Shirasagiyu Tawaraya
白鷺湯たわらや
Does Shirasagiyu Tawaraya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tawaraya claims eight centuries on this spot and the biggest flow of spring water in Yamanaka, and it now pipes that water into rooms with their own saunas and open-air tubs above the gorge.
Tawaraya publishes no tattoo rule. It rents one private open-air bath facing the gorge, 3,300 yen for 45 minutes, booked by phone ahead of time in order of calls, and it sells four types of room with their own source-fed bath, all added since 2022. Take one of those and the shared bath never matters.
Where it is
Kanazawa STN
Kaga-Onsen STN change to Hokutetsu Kaga bus · 32 min
Hokuriku Shinkansen 18 min
✈Komatsu Airport
Hotel locationYamanaka Onsen STN
JR Hokuriku Area Pass Four days on the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Tsuruga and Kurobe-Unazukionsen, non-reserved, for 7,000 yen. It covers the ride from Kanazawa to Kaga-Onsen; the Hokutetsu Kaga bus from the station is paid separately. Worth it if Awara, Unazuki or a second Kaga town is on the same trip. 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 rather than a tattoo policy (the inn’s 温泉 page, 客室 page and FAQ)
Read on: tawaraya.co.jp/room/
Best for: A room with its own sauna and source-water open-air bath above the gorge
Private bath 6:00–11:00 and 15:00–0:00; the official site offers 1,100 yen off it when booking direct. Room types: sauna and source open-air bath special room, in-room dining and open-air bath special room (both April 2023), source open-air bath and sauna twin, and a semi-open-air bath special room (March 2022). The riverside open-air bath Kakusen holds about thirty; a sauna and semi-open-air bath opened in November 2025. The inn says it has the most spring water in Yamanaka, 90 liters a minute, and that it has passed down 800 years. Tattoo-ja.com marks it tattoo OK only on a sauna site’s say-so and notes the official site says nothing.
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