Tattoo friendly onsen in Kikuchi and Ueki

Kikuchi Kanko Hotel

菊池観光ホテル

The hotel turns tattooed guests away from its large baths as a rule, but makes an exception when one 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in) cover seal hides the tattoo completely. The hotel does not supply seals, so bring your own. A tattoo too big for a single seal is refused in the shared baths.

タトゥーなどを入れたお客様の大浴場のご利用は、原則お断りしています。ただし、8cm×10cmのカバーシール１枚で見えないようカバーしていただいた場合は、この限りではありません。シールはお客様ご自身で持参願います。

Best for: a tattoo small enough for one seal, and a buffet dinner with ninety minutes of free drinks

One seal of 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in), brought by the guest. The main building’s large baths swap sides daily; the indoor baths in the main building and the special room are fed straight from the source, while the east building’s indoor baths are partly filtered overnight so they can open again in the morning. The open-air baths are source-fed but may take some tap hot water in the coldest weeks. Baths open 3 to 11:30 p.m. and 6 to 9 a.m. The hotel shows a private open-air bath on its hot spring page but publishes no price or booking terms for it. Bathing tax of ¥150 is charged on top of the room. Run by BBH Hotel Group.

Shironoi Ryokan and Shironoi Onsen

城乃井旅館

Shironoi publishes no tattoo rule. Staying guests get two private baths, Kaede and Momiji, free and without booking: if one is empty, go in and lock the door. Day visitors can rent the same baths, or the small family bath in the inn's public bathhouse next door, by the hour.

Best for: travelers who want a free private bath of the inn's own spring, used as often as they like

Private baths Kaede and Momiji: free for staying guests and for diners at a banquet or meal, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., 50 minutes per use, no booking; each holds four adults. Non-guests pay ¥1,500 for 60 minutes. The public bathhouse Shironoi Onsen next door has a family bath at ¥1,000 for 60 minutes; its large bath is ¥350 and free for staying guests. The inn advises bathing after 6:30 a.m. in winter, when the stone tubs run cool. None of the nine rooms has its own bath or toilet.

Kodachi no Naka no Yado Seiryuso

木立の中の宿 清流荘

Seiryuso publishes no tattoo rule. Its bathhouse Yunokura rents twelve family baths by the room for 50 minutes, so a tattooed guest can bathe behind a locked door without using the shared baths. Rooms are not reserved ahead; you take the next free one.

Best for: a couple or family who want a boulder-built private tub by the hour, with dinner in a private room afterward

Yunokura family baths: ¥1,800 a room for 50 minutes, ¥700 for each extra 30 minutes, from 10 a.m. to the last entry at 10 p.m., closing at 11 p.m.; the tub is drained and refilled for each party. No advance booking; rooms go in order of arrival. Several stay plans include one 50-minute family bath. The shared baths are two indoor halls and two open-air baths above the river; the open-air baths cost day visitors ¥600 (¥300 for children under junior-high age).

Mochizuki Ryokan

望月旅館

Mochizuki publishes no tattoo rule. Four of its rooms have their own open-air bath fed straight from the spring, so a tattooed guest who books one of them can bathe in private for the whole stay and skip the shared garden bath.

Best for: a couple who want a ceramic open-air tub on their own terrace and horse sashimi at dinner

Four special rooms have an open-air bath of unheated, undiluted, non-recirculated spring water; book the room type with the open-air bath. The shared bath is a garden open-air bath with a falling-water shower, open 7 a.m. to midnight and also to day visitors (no fee published). Closing days are irregular. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.

Kikuchi Grand Hotel

菊池グランドホテル

The hotel publishes no tattoo rule. Every room has its own bathroom whose tap runs the hotel's radon hot spring, and there is one family bath for six that can be booked ahead for 50 minutes, so a tattooed guest has two ways to bathe in private.

Best for: a family or group who want a big private bath with grab rails, booked ahead, and spring water in the room tub too

Family bath: one room, ¥1,100 for 50 minutes, booking required, big enough for six adults, with a slope and handrails. Every room’s bath is an ordinary indoor tub, but the hot tap runs spring water. The hotel adds a little tap water to the spring (5 percent in summer, 1 percent in winter). Baths open 6 to 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to midnight; day visitors 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wafu Ryokan Shiroyamaso

和風旅館 城山荘

Shiroyamaso publishes no tattoo rule. Staying guests can have the family bath to themselves free of charge, and the open-air bath attached to the banquet hall can also be taken privately on nights the hall is not in use, so a tattooed guest can bathe without sharing.

Best for: travelers on a budget who want a free private bath of source-fed water and a host who will fetch them from the bus

Family bath: private use only, free for staying guests, 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9 a.m. A cooling-off corner beside it doubles as the waiting area. The banquet hall’s open-air bath is a mixed bath that can be reserved privately when no banquet is using the hall. Men’s and women’s indoor baths keep the same hours. Check-in 3 to 9 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.

Ueki Onsen Hotei-yu

植木温泉 ほてい湯

Hotei-yu has no shared bath: every one of its twelve baths is rented as a private room, and its own Q&A says guests with tattoos may bathe. The two Premium buildings must be booked ahead; the ten Self buildings take no bookings and are paid by the minute.

