Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Shinmachi Bettei
三井ガーデンホテル京都新町 別邸
Does Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Shinmachi Bettei allow tattoos? Yes!
A ground-floor bath tiled in modern colors and filled with an artificial carbonated spring rather than hot-spring water, with greenery outside the window.
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.
The bath
Shinmachi-dori keeps much of its old machiya (a traditional townhouse) character, and the hotel pitches the bath as somewhere quiet to come back to after the busy streets. The room itself is modern: walls in dark striped tile, a ceiling of black slats, and a long tub edged in pale stone under a wide window, with young trees lit against a screen outside. There is no open-air bath and no sauna on the page, and the water isn’t hot-spring water.
The women’s side has a large powder corner with a long upholstered bench and cushions covered in Nishijin weave. Both sides stock shampoo, conditioner, body soap, an ion hair dryer, cotton swabs, basic skin care, a water server and a scale.
Free to guests, 3 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next day. Bring towels from your room; the room nightwear and slippers are fine to wear down. The hotel asks guests to make space for one another when it is busy.
The hotel
The hotel calls itself a machiya-style house, entered through a noren (a split cloth curtain). Its restaurant, Sanga Ono Kyoto Shinmachi Bettei, takes its theme from the Gion Matsuri float neighborhoods around Shinmachi and serves a hassun tray with a half buffet at breakfast, ¥2,970 for adults. Next to it, Sanga Kura Market sells Kyoto crafts, local sake and a house coffee blend. Check-out is at noon. There is no parking.
Getting there
Shijo STN · Karasuma subway line
About 7 minutes from exit 22 or 26.
Kyoto Station is on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Take the Karasuma subway line to Shijo and leave by the north gate; exit 26 has an escalator. Hankyu Karasuma Station, west gate, is the same 7 minutes.
Where it is
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Kansai Wide Area Pass ¥12,000 · 5 days Worth it if you’re riding out to Kinosaki or Shirahama and back.
- Kyoto and Nara in a day The Arashiyama scenic railway, Fushimi Inari’s thousand gates and the deer of Nara Park, from Osaka or Kyoto.
- Funaoka Onsen bathhouse visit with a guide A guide takes you into Funaoka Onsen, Kyoto’s 1920s bathhouse, and the cafe in a former bathhouse nearby. Klook lists it as tattoo-friendly, and admission is included.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
Part of a group-wide policy change
This is one of 24 bath-equipped properties run by Mitsui Fudosan Hotel Management, which abolished its tattoo rule across all of them on March 1, 2026. The whole picture on Mitsui Garden, and every Mitsui Garden listing on this site →
What happens when you arrive
Check in and go to the bath. There's no seal to buy and nothing to mention at the front desk.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (property bath page read directly)
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。
The operator’s own wording. Show it if anyone asks.
Best for: travelers who want a machiya-style stay a short walk from Shijo
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