Kyoto was Japan’s capital for more than a thousand years, from 794 until 1868, and is still the city of its temples, gardens and geisha districts. It has never been a hot spring town.
Kyoto is the hardest of the big three. Seven of eleven published bathhouse policies here ban cover seals by name, so the usual workaround is closed off in writing. What is left is mostly hotel baths, and one hot spring in the northern hills that simply says yes. The page reaches as far as Kameoka and Shiga, because that’s where the Route Inns are.
Tattoos are welcome in every bath. Nothing to cover, nothing to book. What this means
カンデオホテルズ京都烏丸六角
No restrictions since May 24, 2023: abolished, not covered.
2023/5/24より当ホテルのスカイスパではボディアート・タトゥー等による受入制限を撤廃いたします。
Best for: travelers who want a top-floor open-air bath in the middle of the city
くらま温泉
Nothing to cover. The facility’s own site says so plainly.
刺青やタトゥーがあるお客様もご利用いただけます。ただし、暴力団や反社会勢力に属する方のご利用はご遠慮いただいております。
Best for: day-trippers who want an open-air bath in the cedar forest north of the city
三井ガーデンホテル京都河原町浄教寺
Nothing to cover. The bath page says the hotel has lifted its restriction on body art and tattoos, part of the Mitsui Garden change of March 1, 2026.
当ホテルではボディアート・タトゥ等の受入制限を撤廃しております。
Best for: travelers who want Kawaramachi shopping and a temple at the front door
三井ガーデンホテル京都四条
Nothing to cover. The bath page says the hotel has lifted its restriction on body art and tattoos, part of the Mitsui Garden change of March 1, 2026.
当ホテルではボディアート・タトゥ等の受入制限を撤廃しております。
Best for: travelers who want central Kyoto with nothing to think about at the bath door
三井ガーデンホテル京都新町 別邸
Nothing to cover. The bath page says the hotel has lifted its restriction on body art and tattoos, part of the Mitsui Garden change of March 1, 2026.
当ホテルではボディアート・タトゥ等の受入制限を撤廃しております。
Best for: travelers who want a machiya-style stay a short walk from Shijo
三井ガーデンホテル京都三条プレミア
A bath of about 90 square meters (970 square feet) in the basement: a cave-like room the hotel sets with a garden theme. Guests only.
Best for: couples who want a garden-themed basement bath and a private bath to book
Smaller tattoos accepted when fully covered by a waterproof patch. What this means
ドーミーインPREMIUM京都駅前
Tattoos are allowed if up to two cover seals hide them completely. The chain's seals come in three sizes, 8.5 cm × 10.5 cm (3.3 × 4.1 in), 10 cm × 14 cm (3.9 × 5.5 in) and 11.8 cm × 17.2 cm (4.6 × 6.8 in). Stock is limited, so ask at the front desk when you check in. This hotel's own bath page says tattooed guests are refused and doesn't mention the seals, so confirm with the hotel before counting on one.
原則お断りしております。施設により隠し用のシールをご用意しています。シールで隠せる大きさであればご入浴いただけます。【タトゥーシール サイズ】タトゥーシールは原則2枚までにて、ご案内しております。枚数に限りがございますので、御用意できない場合もございます。小：85㎜×105㎜ 中：100㎜×140㎜ 大：118㎜×172㎜
Best for: rail travelers a few minutes from the Shinkansen
ホテルルートイン彦根
Tattoos are allowed if a cover seal hides them completely. The group names no seal size and doesn’t say the hotel sells seals, so bring your own.
入れ墨(タトゥー)のある方のご入浴はお断りしております。ただし、カバーシールを用いて入れ墨(タトゥー)が完全に覆えている場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます。
Best for: travelers visiting Hikone Castle and the east shore of Lake Biwa
ホテルルートイン草津栗東
Tattoos are allowed if a cover seal hides them completely. The group names no seal size and doesn’t say the hotel sells seals, so bring your own.
入れ墨(タトゥー)のある方のご入浴はお断りしております。ただし、カバーシールを用いて入れ墨(タトゥー)が完全に覆えている場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます。
Best for: drivers who want a large bath at the Ritto interchange
ホテルルートイン京都亀岡駅前
Tattoos are allowed if a cover seal hides them completely. The group names no seal size and doesn’t say the hotel sells seals, so bring your own.