Ｑ３：混浴は可能？ 水着着用は可能？ タトゥーがあるけど入浴可能？ はい、可能です。貸切湯ですので、家族や友人等での混浴はもちろん可能です。また水着の着用や、タトゥーがある方も可能です。

Best for: a tattooed bather who wants a private tub of unheated, undiluted spring water by the minute, no booking

Premium buildings Shichifukujin and Hoteison: booking required through the YUASOBI site, ¥2,800 for 50 minutes or ¥4,200 for 80 minutes per building, with a 17-mat living room. Self buildings: nine all year plus one in spring only, no booking, a prepaid card of ¥1,600 buys up to 50 minutes at ¥32 a minute and unused minutes carry over; weekday solo plan ¥980 for 50 minutes with reception by 7 p.m. Closed Wednesdays (Thursday when Wednesday is a holiday). Cash only. No telephone: questions go through the contact form or Instagram. Swimsuits allowed; towels must stay out of the water.

Ryokan Yayanoyu

旅館 ややの湯

Yayanoyu publishes no tattoo rule. Every one of its six rooms has its own open-air bath of spring water straight from the source, so a tattooed guest bathes in private for the whole stay.

Best for: a couple who want their own open-air spring tub, a small garden and dinner of organic vegetables and Amakusa fish

All six rooms have a private open-air bath fed straight from the source; there is no other bath to book. An adults’ inn. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m. Non-smoking throughout. Free parking for 50 cars.

Ueki Onsen Kirinoyu

植木温泉 桐乃湯

Kirinoyu publishes no tattoo rule. Eight of its ten rooms have their own bath of the inn's spring water: open-air, semi-open-air, or a Shigaraki ceramic tub. A tattooed guest who books one of those rooms can bathe privately and leave the shared baths alone.

Best for: a couple or family who want a semi-open-air or garden tub in the room at a modest step up from a plain room

Room baths: two 10-mat rooms and three 12-mat rooms with a semi-open-air bath, two ground-floor 12-mat rooms with a garden open-air bath and a handrail (one is barrier-free, and neither takes children of elementary age or younger), and one two-room suite of 12 and 7.5 mats with a Shigaraki ceramic tub (two guests or more). Two 10-mat rooms have no bath. Bookings from two guests. Shared baths open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for staying guests. Check-in from 3 p.m.; tell the inn if arriving after 6 p.m. Check-out 10 a.m. Parking for 50 cars.

Ryokan Matsunoyu

旅館 松乃湯

Matsunoyu publishes no tattoo rule. Staying guests can use its two private family baths free, booked for a set time, and the one special room has its own open-air and indoor spring baths, so a tattooed guest has a way to bathe without sharing.

Best for: travelers who want a free private bath in Ueki's oldest inn, with horse sashimi at dinner

Two family baths with washing areas, one on the second floor of the guest wing and one beside the entrance, for staying guests only and free; booking direct on the inn's site gives priority and lets you pick the time when you reserve. One special room (2015) has its own open-air and indoor baths fed straight from the source, for two or three guests. Ten Japanese rooms have a toilet but no bath. Baths open from check-in to 11 p.m. and 6 to 9 a.m. Day visitors can use the shared baths 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from ¥500. Check-in 4 to 5:30 p.m. (to 10 p.m. on room-only and breakfast plans), check-out 10 a.m. Bathing tax ¥150. Free parking for 30 cars.

Yurutto-tei Sakurazaka

湯るっと邸 桜坂

Sakurazaka publishes no tattoo rule, and it has no shared bath: every one of its eleven cottages is rented whole by the hour, with its own open-air and indoor bath, so a tattooed bather never shares the water.

Best for: a couple or small family who want a cottage with an open-air tub, a living room and an hour or more to themselves

Eleven cottages, each for two adults and two children: nine at ¥2,500 an hour and two special cottages at ¥3,500 an hour, with extensions at ¥1,000 per 30 minutes. Buy a ticket at the machine beside reception. Open noon to 10 p.m. (last entry) on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays; closed Tuesdays. Toothbrushes and razors ¥100, towels ¥200. Summer-only pool cottages are booked online. Parking for 42 cars.

Ryokan Iroha

旅館 いろは

Iroha publishes no tattoo rule. Three of its rooms have a private open-air rock bath, so a tattooed guest who books one of them can bathe in private and stay out of the shared baths.

Best for: travelers who want a rock bath on their own room's garden and dinner served in the room

Three of twelve rooms have a private open-air bath; book the room type with the open-air bath. The shared baths are an indoor bath of three tubs at high, medium and low temperature with a jet bath, and men’s and women’s open-air rock baths (rebuilt from a single mixed bath in March 2013). Day visitors 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (reception to 9 p.m.), ¥400 adults and ¥200 elementary-school children. The inn takes bookings by phone on its own site. Breakfast 7 to 8:30 a.m. and dinner 5:30 to 8 p.m., both in the room.

Hanare Furusato Ryokan Otsukien

離れふるさと 旅館大月苑

Otsukien publishes no tattoo rule. Every one of its nine rooms has its own bath filled from the inn's well: a semi-open-air tub in each of the six detached cottages and an indoor tub in the three new-wing rooms. A tattooed guest can bathe in private and skip the shared bath.

Best for: a couple or small family who want a detached cottage with a half-indoor, half-open-air spring tub open all night

Six detached cottages (Kunugi, Kiju, Keyaki, Ichii, Kusunoki, Yuzuriha) of two connected Japanese rooms, each with its own entrance and a semi-open-air bath usable 24 hours, for one to four guests. Three new-wing rooms (2018) for two guests each, Tachibana, Hanamizuki and the special room Nishikigi, have an indoor bath looking onto a private garden. The shared baths are a men’s and a women’s indoor bath, open from check-in to 10:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 a.m.; only these may take added water in summer. No children under 10. No credit cards. No pickup. Check-in 3:30 p.m. (last 8 p.m.; call if arriving after 5:30 p.m.), check-out 11 a.m. Bathing tax ¥150. Free parking.