Tattoo friendly onsen in Unzen and Obama

Unzen Fukudaya and Yamateru Bettei

雲仙福田屋／山照別邸

Fukudaya’s FAQ refuses tattoos in its shared baths, fashion and religious ones included. The answer here is four timed private baths, two of them free for staying guests, and the seven annex rooms, six of which have their own open-air tub of free-flowing spring water. Day visitors can book the private baths too, at a per-person fee.

誠に申し訳ございませんが、当館では入れ墨（刺青）・タトゥーのあるお客様のご入浴はご遠慮頂いております。ファッション目的、宗教的理由による入れ墨であっても、他のお客様に不快な思いを与えてしまう恐れがありますので、何卒、ご理解・ご協力いただきますようよろしくお願いいたします。

Best for: two people who want a free 50-minute private bath without leaving the inn, or an annex room with its own spring tub

Four private baths, 50 minutes each: Marutanbo-no-yu (¥2,000 a room for guests, ¥2,500 a person for day visitors), Yogan-no-yu (¥1,000 a room, ¥1,500 a person), Hinoki-no-yu (free for guests, ¥1,500 a person) and Santaro-no-yu (free for guests, ¥1,000 a person); children half price, under three free. How a slot is booked is not on the page; the inn takes day-use reservations online. Annex rooms Kumo and Sora have a terrace open-air bath, Shin, So, Rin and Yo a courtyard open-air bath, all fed free-flowing from the source; room Fuku has a terrace open-air bath and an indoor tub the inn says is heated water, not spring. The main building's Panorama Twin has a terrace open-air bath; the inn does not say what water fills it.

Unzen Kyushu Hotel

雲仙九州ホテル

The hotel publishes no tattoo rule, and it has no shared bath at all: its FAQ says so and points guests to the semi-open-air hot-spring tub every room has. Four villa rooms add an open-air spring bath, a garden sauna and a cold plunge. Your bath is yours for the whole stay.

Best for: travelers who want a hotel room with a spring tub on its own terrace and no shared bath to think about

All 25 rooms have a hot-spring bath: 20 terrace rooms (14 premier twins, 6 premier kings, 61.98 square meters) with a semi-open-air tub on a terrace over the Jigoku, 1 universal-design twin with a semi-open-air spring bath, and 4 villa rooms in Unzen-tei (90 square meters) with an open-air spring bath, a garden sauna and a cold bath. The FAQ says the water cannot be called 100 percent free-flowing because the hotel sits inside the national park. The sulfur water is strongly acidic and will discolor any metal jewelry. No day use and no shop on site.

Unzen Iwaki Ryokan

雲仙いわき旅館

Iwaki publishes no tattoo rule and has no private bath to rent. The answer is one of its five special rooms, each with its own open-air tub fed straight from the spring that rises on the inn's own grounds. The ordinary rooms share the indoor and open-air baths.

Best for: a tattooed couple who want an old-style room with the inn's own spring running into a tub on the veranda

Five special rooms with an open-air bath of source water, free-flowing. The inn says it is the only Unzen inn with an abundant source on its own site, so every bath is 100 percent natural spring. No reservable private bath. Hours of the shared baths are not published. The FAQ says the open-air bath's temperature follows nature and is not adjusted.

Azumaen

雲仙温泉 東園

Azumaen refuses the large bath to anyone with a tattoo, and says a fake tattoo counts. Its FAQ gives the alternative in the same answer: three rooms with an open-air bath and five with a semi-open-air bath, all filled from the inn's own spring. Book one of those and the refusal does not touch you.

