Matsukawaya Nasu Kogen Hotel
松川屋那須高原ホテル
Does Matsukawaya Nasu Kogen Hotel allow tattoos? In a private bath
Matsukawaya drains and refills its two stone private baths for every party, so each booking gets the first soak of fresh Okunosawa spring water.
Matsukawaya publishes no tattoo rule. It rents two private baths by the hour on top of the admission fee, so a tattooed bather can have one alone.
The bath
Two sources feed the building. Shika-no-yu, the village's own spring, is a simple acidic sulfur spring of the hydrogen-sulfide type at about pH 2.6. Okunosawa, piped from above Shika-no-yu and Omaru, is a simple sulfur spring at about pH 4.0, which the bathhouse says is gentler and popular with women. Every tub runs on them straight through: no heating, no dilution, no recirculation, no added chemicals and no chlorine. It lists neuralgia, rheumatism, stomach and skin complaints, women's ailments and fatigue as the uses.
The men's side, Nasu-no-yu, is the cloudy Shika-no-yu water in what the bathhouse calls the largest tub in Nasu-Yumoto, with a hot tub, a lukewarm tub, a lying bath and an open-air bath it rates the best view in the village. The women's side, Myoban-no-yu, has a tub of each source and its own open-air bath. Open noon to 9 p.m., last entry 8 p.m.: ¥1,000 on weekdays and ¥1,300 on weekends and holidays, preschoolers half, under 2 free, an extra hour ¥300 or ¥400, and a three-hour plan with a rest room ¥2,500 or ¥2,800. One page says it closes Thursdays, another Wednesdays and Thursdays, so check first.
The two private baths, Maru-no-yu and Ichi-no-yu, opened in August 2013 with tubs of local Ashino stone on the Okunosawa source. They rent by the hour, ¥3,500 and ¥4,500 on top of admission, and a source valve and a cold valve let you set the heat yourself.
The hotel
A former 27-room inn at the top of the old village, with 25 Japanese rooms, two special rooms and a 182-mat banquet hall, which stopped taking overnight guests in April 2023 and has run as a day-use bathhouse since. Its home page says stays should resume around 2027. You pay admission at the door, in cash or card by the posted prices with bath tax included, and book a private bath by the hour on top. Wi-Fi runs through the building, and it belongs to the Tochigi cloudy-water inns' association.
Good to know
- Ashino stone tubs on the gentler Okunosawa source, with a source valve and a cold valve to set the heat yourself.
- Two closing-day versions on the site: Thursday on one page, Wednesday and Thursday on another; check its social pages.
- Weekday admission ¥1,000, weekends ¥1,300, soap and shampoo provided, towels ¥300.
- A three-hour plan with a rest room, ¥2,500 on weekdays, for a slower afternoon.
Getting there
The bathhouse's access page is a map image that no longer loads, so it publishes no stop or walking time. It is at Yumoto 252, at the top of the old Nasu-Yumoto village above Shika-no-yu. Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nasushiobara Station (1 hour 8 minutes on the Yamabiko), then the Kanto Jidosha bus toward Nasu-Yumoto and the ropeway to the village. Ask the driver for the stop nearest Shika-no-yu.
Nasushiobara STN · Tohoku Shinkansen
Not walkable.
Kanto Jidosha bus toward Nasu-Yumoto and the ropeway; the bathhouse publishes no stop or walk time.
Where it is
Yumoto 2-chome bus stop
- Tohoku Shinkansen 1 hr 8 min
- Kanto Jidosha bus 43 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Worth it if Nasu is one stop in a longer Kanto trip.
- 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
Skip the shared baths and reserve a private bath.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site ()
Read on: matsukawaya.co.jp/hotspring/
Best for: day trippers who want an hour alone in a stone tub refilled just for them
Private baths: the round one is ¥3,500 an hour, the other ¥4,500, plus admission (¥1,000 on weekdays, ¥1,300 on weekends and holidays). Open noon to 9 p.m., last entry 8 p.m. The site gives Thursday as the closing day on one page and Wednesday and Thursday on another, so check before going. It stopped taking overnight guests in April 2023 and says stays should resume around 2027.
The map shows every hotel close by. We haven’t checked their tattoo rules: sleep there, bathe here. Search Booking.com instead
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For current hours and prices, see the official website.