bath warmed by the spring. They swap at midnight and 11 a.m., and both stay open around the clock except about 10 to 11 a.m. for cleaning.
The private baths are the inn's best-known feature. The open-air bath on the seventh floor looks over the mountains and the town. On the first floor, the Kihoseki standing bath is 120 cm deep with micro-bubbles, Pamukkale is a white sculpted grotto that the inn says was shaped by a theme-park designer, and Yawaragi has a flat floor and a wide rim for wheelchair users. The inn says all three indoor baths are source-fed. Each party gets one 40-minute session free, booked at check-in; later sessions cost ¥2,500 if a slot is open. They run from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m. the next morning.
The hotel
Rooms range from the 10-mat Japanese rooms the inn says are booked most, through Japanese-modern rooms of 35 and 70 square meters with twin beds, to one Western twin with a massage chair and two special Japanese-Western rooms. All rooms are non-smoking; the smoking area is in the courtyard. Dinner and breakfast are served in the room for up to three people, and in a private dining room for four or more. Check-in is from 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- One private bath session is free, 40 minutes, booked at the desk at check-in.
- No advance booking for the private baths, so book them as soon as you arrive.
- Free pickup from the station from 3 to 6 p.m., phone the inn when you arrive.
Getting there
From Yamagata Station, take the JR Ou line or Yamagata Shinkansen to Kaminoyama-Onsen Station; the inn publishes no train time for that leg. From the station the inn's free car takes about 3 minutes: phone on arrival between 3 and 6 p.m. A taxi takes about the same. On foot it is about 15 minutes, on a flat road. The inn's car returns guests to the station from 8:30 to 10 a.m.
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN · JR Yamagata Shinkansen / Ou line
About 15 minutes.
Free inn car, about 3 minutes; phone on arrival between 3 and 6 p.m.
Where it is
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the whole train ride: the Tsubasa, the Yamagata Shinkansen, runs from Tokyo to Kaminoyama-Onsen with no change.
- Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen day trip The Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen, from Sendai.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the inn's FAQ, opened from its own home page, which takes the tattoo question directly)
サイズや箇所を問わずお体に刺青やタトゥーのあるお客様は、大浴場のご利用をお断りさせていただきます。お部屋のお風呂をご利用いただくか、貸切風呂がございますので、そちらをご利用ください。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: families or couples who want a free private hot spring bath and dinner served in the room
Four private baths: the seventh-floor view open-air bath, and on the first floor the Kihoseki standing bath (120 cm deep with micro-bubbles, and a step to sit on), Pamukkale (modeled on the Turkish terraces) and Yawaragi (flat floor, wide rim, usable by wheelchair, with a bath wheelchair on loan). The inn says the three indoor ones are source-fed. The first 40-minute session is free; later sessions cost ¥2,500 per 40 minutes if a slot is open that day. Book at check-in only; no advance booking. Hours 11 a.m. to 10 a.m. the next morning. The room baths are not hot spring water. Dinner and breakfast come to the room for up to three per room. Bath-only visits are suspended.
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