刺青・タトゥー(フェイクタトゥー)がある場合、大浴場は利用できますか？利用できません。

Best for: someone who wants a room tub over the pond and a clear written answer from the inn

The FAQ says the large bath cannot be used with a tattoo, fake tattoos included, and offers the three open-air-bath rooms and five semi-open-air-bath rooms instead. Rooms page: open-air bath rooms Suishoku (renovated 2023), Riyu and Matsurika (2015), 66 square meters; semi-open-air rooms Suien (2021, 99 square meters), Koryoku (2021), Wakakusa (2020, 132 square meters), all free-flowing from the inn's own source; the two VIP rooms Azuma and Subaru (2020) also have a semi-open-air bath, water not stated. No day use. Shared bath hours 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to midnight.

Yuyado Unzen Shinyu

ゆやど雲仙新湯

Shinyu’s FAQ refuses tattoos in its two bath halls, fashion and religious ones included. The answer is the family bath Madoka, fed by the inn's first source and rented to staying guests for 50 minutes at ¥2,200, booked by phone on a first-come basis, or one of the four Tsukitei rooms with a garden open-air tub on the fourth source.

誠に申し訳ございませんが、入れ墨（刺青）・タトゥーのあるお客様の大浴場のご利用はご遠慮頂いております。ファッション目的、宗教的理由による入れ墨であっても、お断りしております。

Best for: bathers who want to compare an inn's four different sources, one of them behind a locked door

Family bath Madoka: first source, free-flowing, 4 to 11 p.m., 50-minute slots, ¥2,200 including tax, staying guests only, first-come reservation by phone. Tsukitei: four rooms with a garden open-air bath on the fourth source, free-flowing; the inn says the rooms carry a paid reservation. The large bath Kasensho (second source) is filtered and recirculated; Kinugasa and Kasho (third source, renewed 2019) are free-flowing. Shared halls swap sides morning and evening. The inn publishes nothing on day use.

Unzen Miyazaki Ryokan

雲仙宮崎旅館

Miyazaki asks guests with a tattoo not to use its large bath, Kirin-no-yu, and says so on its hot spring page. The same page sells three private baths, Ichi-no-yu, Ni-no-yu and San-no-yu, at ¥3,300 for 50 minutes, booked at check-in, and the premium design rooms have a semi-open-air tub of source water. The written refusal names the large bath only.

当館の大浴場のご利用につきまして、刺青・タトゥーのあるお客様はご利用をお控えください。

Best for: a tattooed guest who wants a 2022-built inn and will pay for a 50-minute private bath or a room with its own tub

Three private baths, Ichi-no-yu, Ni-no-yu and San-no-yu, ¥3,300 for 50 minutes, 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 to 9 a.m., reserved on arrival; the inn suggests one or two people. Their windows open fully to make a semi-open-air bath. Premium Design Room and Premium Design Corner have a free-flowing semi-open-air bath. No bathing-only day use, because the baths are cleaned at midday. Parking ¥500 a night, not reservable.

Hoshino Resorts Kai Unzen

星野リゾート 界 雲仙

Kai Unzen's own pages say nothing about tattoos. The group FAQ that its site links to says Hoshino Resorts does not restrict guests with tattoos, but may refuse the hot spring and large bath if it judges that other guests would be frightened. The sure answer here is a room with its own open-air bath, which the hotel sells and the booking page lists.

私たちは、お客様の文化背景や価値観を尊重し、刺青・タトゥーをされているお客様の利用を制限しておりません。 しかしながら、すべてのお客様が快適にお過ごしいただけるよう、他のお客様が恐怖心を抱く可能性があると私たちが判断した場合、温泉・大浴場のご利用をお断りする場合がございます。

Best for: someone who wants the Hoshino treatment at Unzen and a terrace tub of the milky spring to themselves

Rooms with their own open-air bath and a cooling-down space; the hotel does not publish how many. Trip.com lists two such types, RA2 (42 square meters, king bed, floors 5 and 6) and RA3 (75 square meters, three beds). The group FAQ adds that facilities also used by non-guests admit tattoos only if eight cover seals of 8 cm × 10 cm (3.1 × 3.9 in) can hide them; Kai Unzen’s own pages carry no such rule. Spring: acid, iron-bearing simple spring from the Unzen Jigoku, free-flowing with water added. Large bath in a separate bathhouse with a stained-glass indoor bath and an open-air bath on the Jigoku. Two pet rooms.

