Japan Tattoo Friendly
Onsen Guide
Okayama · 1 h 42 from Okayama · Onsen town

Tattoo friendly onsen in Yubara

Not one operator in Yubara publishes a word about tattoos, so every listing here rests on how the bath is built rather than on a rule. The dependable answer is the family bath at Motoyu Yumoto Onsenkan, 4,000 yen for an hour behind a locked door for up to three people, on the source well under the building. Hakkei rents three separate baths and gives the barrier-free one away free, Yunokura Tsuruya puts a cypress open-air tub on four of its room balconies, and Wankoan has no shared bath at all.

7 properties

Private baths only

Tattoos are fine in a private or in-room bath. The communal baths are restricted, or the policy is unconfirmed. What this means

Illustration of Motoyu Yumoto Onsenkan in Middle of the Yubara onsen street, on the spring the town is named for
Middle of the Yubara onsen street, on the spring the town is named for Day-use public bath run by Maniwa city, with a reservable family bath Confirmed

Motoyu Yumoto Onsenkan

元湯 湯本温泉館

The city has published nothing about tattoos here, so the large bath is a gamble. The family bath is not: 4,000 yen buys an hour behind a locked door for up to three people, booked at the front desk, and nobody else is in the room. That is the reliable way into the Yubara source water for a tattooed traveler who does not want to stay the night.

Best for: A locked-door hour in the original Yubara source water without booking a room.

Open 10:00 to 21:00, last entry 20:30, closed Wednesdays. Large bath 800 yen for junior high age and up, 400 yen for primary school children. Family bath 4,000 yen per hour for up to three people, with the ordinary large-bath fare added for each extra person. The spring rises under the building. There is also an 8-tatami rest room at 1,000 yen for two hours and a coworking space called Uffice, and the counter sells spring water at 110 yen for 10 litres if you bring a container.

Motoyu Yumoto Onsenkan tattoo policy → Find a hotel nearby →
Illustration of Hakkei in Across the river from Sunayu, on the Toyosaka bank
Across the river from Sunayu, on the Toyosaka bank Ryokan with three reservable baths and a reservable sauna ★★★★☆ Confirmed

Hakkei

八景

Hakkei says nothing about tattoos anywhere on its site, so read no permission into its two large baths. It does rent three separate baths by the clock, and one of them, the barrier-free Egao-no-yu, is free. Book one at check-in and the shared-bath question never comes up.

Best for: Three different reservable baths under one roof, including a free barrier-free one with a bathing lift.

Kashikiri Spa Sora-no-yu, rebuilt after 25 years, 5,500 yen for 45 minutes, 16:00 to 24:00 and 7:00 to 10:00. Nagomi-no-yu, a stone-lined indoor reservable bath, 2,200 yen for 45 minutes, 16:00 to 24:00. Egao-no-yu, a barrier-free reservable bath on the third floor with a powered bathing lift, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and its own toilet, free. There is also a reservable sauna, Kaze-no-yu. The inn says it may refuse use on the day to anyone who has been drinking. The large bath, Kawa-no-yu, faces Sunayu across the water and swaps between men and women morning and evening.

Hakkei tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Yunokura Tsuruya in Yubara onsen street, on the site of the old Yubara sake brewery
Yubara onsen street, on the site of the old Yubara sake brewery Ryokan with cypress open-air baths in five rooms and a reservable indoor bath Confirmed

Yunokura Tsuruya

湯の蔵 つるや

No tattoo rule is published here, so the two large baths are an unknown. The way in is a room: three rooms and one suite have their own cypress open-air bath fed straight from the spring, and two more rooms have an indoor spring bath. Failing that, the all-cypress indoor bath called Makuyu rents by the session, and day visitors can rent it too.

Best for: A cypress open-air tub on your own balcony, running Yubara source water all night.

