Hotel Shirakawa Yunokura
ほてる白河 湯の蔵
Does Hotel Shirakawa Yunokura allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tattoos are turned away from the big bath here, so the point is the two private open-air baths, Kofu and Niwakaze, 50 minutes for ¥3,300, each with its own washing area.
The hotel’s bath page says guests with tattoos, fashion tattoos included, cannot use the large bath. The answer is the two private open-air baths, Kofu-no-yu and Niwakaze-no-yu, ¥3,300 for 50 minutes, each with its own changing and washing area. Sign up at the front desk at check-in; the hotel takes no phone bookings for them.
The bath
The hotel has drawn its own source since it opened in the early Showa years: Hagoromo-no-yu, an alkaline simple spring that is colorless, odorless and tasteless. The hotel says it is kind to the skin and slow to let you chill, and lists it for muscle pain, fatigue, back pain, neuralgia and joint pain.
The gorge bath hall faces the Kinugawa. Hinoki-yu is the wooden indoor bath, lit softly at night. Ishi-yu is the stone bath, a tub 2.5 meters by 9.5 meters behind glass onto the gorge. The men's open-air bath looks down on the river; the women's is set with natural rock on the hill side. A sauna with a small window on the river runs 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., with no cold plunge. The hotel does not say whether the sides swap. Day visitors are admitted 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., last entry 7 p.m., for 90 minutes at ¥1,000 (children ¥500); a bath towel rents for ¥300 and a hand towel sells for ¥200.
The two private open-air baths are semi-open-air, each with its own changing room and washing area. Niwakaze-no-yu is a stone tub set in a garden of placed rocks. Kofu-no-yu is a plain wooden tub that the hotel says is popular with women and best at night. Each costs ¥3,300 for 50 minutes. The hotel takes no phone bookings for them: sign up at the front desk when you check in. Day visitors can add one for the same ¥3,300.
The hotel
Hotel Shirakawa Co. has run an inn on this site since 1946 and has been a government-registered international tourist hotel since 1961. The 50 rooms are in two wings: the main building of 1977, with 10-mat gorge-view rooms with a sunken hearth and veranda, and the Yukemuri wing of 1996, with 10-mat rooms where the hotel says you can hear the river. Both were renovated in July 2024. Dinner is a kaiseki course in private dining rooms on two floors, with Nikko pork, Kirifuri Kogen beef, yuba (tofu skin) and, in season, ayu. Check-in is 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Sign up for a private bath at check-in, the desk takes no phone bookings, so arrive early.
- Free coffee and tea on the third floor, at the Yukemuri-chaya cafe, 7 to 10 p.m. and 8 to 10 a.m.
- Towels, yukata (a light cotton robe) and shampoo are in the room, day bathers rent a bath towel for ¥300.
- Massage chairs and cold water in the rest room by the baths, free to guests.
Getting there
Take the Tobu limited express (Kinu, Spacia or Revaty Kinugawa) from Asakusa to Kinugawa-Onsen Station, about 115 minutes on the Spacia by the hotel's count; JR also runs a direct express from Shinjuku in about 2 hours. From the station the hotel is a 15-minute walk. The dial bus leaves the station as trains arrive; tell the driver you are going to Hotel Shirakawa Yunokura. By car, leave the Nikko-Utsunomiya toll road at Imaichi IC, about 20 minutes away; parking for 40 cars.
Kinugawa-Onsen STN · Tobu Kinugawa line (Spacia limited express from Asakusa, about 115 minutes)
15 minutes.
Dial bus from the station timed to the trains; name the hotel when you board.
Where it is
Kinugawa-Onsen STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Worth it if you’re also traveling around Tokyo on JR.
- Nikko Pass All Area ¥8,000 · 4 days Worth it if you’re coming from Asakusa. It covers the Tobu line from Asakusa and back, and Tobu trains and buses around Kinugawa and Nikko.
- Nikko classic day tour Toshogu Shrine, the Irohazaka hairpins, Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls, from Tokyo.
- 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
Skip the shared baths and reserve a private bath at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel's own bath page, shirakawa-yunokura.com/spa.html)
入れ墨、ファッションタトゥーの方は大浴場をご利用いただけませんのでご了承下さい。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: a river-gorge ryokan that turns tattoos away from the big bath but sells a 50-minute private open-air bath with its own washing area
The refusal names the large bath (大浴場); the two private open-air baths are the published alternative. Both are semi-open-air with a dedicated changing room and washing area: Kofu-no-yu, a plain wooden tub, and Niwakaze-no-yu, a stone tub in a rock garden. ¥3,300 per 50-minute session, booked at check-in only, no phone reservations (お電話でのご予約は承っておりません). Whether the refusal also covers the private baths is not stated. Day use 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (last entry 7 p.m.), 90 minutes, ¥1,000 adults and ¥500 children; a private bath can be added for ¥3,300. Sauna 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., no cold plunge. Large-bath hours are not published.
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.