Mandara-Yu
まんだら湯
Does Mandara-Yu allow tattoos? Yes!
A gabled building in the karahafu style, up the slope toward Onsenji, with an open-air bath facing the wooded hill behind.
No restrictions. Tattoos of any shape and size, nothing to cover.
The bath
This is the bath Kinosaki counts as its first. The monk Dochi Shonin is said to have chanted the Hachimandara sutra for a thousand days until the spring came up, and the temple he founded, Onsenji, is higher up the same slope; the bath’s name comes from that sutra.
Indoors, the bath is a rectangular tub set in dark polished granite, with a round stone spout in one corner and pale wood above walls of the same granite. Outside there are two small ceramic tubs, one lacquer red and one deep green, standing on a pale wooden deck with steel handrails, a reed blind overhead and a wall of dark rock behind the slatted fence. The water is the town’s shared salty spring.
Mandara-yu opens only in the afternoon and evening, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., with the door closing to new bathers at 10:30 p.m.; Wednesday is its day off. Entry is ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for children. If you plan to visit more than one bathhouse, the ¥1,500 Yumepa day pass is sold here too.
Getting there
Kinosaki-Onsen STN · JR San’in line
At the top of town, up the slope toward Onsenji.
From Osaka, the Kounotori limited express reaches Kinosaki-Onsen in about 2 hours 40 minutes; the Kinosaki runs from Kyoto and the Hamakaze from Sannomiya and Himeji. All seven bathhouses are within walking distance of each other.
Where it is
Kinosaki-Onsen STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Kansai Wide Area Pass ¥12,000 · 5 days Worth it if you’re riding the Kounotori to Kinosaki and back.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
The town’s policy, not the building’s
This is one of Kinosaki’s public bathhouses, and the rule belongs to the town rather than to this particular building. How Kinosaki’s Yumepa system works →
What happens when you arrive
Buy a ticket at the window, or show your Yumepa, and go in. There’s nothing to cover.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (Toyooka City / Kinosaki tourism association, English)
Read on: visitkinosaki.com/plan/visitor-info/guides/tattoos-in-kinosaki-onsen/
All seven public hot springs in Kinosaki Onsen allow tattoos of all sizes, with no need to cover them up
The operator’s own wording. Show it if anyone asks.
Best for: bathers who want an open-air bath facing the wooded hill
The map shows every hotel close by. We haven’t checked their tattoo rules: sleep there, bathe here. Search Booking.com instead
Booking through this link costs you nothing extra and earns us a small commission, which keeps this guide free and up to date for our tattoo community. Thanks for your support.
For current hours and prices, see the official website.