Bimi Kyushin no Yado Tendo Hotel
美味求真の宿 天童ホテル
Does Bimi Kyushin no Yado Tendo Hotel allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tendo Hotel’s private bath, Sakura, opened in 2024 for staying guests only, booked by the hour and stocked with ReFa shower heads and dryers. Two of its rooms are built for wheelchairs and come with their own spring tub.
Tendo Hotel publishes no tattoo rule for its large baths. It rents a private bath, Sakura, to staying guests by the hour, and two barrier-free rooms have a ceramic tub of Tendo spring water, so a tattooed guest can bathe without sharing.
The bath
The hotel describes Tendo Onsen as a calcium-sodium sulfate spring, weakly alkaline and rich in metasilicic acid, and lists it for motor impairment, cold sensitivity, rheumatism and nerve complaints. It calls its large baths, Tono-no-taki for men and Hime-no-taki for women, the widest tubs in Tendo. Each has an open-air bath facing a waterfall that falls from the garden. The baths open 5:30 to 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to midnight; the waterfall runs 6 to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. on weekdays, or 11:30 a.m. on weekends, until 10 p.m. A sauna runs 4 to 11 p.m.
The private bath Sakura opened in March 2024 for staying guests. It holds four and has a toilet, a safe and a fridge, with ReFa shower heads, dryers and irons. An hour costs ¥3,300. Slots start at 3:30, 5, 6:30 and 8 p.m., and at 9:30 and 11 p.m.
Rooms 526 and 626 are step-free, with a ceramic tub of Tendo spring water. The hotel says it can fit grab bars, and lends bath wheelchairs and shower chairs.
The hotel
Tendo Hotel's guest rooms fill floors five to nine above the town, with views of Mount Maizuru and the Murayama basin. Rooms run from standard Japanese rooms and tatami-floored twins to single suites on the top floor. Dinner is a kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) of Yamagata produce, and breakfast a buffet with a live kitchen. Rooms 526 and 626 are 90-square-meter barrier-free suites with a dining room, a 10-mat room and a bedroom, and can take room meals for up to four if booked two days ahead.
Good to know
- The private bath is for staying guests only, and can be booked at the front desk on the day if a slot is free.
- Day bathers pay ¥1,000, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., no booking, though the waterfall is off at weekday lunchtime.
- Six shampoos to choose from, set out as a shampoo bar in each large bath.
- Scheduled free shuttle from Tendo Station's east exit, booked by the day before.
Getting there
From Yamagata Station take the JR Ou line local train to Tendo Station, about 20 minutes and ¥260, or the Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa, about 10 minutes. The hotel runs a free shuttle from Tendo Station's east exit on a fixed timetable, about 4 minutes; book it by the day before. It does not carry day bathers. From Yamagata Airport the hotel counts about 15 minutes by taxi.
Tendo STN · JR Ou Main Line (Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa)
The hotel publishes no walking time.
Free timetabled shuttle from the east exit, about 4 minutes, booked by the day before.
Where it is
Tendo STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the whole ride: the Tsubasa, the Yamagata Shinkansen, runs from Tokyo to Tendo with no change, and the inns are a walk or a free pickup from the station.
- Yamadera, Tendo and Ginzan day trip Yamadera’s mountain temple, a stop in Tendo and a stroll through Ginzan Onsen, 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 by phone.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the hot spring page gives the private bath’s slots and fee, and the rooms page lists the two rooms with a spring tub)
Best for: wheelchair users and families who want a private hour in a large spring bath
Private bath Sakura, opened March 2024, is for staying guests only: one hour for ¥3,300, up to four people, starting at 3:30, 5, 6:30 and 8 p.m., and at 9:30 and 11 p.m. Book online, by phone or at the front desk on the day; late changes count as cancellations. Rooms 526 and 626 are 90 square meters, step-free, with a ceramic tub of Tendo spring water usable at any hour.
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