Seiunso

青雲荘

Seiunso publishes no tattoo rule for its large bath and open-air bath. It rents a private bath at ¥2,500 a room for 50 minutes, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., which staying guests can reserve in advance; day visitors ask at the desk on the day, until 5 p.m. None of the rooms has its own bath.

Best for: a day visitor who wants a locked door on the Kojigoku's milky water without staying the night

Private bath: ¥2,500 a room, 50 minutes, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. for guests with advance booking; day visitors 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., last slot 5 p.m., walk-in only. The number of private baths is not published. Day use of the shared baths 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., ¥880 adults, ¥440 children, under three free; towels ¥200 each. Open-air bath 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., large bath 11 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. All 63 rooms are without a bath. Seiunso also runs the Kojigoku Onsenkan bathhouse five minutes up the hill and gives its guests half-price tickets. Run by Nagasaki Bus Hotels.

Unzen Kanko Hotel

雲仙観光ホテル

The hotel’s FAQ refuses tattoos in its sulfur bath hall and open-air bath. It has one family bath, rented by the hour at ¥2,000 plus tax a group, on full advance reservation, and that is the one place here to bathe alone. Bathing is for staying guests only.

誠に申し訳けございませんが、当館では入れ墨（刺青）・タトゥーのあるお客様のご入浴はご遠慮頂いております。

Best for: a couple who want a 1935 mountain-lodge hotel and an hour in a tiled private bath

One family bath, ¥2,000 plus tax for one group per hour, fully reserved; the page points to the FAQ or the phone for booking. Shared baths: sulfur bath hall, open-air bath and a relaxation space, 6 to 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to midnight. No day use. Spring: acid, iron and sulfur bearing aluminum sulfate spring, pH 2.0, from the Koito Jigoku at 93.5 degrees, self-flowing. Rooms have no spring tub.

Unzen Sky Hotel

雲仙スカイホテル

The Sky Hotel publishes no tattoo rule for its two bath halls. For staying guests it rents the garden open-air bath and large bath as a private block from 11:30 p.m. to half past midnight, ¥1,000 a person for two or more. That late hour is the one way to have the water to yourself here.

Best for: a group of friends who want the whole garden bath to themselves after midnight for ¥1,000 each

Private rental plan for staying guests: the garden open-air bath and large bath together, 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., ¥1,000 a person, two or more people; how to book is not stated. Two bath halls, Kinugasa-no-yu (40 bathers, 11 showers) and Hakuun-no-yu (20 bathers, 7 showers), each with an open-air bath, swapped between men and women morning and evening. Guests 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; day use 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., fee not on the hotel's page. Water piped straight from the Unzen Jigoku, free-flowing. The special room has a cypress bath; the hotel does not say what water fills it.

Ryotei Hanzuiryo

旅亭 半水盧

Hanzuiryo publishes no tattoo rule. Its two special rooms, Tsubakien and Juen, have an open-air bath and a sauna of their own, and the operator company names a private bath, Nishi-no-yu, beside the main bathhouse without publishing its fee or hours. The cypress tub in each of the other twelve houses is heated water, not the spring, by the inn’s own rooms page.

Best for: a splurge on a detached garden house, with one of the two special rooms if you want an open-air bath of your own

14 rooms, all detached: two single-story special rooms of 300 square meters with an open-air bath, sauna, home bar and tea room, and twelve rooms in six two-story sukiya (tea-house style) buildings of about 250 square meters whose cypress bath the rooms page marks as heated water. The hot spring page names one bathhouse, Higashi-no-yu, with an indoor bath, a rock open-air bath, a sauna and a cold bath, open 15:00 to 24:00 and 5:00 to 11:00. The inn does not say whether the special rooms’ open-air baths hold spring water. Run by Onko Chishin since April 1, 2024. Opened 1992.

