Hokkaido · 1 h 37 from Kushiro · Onsen town and lake

Tattoo friendly onsen in Kawayu and Lake Kussharo

Kawayu itself has no answer to give. Not one operator on the street writes a tattoo rule in either direction, and none of the four surviving hotels keeps a private bath or a room bath, so every listing on this page sits out around Lake Kussharo instead. Kussharoko Sauna Club sells its spring, its cedar sauna and a 170-centimeter barrel of Mashu groundwater to one party at a time. Kirano-yado Subaru has five rooms and two bathhouses, and writes on its own page that either can be taken privately. SANSUI Lakeside Villa rents two shoreline houses whole.

3 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

Biruwa, in forest on the southeast side of Lake Kussharo Private sauna and hot-spring house, one group at a time ★★☆☆☆ Confirmed

Kussharoko Sauna Club

屈斜路湖温泉屈斜路湖サウナ倶楽部

There is no tattoo rule here because there is nobody to meet. The operator sells the building one party at a time: the sauna and the baths go out in two-hour day slots at 19,800 yen for up to six people, and overnight guests get the whole place from 16:00 to 09:00 the next morning, with all three bedrooms priced as a single unit whether one person comes or nine. The bathing set is an indoor hot-spring bath, an outdoor hot-spring bath, a wood-fired sauna with spring water poured on the stones, and a 170 cm miso barrel of Mashu groundwater as the cold tub.

19,800円（税込）1棟貸切り（最大6名様まで）

Best for: A group that wants a hot spring, a wood-fired sauna and a barrel of cold lake-country water with the gate shut behind them

The spring is 屈斜路温泉, source name アカゲラの湯, given as 59.8°C and ナトリウム-炭酸水素塩温泉 (低張性弱アルカリ性高温泉). Day slots are 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–15:00 only; overnight guests have the sauna and baths 16:00–09:00. Bath towels and the water server are free; swimsuits, ponchos and sauna hats rent. The barrel is a 170 cm Saga miso cask filled with Mashu groundwater. The sauna room is western red cedar with a double-door airlock. There are three bedrooms sleeping nine in total and the single toilet is unisex.

Kussharoko Sauna Club tattoo policy → Check availability

Biruwa, in the forest between Kawayu and Mashu, off Route 391 Ryokan ★★★☆☆ Confirmed

Kirano-yado Subaru

きらの宿すばる

Five rooms, two bathhouses, and the inn states on its own page that either bathhouse can be taken privately. The men’s and women’s sides each have an indoor tub and an open-air tub, and the line that matters is the parenthesis on the end of the bath count: 貸切可. With ten guests at most in the building, a private turn is a matter of asking. No tattoo rule is published, so do not count on the shared turn, only on the locked one.

浴室数　2　男湯・女湯それぞれに内風呂、露天風呂あり（貸切可）

Best for: Two people who want a whole forest bathhouse to themselves and dinner cooked by the couple who run the place

Five twin rooms, extra bed available for a third guest. The whole building is non-smoking and has Wi-Fi. Check-in 16:00, check-out 10:00. Two people on the one-night two-meal plan pay 13,800 to 17,800 yen each depending on season, plus 150 yen bathing tax, and the inn asks for cash. The water is described as a mild alkaline spring from the Mashu groundwater that surfaces in the Biruwa forest. Pets are not allowed indoors; there is a cage in the annex lobby. The inn says its own availability calendar on the booking sites is often wrong and to call.

Kirano-yado Subaru tattoo policy → Check availability

On the Lake Kussharo shore, about an hour’s drive from Memanbetsu airport Whole-house villa with its own hot-spring baths Confirmed

SANSUI Lakeside Villa

山水

Two houses on the lake shore, each rented whole, each with its own baths running 100 percent natural hot-spring water. Migiwa sleeps five in two bedrooms with three baths and three showers; Nukumori sleeps four in two bedrooms with two baths, two showers and the operator’s own wood-stove sauna. There is no shared bath to have a policy about and no other guests to meet.

100% natural hot spring water

Best for: A family or two couples who want the lake, a wood-fired sauna and a source-fed tub inside a house nobody else can enter

Migiwa comes with bicycles, SUP boards and canoes; Nukumori has the sauna. The operator lists canoeing and SUP on the lake, campfires and deck yoga alongside the baths, and sells direct through Chillnn as well as the booking platforms. This is the most expensive thing in the region by a distance.

SANSUI Lakeside Villa tattoo policy → Check availability

Traveler’s note

The Kawayu spring runs at about pH 1.6 to 1.8, acid enough that one operator says a five-inch nail dissolves in it in a week, and it may loosen a cover seal, which is our inference and not an operator’s statement. The beach baths around Lake Kussharo, Sunayu, Kotan, Ike-no-yu and Wakoto, are free and unattended, and unlisted here because nobody runs them and nobody publishes a rule. Kawayu’s public bathhouse Yukichi publishes nothing either.

Getting there

Tickets for the ride in

JR Hokkaido Rail Pass Five, seven or ten days of unlimited JR trains on the island, which covers the Ozora to Kushiro and the Senmo line on to Kawayu-Onsen, so the whole ride is on the pass.

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

Common questions

Kawayu and Lake Kussharo questions

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

There is nothing to quote. Suikazura, Kawayu Kanko Hotel, Hotel Parkway, KKR Kawayu and the Kunnechup resort all say nothing about tattoos, and none of them is listed. Kussharo Prince Hotel lets bathers wear a cover garment, but says it is for scars and never extends the sentence to tattoos.

Which places on Lake Kussharo can I have to myself?

All three listed here. Kussharoko Sauna Club goes out in two-hour day slots at 19,800 yen for up to six people, or overnight as a single unit. Subaru’s two forest bathhouses each hold an indoor and an outdoor tub, with ten guests in the house at most. SANSUI’s Nukumori adds a wood-stove sauna.

How do I get to Kawayu from Kushiro?

The Senmo line runs Kushiro to Kawayuonsen in 1 h 37 for 2,240 yen, but only a handful of trains a day, so read the timetable before you plan the afternoon. Sapporo to Kushiro on the Ozora is 4 h 04. The lake is another twenty minutes west by road.

More places to bathe

Other guides

All twenty-three guides are live.

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