Chorakuen
湯之助の宿 長楽園
Does Chorakuen allow tattoos? In a private bath
The bath is a 120-tsubo pond of hot spring water in a walled garden, dug in 1928 and still the largest mixed open-air bath in Japan, with a smaller reservable tub called Seisen for anyone who would rather not share it.
Chorakuen publishes no tattoo rule, and its silence is not permission for the famous mixed open-air bath. What can be booked without asking anyone is the reservable private bath Seisen, 45 minutes a session from 16:00, or a room with its own tub. The operator states that every one of its baths, including the in-room tubs, is fed with the same natural spring.
Where it is
Matsue STN
JR San’in line 8 min
Yonago STN
Hotel locationTamatsukuri-Onsen STN
JR Sanyo-San’in Area Pass Seven days on JR West trains across both coasts for 23,000 yen, with reserved seats on the Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Hakata and on the Yakumo limited express from Okayama to Matsue. It covers the San’in line from Matsue to Tamatsukuri-Onsen; the short bus or taxi from the station is paid separately. Sold on Klook.
What happens when you arrive
Skip the shared baths and reserve the private one the way this page describes. Once the door is closed, the bath is yours.
How we know
Confirmed from official site — bath structure, not a tattoo policy (the inn’s own FAQ lists the private bath Seisen and the in-room baths); no tattoo statement found anywhere on the site
Read on: choraku.co.jp/faq/
Best for: Bathing in the 120-tsubo mixed open-air bath is the draw here, and the private bath is the way around it
The private bath Seisen runs in 45-minute sessions starting at 16:00, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00, 20:00 and 21:00, with 15 minutes of cleaning between. The mixed open-air bath Ryugu-no-yu is 120 tsubo and the inn supplies a bathing garment for it: a wrap for women, paper trunks for men. That garment is issued for modesty, not as a tattoo cover, and the inn says nothing about tattoos. No day-use bathing is sold. The whole building went non-smoking on 2026-02-01.
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