Sainokawara Rotenburo
西の河原露天風呂
Does Sainokawara Rotenburo allow tattoos? Yes!
Five hundred square meters of open-air bath at the top of a valley where the hot water comes out of the ground in the open and runs down through the park to get here. There is no indoor bath at all: you undress in a building and walk out into the weather, which in February means steam, snow and rock.
No restriction, and nothing to cover. The company that runs Kusatsu’s three public baths answers this in its own FAQ: it does not refuse admission or bathing to people with tattoos, and asks only that everyone keep to bathing manners.
What happens when you arrive
Check in and go to the bath: no seal to buy, no measuring, nothing to declare.
How we know
Confirmed Confirmed from official site (the operator's own FAQ, covering all three baths)
Read on: onsen-kusatsu.com/sainokawara/faq/
三湯（大滝乃湯、御座之湯、西の河原露天風呂）では、刺青（タトゥー）のある方の入館、入浴を特にお断りはしておりません。訪日外国人旅行者も含めまして、多種多様な文化的背景を受け入れると共に、どなたでもマナー遵守の上で草津温泉を楽しんでいただきたいと思っております。
The operator’s own wording on that page. Nothing here needs showing at a desk — but if anyone does ask, this settles it without either of you needing the other’s language.
Best for: The one to do in snow — it is outdoors and nothing else
07:00–20:00 from 1 April to 30 November, 09:00–20:00 the rest of the year; last admission 19:30. Adults 800 yen, children 400 yen.
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