入れ墨(タトゥー)のある方のご入浴はお断りしております。ただし、カバーシールを用いて入れ墨(タトゥー)が完全に覆えている場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます。
Best for: travelers taking the Hozugawa river boat, close to central Kyoto
ホテルルートイン京都久御山
Tattoos are allowed if a cover seal hides them completely. The group names no seal size and doesn’t say the hotel sells seals, so bring your own.
入れ墨(タトゥー)のある方のご入浴はお断りしております。ただし、カバーシールを用いて入れ墨(タトゥー)が完全に覆えている場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます。
Best for: drivers heading for Uji and the southern temples
御宿 野乃 京都七条
Tattoos are allowed if up to two cover seals hide them completely. The chain's seals come in three sizes, 8.5 cm × 10.5 cm (3.3 × 4.1 in), 10 cm × 14 cm (3.9 × 5.5 in) and 11.8 cm × 17.2 cm (4.6 × 6.8 in). Stock is limited, so ask at the front desk when you check in. This hotel's own bath page names a single size, 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in).
原則お断りしております。施設により隠し用のシールをご用意しています。シールで隠せる大きさであればご入浴いただけます。【タトゥーシール サイズ】タトゥーシールは原則2枚までにて、ご案内しております。枚数に限りがございますので、御用意できない場合もございます。小：85㎜×105㎜ 中：100㎜×140㎜ 大：118㎜×172㎜
Best for: travelers who want tatami mats underfoot from the front door
里湯昔話 雄山荘
The large bath is closed to tattooed guests, and then the ryokan writes an exception in its own FAQ: out of respect for other countries’ cultures, an overseas guest may buy a cover seal at the ryokan’s shop and bathe if it hides the work. Read the condition strictly. It has to be hidden, so this is an answer for a small piece and not for a sleeve. For anything larger, book a room with an open-air bath of its own.
刺青（入れ墨）・タトゥーをされている方のご利用・ご入場はお断りしております。但し、海外のお客様に関しましてはお国の文化も尊重し、当館売店にて販売をしております『タトゥーシール』を貼っていただきタトゥーが隠れるのであれば特例としてＯＫとさせていただいております。
Best for: couples who want Lake Biwa below the bath, with a seal sold at the desk
ベッセルホテルカンパーナ京都五条
Admitted if the tattoo can be hidden under two cover seals of 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in), handed out at the front desk.
タトゥー・刺青（フロントでお渡ししている8cm×10cmカバーシール2枚を貼って隠せる場合のみ可）を入れている方及び酒気を帯びている方のご入浴は、お断りしております。
Best for: solo stays near Kyoto Station with one small tattoo
Tattoos are fine in a private onsen, whether a bath you reserve or one in your room. The communal baths are restricted, or the policy is unconfirmed. What this means
京都 湯の花温泉 すみや亀峰菴
A bath you book by the slot and take by yourself: the reservable open-air bath, which the ryokan calls the hidden bath in the hills, is two or three minutes up a gravel path from the guest wing, and costs ¥3,000 plus tax for forty-five minutes at one of ten set times through the day. Several rooms have an open-air bath of their own instead. Nothing to cover either way.
Best for: couples who want a bath nobody else is in, in the hills behind Kameoka
Booking through this link 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.
Because Kyoto states its rules more firmly than Tokyo does. Seven of the eleven published bathhouse policies surveyed here ban stick-on tattoos, body paint or cover seals by name, not just tattoos. That closes the route that works elsewhere. The hotels are the way in, and one hot spring, Kurama Onsen, is open to everyone without conditions.
Kurama Onsen, thirty minutes north of the city on the Eizan line. Its own site says guests with tattoos may use the baths, with no covering and no size limit. It’s an open-air bath in the cedar forest, and the one day-use bath in Kyoto that says so.
Because there’s no Route Inn in Kyoto city, and Route Inn names no seal size: any seal that hides the tattoo completely will do, against the two 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in) seals Vessel hands out in the city. The nearest are Kameoka, 19 minutes on the Sagano line rapid, and Ritto in Shiga, 25 minutes on the Biwako line rapid. Anything further is a day out rather than a detour, so it’s left off.
Often, but they sell nothing online and cannot be booked, so we cannot tell you reliably what any given one will do on the day. They are left out for that reason, not because they are unwelcoming.
Everything below is live.
