Taikanso Senami no Yu
大観荘せなみの湯
Does Taikanso Senami no Yu allow tattoos? In a private bath
Taikanso stands on the sand at Senami, and its private bath joins an indoor tub to an open-air rock pool behind a bamboo fence, with the Sea of Japan past the shrubs.
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.
The bath
The private bath is the way in for a tattooed guest. It is one booking for two baths: an indoor tub of polished red stone, round, with a window on the sea, and an open-air pool of boulders and pebbles behind a bamboo fence, with the shore past the shrubs. It runs from 2 to 11 p.m. A session is 50 minutes for ¥5,500. Bookings are taken only on the day, from 8 a.m.
The other way is a room in the Taikan wing with its own open-air bath, which the hotel describes as free-flowing from the source (gensen kakenagashi), there to use at any hour. The top-floor Kairou rooms in the Soyokaze wing also have an open-air bath, but the hotel says that tub is heated water, not the spring.
The water is a blend of five sources, a sodium chloride spring at 86.3°C, alkaline and hot at the source. The hotel tells how the spring burst out in 1904 during drilling for oil. It lists it for nerve, muscle and joint pain, poor circulation and fatigue, and for cuts, burns and skin complaints. The shared baths, Tonogata-no-yu for men and Gofujin-no-yu for women, each have indoor and open-air tubs facing the sea and a 60°C sauna.
The hotel
A large hotel in three wings on the beach at Senami, and the hotel says every room looks out on the sea and the sunset. Soyokaze holds Japanese rooms with beds, twin rooms and the top-floor Japanese-Western rooms; Hamakaze is the standard Japanese-style wing; Taikan has the rooms with spring-fed open-air baths. Dinner is served in the sea-view hall Kaio, and breakfast there too. A lounge looks over the water, and a shop sells local sake. The sister inn Bansyu, across the road, offers paid day bathing.
Good to know
- Book the private bath in the morning, from 8 a.m. on the day; it takes no advance bookings.
- The beach starts at the door, and a free foot bath with an onsen egg corner sits on the walk; raw eggs are ¥50 at the shop.
- Take your bath towel from the room; the baths stock shampoo, conditioner and dryers, and the women's side has ReFa dryers and skin care.
Getting there
From Niigata Station, take the JR Uetsu line limited express Inaho to Murakami Station, about 45 minutes. From Murakami, a taxi or the hotel's free shuttle bus takes about 10 minutes. The shuttle must be booked by phone by the day before. Drivers leave the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway at Kamihayashi-Iwafunekou IC, about 10 minutes away; parking holds 50 cars and has four EV chargers.
Murakami STN · JR Uetsu line (limited express Inaho)
Not walkable.
Free hotel shuttle from Murakami Station, booked by the day before, or a taxi, about 10 minutes.
Where it is
Inn shuttle stop
- Joetsu Shinkansen 2 hr
- JR Inaho limited express 45 min
- hotel shuttle 10 min
- 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.
- 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
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel's own chat FAQ, talkappi, linked from every page; the private bath and rooms from its hot spring and room pages)
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。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
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.
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