Asama Onsen 1-chome, at the Naka-Asama crossing, one minute from the Hot Plaza Asama-mae bus stop Hotel-style ryokan (29 rooms, Hoshino Resorts; guests-only large baths, and junior suites with their own open-air spring bath) ★★★★★

Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto

星野リゾート界松本

Does Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto allow tattoos? Yes!

Nothing to cover

KAI Matsumoto reopened in August 2026 after a full renovation, a 29-room Hoshino inn in Asama Onsen built around music, Nagano wine and a bathhouse with thirteen ways to bathe.

Hoshino Resorts says it does not restrict guests with tattoos, and KAI Matsumoto's own bath listing points to that statement, so no cover is asked for in the large baths. The company keeps the right to turn a guest away from the large bath if it judges that other guests may feel afraid. The baths are for staying guests only, and the junior suites have their own open-air spring bath on a private terrace.

Illustration of Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto in Asama Onsen 1-chome, at the Naka-Asama crossing, one minute from the Hot Plaza Asama-mae bus stop

The bath

Asama Onsen is an alkaline simple spring, and the hotel describes the water as smooth and soft on the skin. It lists the spring for neuralgia, stomach and bowel trouble, skin complaints, rheumatism, fatigue and sensitivity to cold. Hoshino notes that the lords of Matsumoto Castle once kept a bathhouse of their own in this town.

The bathhouse is built for moving from one kind of bath to the next. The hotel counts eight kinds done thirteen ways: indoor baths, an open-air bath in the garden, a sauna, a mist bath, a lying-down bath in shallow water, a cypress sawdust bath, and what it calls a radiant bath, a row of reclining seats warmed by spring water running a little above body temperature. The open-air bath sits under a timber roof among maples and stone walls. Only staying guests may use the baths, and the two sides swap between men and women. A lounge by the baths serves drinks after bathing.

The junior suites have a private terrace and a small garden with an open-air bath fed by the spring, so a guest can bathe there without going to the large bath at all.

The hotel

KAI is Hoshino Resorts' hot spring inn brand, and this one reopened on August 4, 2026 after a full renovation. It has 29 rooms for one to three guests, including the brand's local-theme rooms, here called Gaku-no-ma, each with a record player. Dinner is Italian cooking built on Nagano produce and paired with Nagano wine. Musicians play in the lobby every evening, a nod to Matsumoto's standing as a music city. Check-in is from 2:30 p.m. and check-out is 11 a.m. The whole building is non-smoking.

Good to know

Guests only. The large baths take no day visitors, and the men's and women's sides swap.
A lobby concert every evening, with Nagano wine by the glass.
Junior suites have their own open-air bath, spring-fed, on a private terrace with a garden.
No shuttle. The city bus stops one minute from the door, and parking is free.

Getting there

From Shinjuku the Azusa limited express reaches Matsumoto Station in about 150 minutes, by the hotel's count. From stand 23 at the station's Oshiro exit plaza, take the Asama line bus bound for Asama Onsen and get off at Hot Plaza Asama-mae; the hotel is one minute on foot. A taxi from the station takes about 20 minutes. There is no shuttle. From Nagoya the Shinano limited express takes about 120 minutes to Matsumoto.

Matsumoto STN · JR Chuo Line (Azusa limited express)
Not walkable from the station; 1 minute from the Hot Plaza Asama-mae bus stop.

Asama line bus from stand 23 at the Oshiro exit plaza to Hot Plaza Asama-mae; taxi about 20 minutes; no shuttle.

Where it is

Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the Azusa, JR’s limited express from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, with a reserved seat.
Miso factory tour and lunch in Matsumoto A guided half day at Ishii Miso, a miso maker more than 150 years old, with lunch.
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

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 (the Hoshino Resorts tattoo statement, which KAI Matsumoto's bath listing links under its terms of use; the statement reserves a refusal case by case)

私たちは、お客様の文化背景や価値観を尊重し、刺青・タトゥーをされているお客様の利用を制限しておりません。しかし、すべてのお客様に快適にお過ごしいただけるよう、他のお客様が恐怖心を抱く可能性があると私たちが判断した場合に、大浴場のご利用をお断りすることがあります。

The operator’s own wording. Show it if anyone asks.

Best for: a renovated Hoshino inn where the large baths need no cover seal, with a junior suite tub as the fallback

Reopened on August 4, 2026 after a full renovation. The large baths are for staying guests only and the men's and women's sides swap. The hotel counts eight kinds of bathing done thirteen ways, among them an open-air bath on the garden, a radiant bath of warm reclining seats, a cypress sawdust bath, a lying-down bath, a sauna and a mist bath. Junior suites have a private terrace and garden with an open-air hot spring bath. No station shuttle; parking is free.

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