Tattoo friendly onsen at Lake Shikotsu

Marukoma Onsen Ryokan

湖畔の宿支笏湖 丸駒温泉旅館

The inn states on its own barrier-free page that bathing with tattoos is possible, listed under the large bath alongside the grab rails, the lent assist stool and the women’s bathing gown. That is a plain yes from the operator, and it covers the large bath, which is the way through to the natural open-air pool at the lake edge. Two reservable private baths are there as well if you would rather not test it: Maru-no-yu with a barrel sauna and Koma-no-yu with an open-air tub, both bookable by day visitors too.

・タトゥーがある方の入浴可能

Best for: Bathing in a pool that fills from the gravel underfoot and rises and falls with the level of Lake Shikotsu

Founded 1915 by Sasaki Hatsutaro, who found the spring, and a member of the Japan Secret Hot Springs Protection Association. The natural open-air pool, reached by a covered walkway past the large bath, is one of about twenty in Japan fed from under the bathers’ feet; it is colorless and its depth changes with the lake. There is also a view open-air bath and an indoor bath, all looking at the lake, plus a Finnish sauna with löyly and a cold bath poured from Lake Shikotsu water. Spring is a sodium and calcium chloride, bicarbonate and sulfate water at 54°C. Large baths 15:00 to 23:00 and 04:00 to 09:00. Private baths for staying guests 15:00 to 23:00, Maru-no-yu 4,400 yen for 50 minutes or 7,700 yen for 110, Koma-no-yu 2,750 yen for 50 minutes, four people each, bring your own towels; day visitors pay 7,700 or 13,200 and 5,500 from 2026-10-02, and from that date the private-bath fee includes the large bath. Day-use bathing is Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, 10:00 to 14:00, leave by 15:00, 1,200 yen for adults, 600 for children, 300 for infants, free under three.

Lake Shikotsu Tsuruga Bessou Ao no Za

しこつ湖鶴雅別荘 碧の座

There is no shared bath here to have a rule about. The operator answers its own FAQ with a flat statement that the inn has no large bath and that every room has a wide open-air bath and an indoor jet bath instead. Nothing is published about tattoos and nothing needs to be. One caution: the free large bath it offers guests at its sister hotel Mizu no Uta is the one place in this region that refuses tattoos in writing, cover seals included.

Best for: A lake-facing open-air tub of your own in a building that never asks you to undress in front of anyone

Opened May 2019 as the top of the Tsuruga group. Rooms run from suites to a 210 m² executive suite villa, with adjoining and connecting pairs for groups of four to seven. The operator says plainly that the room open-air baths are recirculated and chlorinated for hygiene, so this is spring water but not free-flowing. Guests may use the large bath at Mizu no Uta free on request; that bath refuses tattoos, so the room is the answer here. Bar lounge with night food 21:00 to 24:00, room service 14:00 to 23:00, treatment rooms to 21:00.

Lake Shikotsu Tsuruga Resort Spa Mizu no Uta

しこつ湖鶴雅リゾートスパ 水の謌

The FAQ is explicit and it closes the usual workaround: guests with tattoos are asked to refrain from the large bath, and the question it answers names cover seals as included in the refusal. So the seal trick does not work here. What is left is the rooms, and the hotel sells three categories with their own spring bath: special rooms with an open-air onsen bath, Japanese-Western rooms with an open-air onsen bath, and Japanese-Western rooms with an indoor onsen bath.

誠に申し訳ございませんが、入れ墨（刺青）やタトゥー（シール類含む）をされているお客様の大浴場のご利用はご遠慮いただいております。

Best for: A room bath at Shikotsuko Onsen with a buffet downstairs and a pillow gallery to borrow from

The large bath is called Shikotsu Biyu, with a Finnish sauna on both sides, open 11:30 to 01:00 and 05:00 to 09:30, and face and bath towels are stocked there. Day use is sold only as a set with lunch. Children of the opposite sex are admitted to the bath and changing room up to age six. Rooms with their own spring bath are the 温泉露天風呂付特別室, 温泉露天風呂付和洋室 and 温泉風呂付和洋室 types; the 展望バス types are a view bathtub rather than a spring bath. There are also dog rooms, a fitness gym, a cigar room and a burger stand in the garden.

Shikotsuko Daiichi Hotel Suizantei

支笏湖第一寶亭留 翠山亭

No tattoo rule is published on the hot spring page, the rooms pages or the FAQ, so the large bath is unanswered and should be treated that way. The inn does have a reservable open-air bath that it describes as a completely private space for staying guests, free for forty minutes on a same-day first-come booking, and it sells rooms of every type with a spring bath of their own. Book the private bath at check-in and the question does not arise.

Best for: Forty free minutes alone in an open-air bath, booked at the desk on the day

The private open-air bath runs 15:00 to 23:40 and 06:00 to 09:40, by reservation, one free 40-minute session per stay on a same-day first-come basis. The large bath pairs a rock-built open-air bath with an indoor bath made of cypress the inn says is a thousand years old, and the cold bath is drawn from Lake Shikotsu; it is open 15:00 to 01:00 and 02:00 to 10:30, sauna to 22:00. Room types with a spring bath include a 75 m² room with a view open-air bath and a 60 m² twin with a spring bath and a 90-inch screen with 5.1 surround. The water is a sodium bicarbonate spring the inn calls a beauty water, and it is drinkable.

Ame no Hi to Yuyake

支笏湖 雨ノ日と夕やけ

Six rooms and no shared bath of its own, which the operator states outright. The tub in the room is a jacuzzi and the operator says plainly it is not spring water. The spring comes from the sister inn three minutes away: guests may use its large bath free and as often as they like, or book its private spring bath for 550 yen a 40-minute session. Book the private one and nothing about tattoos comes up; neither inn publishes a rule either way.

Note: The jacuzzi in the room is ordinary heated water, not hot spring water; the inn says so. The spring is a three-minute walk away at its sister hotel, as a 40-minute private bath for 550 yen.

当館には大浴場はございません。（温泉ではございませんがお部屋にジャクジーバスを備えています）

Best for: A six-room house where the private spring bath next door costs 550 yen and the room tub is yours all night

Six rooms, all with private bath and toilet, earth-toned and plain, entirely non-smoking, and the whole house can be taken for up to ten people. The in-room jacuzzi is ordinary heated water, not spring water, and the operator says so in the same sentence as the missing large bath. The spring bath used is at Shikotsuko Daiichi Hotel Suizantei, three minutes on foot, free for the large bath and 550 yen including tax for a 40-minute private session; a lift is offered to anyone who needs it. Dinner is a five-course meal built around pizza baked to order. No vending machine, and there is no convenience store or grocery in Shikotsuko Onsen, so shop before arriving.