Illustration of Senami Onsen on a clear afternoon: a pine-lined beach and calm blue Sea of Japan below the seafront inns

Niigata · about 3 h from Tokyo · Onsen towns

Tattoo friendly onsen in Senami Onsen

Senami Onsen is the beach hot spring of Murakami, on the Sea of Japan in northern Niigata. Its water came up in 1904, when a crew drilling for oil struck a hot spring instead, and the inns along the shore say the sun sets into the sea behind Awashima or Sado, depending on the month.

Premium Shiomiso lets tattoos into its large baths under the hotel’s own paid seals. Taikanso Senami no Yu refuses tattoos in its large baths and sends tattooed guests to its private bath. Yoshidaya gives every guest two free private baths, and Haginoya and Hamanasuso sell rooms with their own spring tub.

1 property

Cover seal required

Smaller tattoos accepted when fully covered by a waterproof patch. What this means

Senami Onsen 2-chome, on the beach road, about 10 minutes by hotel shuttle or route bus from Murakami Station Large beachfront resort hotel with shared sea-view baths, two paid private baths and a free drinks lounge ★★★★☆ Confirmed

Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Shiomiso

大江戸温泉物語Premium 汐美荘

A tattooed bather may use the large baths only when the hotel's own paid cover seals hide the tattoo completely. The group bath terms that the hot spring page links to set the limit at two seals, so a tattoo larger than that stays out of the shared baths. The fallback is one of the two private baths, Maru and Kaku: ¥3,000 for an hour, staying guests only, booked at the hotel on the day.

※入れ墨・タトゥーのある方は大浴場をご利用いただけません。ただし、当館指定のカバーシール（有料）を貼って、入れ墨、タトゥーが完全に覆える場合に限り、大浴場をご利用いただけます

Best for: families who want a buffet hotel on the beach, with sunset over the Sea of Japan from the open-air bath

The group's bath terms (ooedoonsen.jp/terms/?section=onsen) apply to the large baths and refuse tattooed bathers except where two of the hotel's designated seals cover the tattoo completely. No seal size or seal price on the hotel's pages. Private baths Maru (round indoor tub) and Kaku (square stone indoor tub with a window view): 3 p.m. to midnight, ¥3,000 for one hour, staying guests only, no advance booking, taken at the hotel until 9:30 p.m. on the day. No room with its own hot spring tub on the hotel's pages. The operator says the water has added water and is recirculated through a filter. Large baths 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 to 10 a.m.; saunas 3 p.m. to midnight and 7 to 10 a.m.; the open-air baths may close in bad weather. Foot bath closed December to about April.

Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Shiomiso tattoo policy → See details and book

4 properties

Private onsen and baths in Senami Onsen

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

On the Senami beachfront, about 10 minutes by taxi or the inn's free shuttle from Murakami Station Large beachfront ryokan hotel with a reservable private bath and rooms with their own spring-fed open-air bath ★★★★☆ Confirmed

Taikanso Senami no Yu

大観荘せなみの湯

Taikanso refuses its large baths to anyone with a tattoo, whatever the size or place on the body, and sends tattooed guests to its private bath instead. That bath pairs an indoor tub with an open-air rock pool, costs ¥5,500 for 50 minutes, and is booked on the day only, from 8 a.m. The open-air baths in the Taikan wing rooms take water straight from the spring.

サイズや箇所を問わずお体に刺青やタトゥーのあるお客様は、大浴場のご利用をお断りさせていただきます。貸切風呂がございますので、そちらをご利用ください。

Best for: tattooed couples or families who want a sea-view private bath they book in the morning, or a room with its own spring tub

Private bath (kashikiri): indoor tub and open-air rock pool used together, 2 to 11 p.m., 50 minutes for ¥5,500, same-day reservations only, taken from 8 a.m. on the day. Taikan wing: rooms with an open-air bath the hotel calls free-flowing spring water (gensen kakenagashi); the two barrier-free Taikan rooms have no open-air bath. Soyokaze wing: the top-floor Kairou rooms 716 and 725 have an open-air bath the hotel says is heated water (wakashi-yu), not the spring; room 626, Kaikou, has a view bath with no word on the water. Large baths 5 to 10 a.m. and noon to midnight; low-temperature saunas (60°C, no cold plunge) 3 to 9 p.m. Bath towels go from the room. Foot bath 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed in winter.

