Ryokan Kanshichiyu
旅館 勘七湯
Does Ryokan Kanshichiyu allow tattoos? In a private bath
The small bath here, known locally as the red plum water, can be held for half an hour by anyone who borrows a wooden sign from the front desk, and the inn is honest that the sign is all you get: the door has no bolt on the inside.
Nothing on Kanshichiyu’s site mentions tattoos, and its large bath runs around the clock, which means anyone might walk in. The small bath is the answer, and the inn explains exactly how: when nobody is in it, anyone may take it privately for free, borrowing a wooden board from the desk that reads occupied and standing it at the door. Read the inn’s own caveat before relying on it, because the door does not lock.
Show this at the front desk
「小浴室（薬湯・不老泉）」は貸切でご利用いただくこともできます。入浴中のお客様がいない時はどなたでも無料で貸切りができます。※「貸切中」と書かれたボードをフロントで借りて入口に立てるでけで、中から施錠することはできません。※貸切り時間はおおよそ３０分程度とさせて頂いております。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
Where it is
Sendai STN
Furukawa STN change to JR Rikuu East line · 46 min
Tohoku Shinkansen 12 min
Yamagata STN
Morioka STN
Fukushima STN
Hotel locationNaruko-Onsen STN
What happens when you arrive
Skip the shared baths and reserve the private one the way this page describes. Once the door is closed, the bath is yours.
How we know
Confirmed from official site, bath structure rather than a tattoo policy (the 「小浴室（薬湯・不老泉）」の貸切について block on the inn’s 温泉 page)
Read on: kansiti.com/onsen/
Best for: A cheap night in the old cure quarter with a bath you can hold for half an hour at a time
Thirty minutes is the rough limit and the board is the only lock, so this is privacy by agreement rather than by bolt. At New Year and in Golden Week the inn may decline private use altogether, though it says it will still discuss it with guests who have a disability, elderly guests and families with infants. The large bath is free-flowing and open 24 hours. Two waters, a pure bicarbonate spring at pH 6.6 and a salt and Glauber’s-salt bicarbonate spring at pH 7.4. Day bathing is 500 yen, 08:00 to 20:00. The house dates itself to 1784 and is the oldest in Higashi-Naruko.
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