TAOYA Kawaji
TAOYA川治
Does TAOYA Kawaji allow tattoos? Yes, covered
TAOYA Kawaji lights its riverside open-air bath with gourd lanterns, and lets small tattoos in under the group’s paid seals.
Kawaji Onsen, not Kinugawa proper. TAOYA Kawaji follows the Ooedo group rule: its large baths accept tattoos only under the hotel’s own paid seals, two at most per the group’s bath terms. Its onsen page lists no private bath, so larger tattoos have nowhere to go here.
Show this at the front desk
※入れ墨・タトゥーのある方は大浴場をご利用いただけません。ただし、当館指定のカバーシール（有料）を貼って、入れ墨、タトゥーが完全に覆える場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
Kawaji's water is a simple spring, weakly alkaline, low-tension and hot, which the hotel says it dilutes, heats and recirculates. It leans on the old saying that Kawaji is for wounds and Kinugawa for burns, and lists nerve complaints, sleeplessness and low mood as its uses. The two halls are fixed by sex, not swapped. The open-air baths are rock pools among boulders on the bank of the Ojika river, under roofs hung with gourd-shaped lights that come on after dark; a space beside them is set aside for cooling off after the sauna. The indoor halls have big windows onto the same open-air baths and the trees, snow in winter and leaves in autumn. Each side has a sauna and a cold bath, and the powder rooms have Dyson dryers and ReFa and Mirable shower heads. Hours are 15:00 to 24:00 and 5:00 to 10:00, saunas from 7:00 in the morning, except when the baths are drained for cleaning. A footbath looks down on the river. The onsen page lists no private bath and the hotel runs no day bathing.
The hotel
An Ooedo Onsen Monogatari hotel on the TAOYA tier, which means all-inclusive: drinks in the lounge and at dinner, an afternoon tea of fresh sweets from 14:00, a night tea with local sake and wine from 17:00, a late-night snack, a bar lounge called Bansei with the hotel's own whisky and massage chairs are all in the price. The lounge has a fireplace and gourd lamps, and there is a Japanese garden and a courtyard. Meals are buffets with yuba (tofu skin) and Tochigi produce. Samue are provided in place of yukata (a light cotton robe). Check-in 15:00, check-out 11:00.
Good to know
- No private bath here, which the onsen page makes plain by listing only the open-air and indoor halls.
- A ¥100 shuttle from Kinugawa-Onsen Station, about 20 minutes, booked by 18:00 the day before; same-day requests are refused.
- All-inclusive means the bar too: the Bansei lounge, afternoon and night teas and the late snack are in the room rate.
- Kawaji-Yumoto Station is five minutes away by car and the Revaty Aizu 119 runs there direct from Asakusa.
Getting there
Take the Tobu Revaty Aizu 119 from Asakusa straight through to Kawaji-Yumoto Station on the Yagan line, then about 5 minutes by car. Or ride any Kinugawa express to Kinugawa-Onsen Station and take the hotel shuttle, about 20 minutes, ¥100 each way, booked by 18:00 the day before. The Nikko Kotsu bus toward Yunishigawa from Kinugawa-Onsen Station reaches the Kawaji Onsen stop in about 20 minutes, then 1 minute on foot. Free parking for about 30 cars.
Kawaji-Yumoto STN · Yagan Railway (Revaty Aizu 119 direct from Asakusa); Tobu Kinugawa line to Kinugawa-Onsen for the shuttle
Not walkable from Kawaji-Yumoto; about 5 minutes by car. Bus stop Kawaji Onsen is 1 minute on foot.
Hotel shuttle from Kinugawa-Onsen Station, about 20 minutes, ¥100, booked by 18:00 the day before.
Where it is
Kawaji-Yumoto STN
- Tobu Kinugawa line 2 hr
- Tobu Kinugawa line 20 min
- 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
Bring your own seals and cover the tattoo completely before you go in. The hotel doesn't specify a size, so cover everything.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel’s onsen page, and the Ooedo group’s bath terms for the two-seal limit)
Best for: A traveler with a small tattoo who wants the quieter Kawaji valley instead of the Kinugawa strip
Kawaji Onsen, Nikko: list separately from Kinugawa. Spring: simple, weakly alkaline, diluted, heated and recirculated per the operator. Baths 15:00 to 24:00 and 5:00 to 10:00. Gourd-shaped lights hang over the open-air bath; gourds are the plant behind Tochigi’s kanpyo.
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