Todaya
戸田家
Does Todaya allow tattoos? Yes, covered
Todaya sits on Toba Bay a few minutes from the station, and its onsen village has five lockable private tubs, from a giant-clam shell to a kettle, free to use any time from 6 a.m. to midnight. A palm-sized tattoo can also go into the shared baths under a seal from the hotel shop.
Todaya keeps tattooed guests out of its large baths, with one exception: a small tattoo, about the size of a palm, may go in under a tattoo seal sold in the hotel shop. Anything larger is refused, and the same rule covers the summer pool.
Show this at the front desk
恐れ入りますが、入墨・タトゥーのある方の大浴場のご利用はご遠慮いただいております。小さな（手のひらサイズの）タトゥーであれば、売店でタトゥーシールを販売していますので、ご利用くださいませ。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
Todaya counts 13 baths, two foot baths and an 18-bed stone sauna room across the property. The spring water is in the Todaya Onsen-mura, the onsen village: open-air baths built around barrels, glazed pots and rock pools, and a boat-shaped tub looking over Sadahama harbor. The water is an alkaline simple spring from the Sakakibara Onsen source, Nanakuri-no-yu, which the hotel calls soft on the skin. It is circulated, not free-flowing. The two large indoor baths, one in each building, are heated tap water. Kishuntei's is open 1 p.m. to midnight and the South Wing's 2 p.m. to midnight, both again 5 to 9 a.m. Saunas run 3 to 9 p.m.
The five free private baths sit in the onsen village and are named like house lots: No. 1 Ukiyo, No. 2 Tanuki, No. 3 giant clam, No. 5 kettle and Kotobuki, the jar bath. All five are spring water. Pick an empty one, lock the door from inside and stay as long as you like, any time from 6 a.m. to midnight; there is no booking. Two family baths cost ¥3,300 for 45 minutes and must be reserved: the Fusui shell bath on the second floor of Kishuntei, lined with more than 5,000 shells and filled with spring water, and the barrier-free Fusui family bath in the South Wing basement, which is heated water.
The hotel
A 168-room ryokan in two buildings on the bay. The South Wing has two sets of rooms, Kirara and a second set of family and suite rooms, with Japanese, Western and mixed rooms, triples for groups of friends, and five rooms with an open-air bath. Kishuntei has 54 bay-view rooms, including the Watatsumi floor renewed in December 2022 with a sky open-air bath suite 40 meters above the sea. Dinner is the Shinwa Dining buffet, the revolving view restaurant, or, in Kishuntei only, in your room. Check-in is 3 p.m. and check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- No booking for the five free private baths, and no time limit once the door is locked.
- Two paid family baths, ¥3,300 for 45 minutes, by reservation; one is spring water, one heated.
- Spring water is in the onsen village; the indoor large baths are heated tap water.
- Bring your bath towel down from the room: the large baths have none.
Getting there
From Kintetsu Nagoya, take a Kintetsu limited express to Toba, about 90 minutes; the JR Rapid Mie takes about 100 minutes. From Osaka Namba the Kintetsu limited express takes about 120 minutes. At Toba Station turn left (east) out of the ticket gate. Exit 3 leads to the hotel on foot in about 3 minutes. The hotel's red retro bus now runs on request: phone when you reach the station and it collects you at exit 1.
Toba STN · Kintetsu Toba Line (limited express from Kintetsu Nagoya) or JR Sangu Line (Rapid Mie)
About 3 minutes from exit 3.
Red retro shuttle bus from exit 1 on request; phone the hotel on arrival.
Where it is
Hotel bus stop
- Kintetsu limited express 1 hr 35 min
- hotel bus about 3 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- Kintetsu Rail Pass, 5 days ¥4,900 Worth it if you’re coming from Osaka, or stopping at Ise or Nara on the way. It covers Kintetsu trains between Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Ise, Toba and Nagoya; the limited express seat is extra, about ¥1,340 from Nagoya or ¥1,640 from Osaka. From Nagoya and back, ordinary tickets cost less.
- Ise Grand Shrine and Toba Aquarium day tour Ise Grand Shrine, the Wedded Rocks at Futami, and Toba Aquarium or Mikimoto Pearl Island, from Nagoya.
- 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
Cover the tattoo completely before you go in. The hotel doesn't specify a size, so cover everything.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel’s FAQ, which takes the tattoo question directly)
Best for: a palm-sized tattoo under a seal from the shop, or a lockable spring-water tub with no booking and no time limit
Only the onsen village (Todaya Onsen-mura) carries spring water: its open-air baths and the five free private baths use an alkaline simple spring from the Sakakibara Onsen source called Nanakuri-no-yu, circulated rather than free-flowing. The large baths inside the two buildings are heated tap water, which the hotel states. Two more family baths cost 3,300 yen for 45 minutes by reservation: the Fusui family bath (heated water) and the Fusui shell bath (spring water). Ten rooms have an open-air bath; the hotel says those in the South Wing are heated water. Bring the bath towel from your room. Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m. Parking is free.
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