Wakatake no Sho
若竹の庄
Does Wakatake no Sho allow tattoos? In a private bath
Wakatake no Sho’s private baths open their floor-length windows onto the bamboo, which is as close to open air as it gets.
Wakatake no Sho publishes nothing about tattoos. Its two private baths, on the first floor of the Sasane annex, have floor-to-ceiling windows that open to make them half open-air, and they are booked at check-in: 45 minutes for 3,300 yen, 16:00 to 23:00.
What the hotel says about its baths
ご家族やお仲間同士のコミュニケーションにゆったりとご入浴いただける貸切風呂もございます。
The operator’s own wording.
The bath
The water is an alkaline simple spring, which the inn says settles smoothly on the skin, and it lists neuralgia, joint pain, tiredness, frozen shoulder, muscle pain, stomach complaints, sprains, piles and paralysis among its uses. The open-air bath is the inn's main pitch: a wide tub where, it says, you hear the river and the seasons, from thaw in spring to snowfall in winter. There is an indoor bath as well. Both are open 5:00 to 10:00 and 15:30 to 24:00. No day bathing is offered and the inn says nothing about the sides swapping.
The private bath has windows that run to the floor; open them and the inn calls it a half-open-air bath. Its FAQ counts two private baths of different kinds, on the first floor of the Bettei Sasane annex. They cost ¥3,300 for 45 minutes, 16:00 to 23:00, and are booked at check-in; the inn takes no advance bookings for them. The rooms in the main building have no onsen tub.
The hotel
A ryokan at the upstream end of the strip, built on the idea of a village headman's hospitality: you enter through a nagaya-mon gate past a courtyard of running water and young bamboo. Rooms are 12.5-mat Japanese rooms for up to five, two-room Japanese rooms of 10 and 4.5 mats, a top-floor corner Japanese-Western room with a massage chair and a Western corner room, both step-free. Dinner and breakfast are the Chikurin kaiseki, a monthly menu served in private rooms of the third-floor ryotei (a traditional high-end restaurant) street, which is fitted out like an old kitchen with a well and hearth. There is an aroma lymph treatment room in the annex. Parking for 40 cars is free.
Good to know
- Free pickup from Kinugawa-Koen Station, booked ahead once you know your train; the inn meets arrivals from 14:39.
- Two private baths, not one, both in the Sasane annex and both booked at check-in.
- Meals in a private room on the third floor, or in your room for two on some dates at the inn's choice.
- No day bathing, so the open-air bath is for house guests only.
Getting there
Take a Tobu limited express from Asakusa toward Kinugawa; the inn puts the Spacia at about 2 hours and a car at about 2 and a half hours from the Tokyo area. Get off at Kinugawa-Koen Station, one stop past Kinugawa-Onsen. The inn runs a free shuttle between that station and its door, pickups from 14:39, which must be booked in advance; call once you know your arrival time. By car there is free parking for 40.
Kinugawa-Koen STN · Tobu Kinugawa line (limited expresses from Asakusa)
Not stated by the inn; it meets trains at the station.
Free pickup from Kinugawa-Koen Station, booked ahead.
Where it is
Kinugawa-Koen 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
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath at the front desk when you check in.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the onsen page)
Best for: A quieter stay at the Kinugawa-Koen end with one private soak booked on arrival
Shares its site and address with the Bettei Sasane annex, whose rooms all have their own tubs (Sasane itself was not bookable on Booking.com or Agoda on the dates tried). Private baths: 「※ご希望のお客様はチェックイン時にご予約ください。」 Shared baths 5:00 to 10:00 and 15:30 to 24:00. Free pickup from Kinugawa-Koen Station on prior booking, from 14:39; the inn gives no walking time.
Book your stay
- 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.