Tsutaya Ryokan

つたや旅館

The inn publishes no tattoo rule for its shared bathhouse. The answer here is the roof: five open-air private baths that staying guests may use free, as often as they like, whenever one is empty. There is also a private indoor bath inside the bathhouse.

Best for: couples who want to try five different rooftop tubs over one night without paying or booking

Five rooftop open-air private baths, each in a different material: Fugen-no-yu (red granite), Seiten-no-yu (blue Shigaraki ceramic), Benten-no-yu (flat iron-grey stone), Yoko-no-yu (red-brown Shigaraki ceramic) and Nyutoku-no-yu (black granite). Free for staying guests, no booking, any time one is empty, 6 a.m. to midnight. The bathhouse Kippukan also holds a private indoor bath, Yudayu. One room has its own bath and one has a semi-open-air bath.

Fukutokuya Ryokan

福徳屋旅館

Fukutokuya publishes no tattoo rule. It has no large shared bath to be turned away from: the inn bathes its guests in seven private baths, including a top-floor open-air view bath, and lets them in at any hour of the night.

Best for: night owls who want a private spring bath at 3 a.m. with nobody else in the building awake

Seven private baths, all source-fed: two semi-open-air cypress baths with a garden, Kappa-no-yu and Tanuki-no-yu, four indoor stone baths under low light, and a top-floor open-air view bath facing the sea. The inn sets no bathing hours; guests may bathe all night, with short cleaning breaks. The page does not say how a bath is claimed (key or sign) and publishes no day-use price. Some rooms have their own semi-open-air source-fed bath.

Ryokan Kunisaki

旅館 國崎

Kunisaki publishes no tattoo rule. Its three private baths, a cypress tub, a stone bath and an open-air bath, are free for guests and need no booking: if one is empty, lock the door and go in. Two rooms and the detached cottage have their own spring bath as well.

Best for: a small group that wants a 1937 farmhouse cottage with its own open-air bath and a 24-hour barrel tub

Three private baths: a cypress bath, a stone bath where cold sake can be ordered, and an open-air bath; free for staying guests, no reservation, used when empty, 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9:30 a.m. Day use 12 noon to 8 p.m.: 500 yen for the indoor baths, 1,000 yen for a private bath (children 300 and 500 yen). Two Japanese-Western rooms, Ran and Yuri, have their own hot spring bath; the detached cottage Yamaboushi, a 1937 farmhouse 30 seconds from the main building, has its own open-air bath and an indoor barrel bath open 24 hours. Gate closes at 11 p.m.

Ryokan Yunoka

旅館ゆのか

Yunoka publishes no tattoo rule for its indoor bath. A tattooed guest books one of three private baths, two of them open-air on the roof, in 50-minute slots at 1,000 yen, or takes a room with its own source-fed tub: all three annex rooms have a semi-open-air one on the terrace.

Best for: a couple who want a rooftop barrel bath to themselves at sunset and a terrace tub in the room afterwards

Three private baths, each 50 minutes by reservation, 1,000 yen: Taru-no-yu, an open-air cypress barrel on the roof for two or three adults; Maruta-no-yu, an open-air log-built tub on the roof; and Take-no-yu, indoors with a reclining bath. Hours 3 to 11:50 p.m. and 6 to 9:50 a.m., on the hour. The indoor large bath runs to midnight and 6 to 10 a.m. Day use 3 to 9 p.m.: 500 yen for the large bath, 1,000 yen for a private bath. The three annex rooms each have a semi-open-air source-fed bath and a terrace and do not take children; the main building also has rooms with a source-fed bath. Reopened after renovation on July 23, 2024.

Iseya

伊勢屋

Iseya publishes no tattoo rule. Every room in the main building has its own semi-open-air bath fed from the inn's own source, so a tattooed guest bathes in the room. There are also three family baths booked by the hour at 3,000 yen. The annex Ocean Suites have a sea-view bath that is not spring water.