Taikanso Senami no Yu tattoo policy → See details and book

Senami Onsen 2-chome, in the inn quarter about 5 minutes on foot from the beach Small wooden ryokan with two free private baths and six rooms with their own hot spring tub ★★★☆☆ Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published

Tsubaki no Yado Yoshidaya

椿の宿吉田や

Yoshidaya publishes no tattoo rule. It gives every staying guest two private baths for free, the open-air Hinoki-no-yu and the indoor family bath Tsubaki-no-yu, with no booking: if the door is unlocked, go in and lock it behind you. Six of its fifteen rooms also have a tub of their own filled with the spring.

Best for: couples or small families who want a wooden old inn where the private bath is free and never needs booking

Private baths: open-air Hinoki-no-yu and indoor family bath Tsubaki-no-yu, free, no reservation, used whenever unlocked, from check-in to 9 a.m. Rooms with their own spring tub: Sumire (largest room, semi-open-air bath renovated July 2022, beds, up to six guests) and Kikyo (cypress semi-open-air bath of 100% source water, Simmons beds), plus Hagi, Ran, Mikazuki and Shinonome, listed as rooms with a free-flowing spring bath (gensen kakenagashi). The inn says the private bathrooms in Yunagi, Suisen and Azami are not spring water. Shared baths and open-air baths from check-in to 9 a.m. Day bathing noon to 8 p.m.: ¥1,000 for the shared baths, ¥1,500 with the private baths, towel set ¥200. A three-story wooden building with no elevator. All rooms non-smoking.

Tsubaki no Yado Yoshidaya tattoo policy → See details and book

Senami Onsen 2-chome, on the slope above the inn quarter, beside the town's hot spring source Hotel-style ryokan with fifteen rooms that have their own open-air hot spring bath ★★★☆☆ Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published

Senami Grand Hotel Haginoya

瀬波グランドホテルはぎのや

Haginoya publishes no tattoo rule for its shared baths. Its answer is the room: fifteen suites and rooms each have an open-air tub on the terrace filled with the hot spring, which the hotel recirculates and tops up with water to hold a comfortable heat.

Best for: couples who want dinner served in a room with its own hot spring tub on the terrace

Rooms with an open-air spring bath, 15 in all: Kaze-no-Izumi terrace suites (4 rooms, opened 2016, beds), Kaze-no-Niwa suites (4 rooms, Japanese modern), Fubitei (7 Japanese rooms). The hotel says the tubs use natural hot spring water, recirculated through a filter with water added. Dinner for these rooms is served in the room; bathrobes and a massage chair come with them. Shared baths: 8th-floor view bath Nagame and 3rd-floor bath Nozomi (men and women swap by time of day), 7th-floor cypress bath Netsu-no-yu (opened 2012, open at any hour of the stay). The FAQ says the hotel has no non-smoking rooms and odor-treats a room on request. No pets.

Senami Grand Hotel Haginoya tattoo policy → See details and book

Senami Onsen 1-chome, at the far end of the inn quarter on the sea side, about 10 minutes by taxi from Murakami Station Sea-view lodge run by a public employees' mutual aid association, open to all guests, with eight rooms that have their own hot spring tub Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published

Senami Hamanasuso

瀬波はまなす荘

Hamanasuso publishes no tattoo rule for its shared baths. The way to bathe alone is to book one of its eight rooms with a tub of their own: six with an open-air bath on the balcony and two Japanese-modern special rooms with an indoor bath, all filled, the lodge says, with water from the source.

Best for: couples who want a sea-view room with its own spring-water tub at a quiet lodge with modest rates

Rooms with an open-air bath using the source water: 6; Japanese-modern special rooms whose indoor bath uses the source water: 2. Guests in these rooms may also use the shared baths. Shared baths: a 2nd-floor view bath and an open-air bath for each of men and women, noon to midnight and 5 to 9:30 a.m. Day bathing is listed for noon to 4 p.m. (last entry 3:30) at ¥500, but the FAQ says staying guests come first and asks day visitors to call. Run as a recreation lodge by the Niigata municipal employees' mutual aid association; members get lower rates, and anyone may book. All rooms non-smoking. The front door is locked from midnight to 4 a.m.

Senami Hamanasuso tattoo policy → See details and book

Traveler’s note

Every inn here meets guests at Murakami Station, about 10 minutes away, but the shuttles and pickups have to be booked ahead, most by the day before. Taikanso’s private bath and Shiomiso’s two private baths are booked on the day, at the hotel. Ryusen, the day-use bathhouse in town, turns away anyone with a tattoo and is not listed.

