Ryokan Asunaro
旅館あすなろ
Does Ryokan Asunaro allow tattoos? Yes!
Ryokan Asunaro is a zelkova-beamed farmhouse moved to Takayama from the mountains of Niigata, and its FAQ says guests with tattoos may use the granite hot spring bath.
Asunaro's FAQ asks whether a guest with a tattoo can enter the large bath and answers that they can. It names no size limit and asks for no cover. The inn has only the shared indoor baths, with no private bath and no open-air bath.
The bath
The water is Hida Takayama Onsen. The inn describes it as colorless with a faint smell of sulfur and lists it for neuralgia, muscle pain, joint pain, sensitivity to cold and fatigue. There is one bath hall for men and one for women, both indoors, and the inn says plainly that it has no open-air bath and no private bath. Each hall has a tub edged in granite and a changing room built of cypress. The inn itself calls the tub small.
The baths are open from 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and again from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. The two sides stay fixed. Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, face towels and hair dryers are in the bath halls, with cleansing oil, lotion and POLA shampoo on the women's side and razors and aftershave on the men's.
Sixteen of the twenty rooms also have their own bath and toilet, and the other four have a shower booth.
The hotel
The building was a wealthy farmer's house in the Higashikubiki district of Niigata, taken apart and rebuilt here. The inn says its beams and posts are thick zelkova, joined without a single nail to stand up to four or five meters of snow. There are 20 Japanese rooms in six types, named after wildflowers, including four with a sunken hearth. Breakfast comes with hoba miso, bean paste grilled on a magnolia leaf; dinner is no longer served. Check-in is 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and all rooms are non-smoking.
Good to know
- The bath closes at 10:30 p.m., and reopens from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
- Plan dinner in town. The inn serves breakfast only and locks the front door at 11 p.m.
- Free coffee in the lounge, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- Rental bicycles are kept for guests aged 12 and up, and the Miyagawa morning market is a five-minute walk.
Getting there
From Nagoya Station take the JR Hida limited express to Takayama Station; the inn counts about 2 hours 20 minutes from Nagoya to its door. From the station or the Nohi Bus Center the inn is about five minutes on foot, or about three minutes by taxi. There is no shuttle. Drivers park free in the 15-space lot in front of the entrance, one car per room, and should tell the inn ahead.
Takayama STN · JR Takayama Main Line
About 5 minutes.
No shuttle; a taxi from the station takes about 3 minutes.
Where it is
Takayama STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass ¥19,800 · 5 consecutive days Worth it if Gero, Shirakawa-go or Kanazawa is on the same 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
Check in and go to the bath. There's no seal to buy and nothing to mention at the front desk.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the FAQ page, in the section on facilities, rooms and hot spring)
体にタトゥー（刺青）がありますが、大浴場は入れますか？ ご利用いただけます。
The operator’s own wording. Show it if anyone asks.
Best for: a yes to tattoos in the shared bath, five minutes from Takayama Station
Indoor baths only, open 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.; the men's and women's sides do not swap. No private bath and no open-air bath. Most rooms have their own bath and toilet, and four have a shower booth instead. Breakfast only: the inn has stopped serving dinner. Guests under 12 are not accepted, and two room types are for ages 13 and up. The front door is locked at 11 p.m.
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