Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei
西村屋ホテル招月庭
Does Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei allow tattoos? Yes!
The Nishimuraya’s newer house, set in a 50,000-tsubo forest garden up the valley: a large bath, an open-air bath, a cold bath and a dry sauna on each side, and rooms with an open-air bath of their own.
The town’s public bathhouses take any tattoo with nothing to cover, and staying here gets you in free. The ryokan publishes no rule for its own baths, so ask when you book if you want to use them too.
The bath
Gekka-no-yu, the main bath hall, sets its open-air baths among the trees of the forest garden. The hotel says the women’s side carries the scent of hinoki cypress, and that from the men’s indoor bath you see the green of the open-air bath through the glass. The water is Kinosaki’s piped salty spring. It is open 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and noon to 12:30 a.m., with barley tea and orange juice set out after the bath.
The Forest Private Spa is three separate suites, each with an open-air spring bath, a stone sauna bed and a sitting room. Gingetsu is Japanese and looks over the garden; Fu-Ro is Balinese, under a lit bamboo ceiling; Rinsen is Shanghai-retro, its walls laid with hundred-year-old bricks. A booking is ¥8,800 for 70 minutes for up to four people (¥1,100 each for a fifth or sixth), for staying guests only, with bath towels, bedrock-bath wear, water and sparkling wine included.
Rooms with an open-air bath come with either a rock tub or a ceramic one. The large bath and the private spa run on the spring.
The hotel
Two wings: Niwa-no-to faces the forest garden and Tsuki-no-to the Otani river, with western rooms on Tsuki-no-to’s third and fourth floors. Keigetsu is the one special room with an open-air bath. A garden pool opens in July and August, free to guests, and there is a kennel house for dogs. The fitness room is free to guests but, by its posted rule, doesn’t admit anyone with tattoos.
Good to know
- In-room baths are filled with heated tap water, not hot-spring water — Kinosaki conserves its spring. The private spa suites run on the spring.
Getting there
Kinosaki-Onsen STN · JR San’in line
About 25 minutes on foot.
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. The ryokan association’s free bus meets limited expresses arriving between noon and 6 p.m.; seats are limited, so tell the hotel your arrival time. The hotel’s own shuttle back to town runs every half hour, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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.
Why a ryokan appears under “nothing to cover”
Staying here is what makes the public bathhouses free: ryokan in Kinosaki normally hand a yumepa pass to guests at check-in. How Kinosaki’s Yumepa system works →
What happens when you arrive
Pick up your Yumepa at check-in and walk to any of the public bathhouses; there’s nothing to cover there. Ask before using the ryokan’s own baths.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (town policy for the sotoyu); the hotel publishes no rule for its own baths
Best for: families who want more space and grounds than the old town allows
Book your stay
- BBooking.comCheck availability
- AAgodaCheck availability
- EExpediaCheck availability
- HHotels.comCheck availability
Booking through these links 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.