Matsushima Century Hotel
松島センチュリーホテル
Does Matsushima Century Hotel allow tattoos? In a private bath
Eight rooms in Matsushima Century Hotel's center wing have an open-air tub that guests fill themselves with Matsushima spring water, any hour of the day, facing the bay islands and the sightseeing pier.
The hotel publishes no tattoo rule for its shared baths. It does sell a way around them: the private family bath Nagomi, 45 minutes for ¥3,300, and eight rooms in its Premium Center Wing whose open-air tubs the hotel fills with 100% Matsushima spring water.
The bath
The eight Premium Center Wing rooms are the reason to come. Each has an open-air bath on its terrace, with a shower and washing space, and the hotel says the water is 100% Matsushima source water. You run the spring into the tub yourself, at any hour. The photos show a dark stone tub under a wooden screen, looking straight over the pier to the pine islands. Five rooms of 55 square meters sleep two; Asakaze, Fuyo and Hamakaze, at 65 square meters, sleep four.
For everyone else there is Nagomi, a private family bath of spring water with a large tub, for two to six people. A session is 45 minutes for ¥3,300. Sessions start at half past each hour from 3:30 to 10:30 p.m., and from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. They can be booked ahead.
The hotel calls its water Kinuhada-no-yu, the silk-skin bath: an alkaline simple spring drawn from 1,000 to 1,500 m down, first tapped in 2007. The hotel lists it for nerve, muscle and joint pain and fatigue. The shared baths are an open-air bath facing the bay and two indoor halls, Fukuura and Godai, open 5 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to midnight.
The hotel
A large hotel of the Star Hotel Group on the waterfront of Matsushima, with 80 Japanese rooms, 45 Western rooms and eight others, three of them for guests with pets. All rooms are non-smoking, with smoking booths on each floor. Western rooms have Simmons beds. Guests in the Premium Center Wing get a lounge with free coffee, soft drinks, alcohol and snacks, and a dinner with tempura and grilled beef tongue from an open kitchen. Dinner is served in the restaurant, at a table set aside for your party.
Good to know
- Fill your own tub, with spring water on tap at any hour in the eight center-wing rooms.
- Free lounge drinks, alcohol included, for guests of the center-wing rooms.
- Free pickup from Matsushima or Matsushima-Kaigan Station, on no fixed timetable; phone the hotel when you arrive.
Getting there
From Sendai Station, take the JR Senseki line to Matsushima-Kaigan or the JR Tohoku main line to Matsushima; the hotel's chart gives about 25 minutes for either. From either station it is about 15 minutes on foot. The hotel also picks guests up at both stations, with no fixed timetable: phone on arrival. It does not run to Sendai Station. Drivers stop at the front entrance, where staff direct them to parking.
Matsushima-Kaigan STN · JR Senseki line
About 15 minutes.
Free hotel pickup from Matsushima-Kaigan or Matsushima Station; phone on arrival.
Where it is
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days For the days you leave the city.
- Naruko Gorge and Ginzan Onsen autumn tour The Naruko Gorge in autumn color and Ginzan Onsen’s old inn street, a day from Sendai.
- 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
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the hotel's hot spring page and its Premium Center Wing room page)
Best for: couples or families who want hot spring water on their own balcony, straight across from the islands
Premium Center Wing: eight rooms with an open-air bath of 100% Matsushima source water that guests fill themselves at any hour; Tsubaki, Mizuki, Shiokaze, Matsukaze and Umikaze (55 square meters, two guests), Asakaze, Fuyo and Hamakaze (65 square meters, four guests). These rooms also get a free drinks lounge. Private family bath Nagomi: two to six people, ¥3,300 for 45 minutes, twelve sessions a day from 3:30 p.m. to 9:15 a.m.; it can be booked in advance. Shared baths 5 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to midnight. The FAQ says the Tsukiusagi room has a shower only.
Book your stay
- BBooking.comCheck availability
- TTrip.comCheck availability
Booking through these links 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.