Best for: someone who wants a spring tub by the window of a modern room in a 350-year-old inn

Main-building Standard (39 square meters) and Junior Suite (51 square meters) rooms each have a semi-open-air bath running on the inn's own source, with a handrail and steps, two semi-double beds and a 7.5-mat tatami area. The annex ISEYA OCEAN SUITE rooms have a sea-view bath that the inn marks as not hot spring water, and are sold room-only. Three family baths: one hour per group, 3,000 yen, booked through the inn's reservation system, reception until 6 p.m., bath cannot be chosen. Large bath day use 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., 1,000 yen adults, 500 yen children, towels and soap included. Municipal parking a minute away at 250 yen, refunded for guests.

Private Spa Hotel Orange Bay

プライベート・スパ・ホテル オレンジ・ベイ

Orange Bay publishes no tattoo rule and has no shared bath to publish one for. All 12 rooms have an open-air spring bath of their own, flowing through from the source and usable 24 hours, so a tattooed guest never leaves the room to bathe.

Best for: anyone who wants to bathe in the open air with the bay three meters away and nobody else in sight

Twelve rooms in four kinds, each with a source-fed open-air view bath: granite in the Standard Twins, cypress in the Deluxe Suite, and a terrace bath over a private garden in the two detached Hanare Welina rooms opened in December 2022, one of them step-free. The FAQ says the room baths hold three adults and run 24 hours. Breakfast is served in the room. The hotel also rents Nami-no-yu Akane, an open-air bath at the water's edge, to day visitors: 50 minutes for one to four people at 3,000 yen plus 500 yen a head beyond four, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. with last booking at 10 p.m., booked a day ahead or on the day through its YUASOBI private-bath facility, cash only, closed in rough seas or high tides.

Ryokan Yamadaya

旅館 山田屋

Yamadaya publishes no tattoo rule. Its rooftop cypress bath, Irihi-no-yu, is a men's and women's bath until 7:30 p.m. and again in the morning, but from 7:30 to 11 p.m. it becomes a reserved private bath, free, in 30- to 60-minute turns. That evening slot is the tattooed guest's bath.

Best for: a family on a budget that wants a rooftop bath to itself after dinner

Irihi-no-yu, a cypress open-air bath on the roof facing Tachibana Bay: men's and women's 3 to 7:30 p.m. and 6 to 9 a.m.; reserved private use 7:30 to 11 p.m., free, 30 to 60 minutes a turn. The page does not say how the reservation is made. Giyaman-buro, an indoor bath with Nagasaki-style stained glass and a jacuzzi, 3 to 11 p.m. and 6 to 10 a.m. Day use: 800 yen for the rooftop bath, 500 yen for the indoor bath, towel included. No rooms have their own bath.

Juraku

雲仙小浜温泉 寿楽

Juraku publishes no tattoo rule for its second-floor large bath. It has four private baths in Shigaraki ceramic, booked at the front desk at check-in in 50-minute turns; the first turn is free and later ones cost 1,100 yen. Some rooms have a semi-open-air bath of their own.

Best for: someone who wants free drinks at the lounge and one free private soak built into the price

Four private baths, each a Shigaraki ceramic tub for about two people, 50 minutes a turn, booked at the front desk at check-in; first turn free, 1,100 yen for each later turn; 3 to 10 p.m. (last booking 9 p.m.) and 6 to 9 a.m. (last booking 8 a.m.). Large bath on the second floor, men's and women's, swapped each morning, 3 p.m. to midnight and 6 to 9 a.m., with a small open-air source bath beside it and a wood-scented sauna with a cold bath, 3 to 11 p.m. Rooms with a semi-open-air bath exist but the site does not count them. Free drinks including alcohol in the lounge 3 to 9 p.m. except 5 to 6 p.m.