Getting there

Tickets for the ride in

Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the Toki, a Joetsu Shinkansen service, to Niigata and the Inaho limited express on to Murakami. The inns’ shuttles from Murakami Station are free or paid at the inn.
Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.

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.

Common questions

Senami Onsen questions

Can I use a shared bath at Senami Onsen with a tattoo?

Only under a seal, at Premium Shiomiso: the hotel’s own paid cover seals, two at most, have to hide the tattoo completely. No inn here lets tattoos into a shared bath with nothing to cover.

Which inns have a private bath?

Yoshidaya has two, free for every guest and with no booking: if the door is unlocked, go in and lock it. Taikanso’s is ¥5,500 for 50 minutes, booked from 8 a.m. on the day. Shiomiso has two at ¥3,000 an hour, booked at the hotel on the day.

Which inns give a room its own bath?

Haginoya has fifteen rooms with an open-air spring tub on the terrace, Hamanasuso eight rooms with a tub filled from the source, Yoshidaya six, and Taikanso’s Taikan wing rooms take water straight from the spring.

How do I get to Senami Onsen?

From Tokyo, take the Toki on the Joetsu Shinkansen to Niigata, about 2 hours, then the Inaho limited express to Murakami, about 45 minutes. The inns’ shuttles cover the last 10 minutes; book yours ahead.

More places to bathe

Other guides

All 104 guides are live.

Tokyo area71 places → Osaka area39 places → Kyoto area15 places → Sapporo area11 places → Sendai area12 places → Kanazawa area14 places → Nagoya area16 places → Hiroshima area10 places → Hakone29 places → Kinosaki Onsen10 places → Kusatsu Onsen15 places → Nikko2 places → Kinugawa Onsen25 places → Nasu Onsen20 places → Atami13 places → Shirahama22 places → Arima Onsen21 places → Yumura Onsen6 places → Nachi-Katsuura3 places → Awaji Island4 places → Beppu Onsen32 places → Yufuin Onsen13 places → Kurokawa Onsen17 places → Kuju and Nagayu38 places → Ibusuki Onsen14 places → Ureshino Onsen16 places → Unzen and Obama19 places → Kirishima14 places → Miyazaki coast11 places → Yamaga13 places → Kikuchi and Ueki13 places → Hita and Amagase14 places → Hitoyoshi9 places → Noboribetsu Onsen9 places → Jozankei Onsen16 places → Niseko12 places → Lake Toya6 places → Akiu Onsen7 places → Naruko Onsen10 places → Zao Onsen12 places → Ginzan Onsen6 places → Nyuto Onsen4 places → Higashiyama Onsen10 places → Hanamaki Onsen10 places → Takayu Onsen4 places → Iizaka and Tsuchiyu15 places → Kaminoyama8 places → Tendo6 places → Tsunagi and Oshuku6 places → Yamashiro Onsen18 places → Yamanaka Onsen16 places → Katayamazu Onsen7 places → Awazu Onsen4 places → Awara Onsen15 places → Unazuki Onsen7 places → Toyama12 places → Kawaguchiko18 places → Isawa Onsen18 places → Karuizawa14 places → Bessho Onsen7 places → Yudanaka and Shibu22 places → Nozawa Onsen11 places → Hakuba14 places → Myoko8 places → Echigo-Yuzawa13 places → Iwamuro Onsen4 places → Yunohama Onsen3 places → Atsumi Onsen2 places → Senami OnsenYou are here Gero Onsen17 places → Okuhida Onsen15 places → Takayama21 places → Matsumoto19 places → Shuzenji Onsen8 places → Ito Onsen8 places → Shimoda13 places → Higashi-Izu26 places → Gamagori11 places → Toba13 places → Tamatsukuri Onsen6 places → Misasa Onsen11 places → Kaike Onsen8 places → Yunotsu Onsen4 places → Miyajima12 places → Yubara Onsen9 places → Yunogo Onsen5 places → Yuda Onsen3 places → Nagato-Yumoto Onsen4 places → Dogo Onsen20 places → Kotohira7 places → Takamatsu5 places → Iya Valley3 places → Hakodate and Yunokawa18 places → Lake Shikotsu5 places → Otaru and Asarigawa5 places → Daisetsuzan and Furano7 places → Tokachigawa Onsen6 places → Lake Akan5 places → Kawayu and Lake Kussharo3 places → Utoro, Shiretoko4 places → Naruto and Tokushima4 places → Shodoshima3 places → Imabari and the Shimanami islands3 places → Kochi and the Ashizuri coast11 places →