Fifteen rooms in all: three with a cypress open-air bath, one cypress-open-air special room of 10 plus 6 tatami sleeping up to six, one Japanese room and one deluxe room with a free-flowing spring bath, eight plain Japanese rooms and one Japanese-Western room. The reservable indoor bath Makuyu is 3,000 yen for 45 minutes for day visitors. Day bathing in the two large baths, Kobai-no-yu and Hakubai-no-yu, runs 15:00 to 20:00 at 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. There is no elevator, and the cypress open-air rooms are on the second floor up stairs.

Yunokura Tsuruya tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Yubara no Yado Komeya in East end of the Yubara onsen street, set back from the river
East end of the Yubara onsen street, set back from the river Ryokan with two open-air bath suites and a suite that holds the family bath ★★★☆☆ Confirmed

Yubara no Yado Komeya

ゆばらの宿 米屋

Komeya publishes no tattoo rule, so the shared baths are not an answer. Three designer suites are. Suite Kaede and Suite Momiji each have their own open-air bath, and Suite Konoka comes with the family bath Ujo-no-yu held for you until checkout, which is as close to a private bathhouse as the town gets.

Best for: A maisonette suite that keeps the family bath to itself until you check out.

Suite Kaede and Suite Momiji are maisonette special rooms with their own open-air bath. Suite Konoka is the largest and takes dogs, and its guests hold the family bath Ujo-no-yu until checkout. Standard Japanese rooms and cheaper Showa-era economy rooms have no bath of their own, and some of those also take dogs.

Yubara no Yado Komeya tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Yukaikan Hanayashiki in Yubara onsen street, a short walk south of Sunayu
Yubara onsen street, a short walk south of Sunayu Ryokan with two reservable rooftop open-air baths, sold to day visitors as well ★★★★☆ Confirmed

Yukaikan Hanayashiki

湯快感 花やしき

Hanayashiki publishes no tattoo rule, and its two indoor baths are shared, so do not assume anything there. The rooftop is different: Senryo and Manryo are reservable open-air baths, and the inn sells a day plan for Manryo between 11:00 and 15:00 with towels included. That is an hour of Yubara water on a roof with the door shut.

Best for: A rooftop open-air bath rented by the hour, with towels thrown in, without staying the night.

The two indoor baths, Tsubaki-no-yu on the third floor and Fuji-no-yu on the fourth, are free-flowing source water; the rooftop reservable baths are recirculated and reheated. Day plans come in two forms, one with a room to rest in and one for the rooftop bath alone, 11:00 to 15:00. Towels sell for 200 yen and bath towels rent for 200 yen. The inn’s own summary marks the reservable open-air baths as available with conditions.

Yukaikan Hanayashiki tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Wankoan in Shimo-Yubara, the hamlet downstream from the Yubara onsen street
Shimo-Yubara, the hamlet downstream from the Yubara onsen street Five-room inn where every room has its own open-air bath and no large bath exists ★☆☆☆☆ Confirmed

Wankoan

下湯原温泉 わんこあん

Wankoan removes the question rather than answering it. The inn states in its own Q&A that every room has an open-air bath, that the room bath is the only bath, and that there is no large bath at all. Every tub here is behind your own door, and the water is the Shimo-Yubara spring.

全室『露天風呂』が付いております。尚、お部屋のお風呂のみで大浴場はございません。

Best for: An inn with no shared bath to negotiate, and a wooden tub for the dog beside yours.

Five Japanese-modern rooms, each with an open-air bath, a foot bath and a separate wooden tub for the dog. The inn confirms the room baths are spring water and the spring is simple alkaline. Barrier-free fittings. Guests must be junior high school age or older; infants and primary school children cannot stay. Check-in 15:00 to 18:00, checkout by 11:00.

Wankoan tattoo policy → Check availability
Illustration of Petit Hotel Yubara Resort in Yubara onsen street, opposite the post office
Yubara onsen street, opposite the post office Ten-room Western-style hotel where every room bath runs spring water ★★★★☆ Confirmed

Petit Hotel Yubara Resort

プチホテルゆばらリゾート

Every room here has its own bath and tap, and the operator says the bath water in the rooms is the spring itself rather than tap water. The detached rooms go further and have a family bath big enough for three. There is also a reservable open-air bath. No tattoo rule is published, so treat the shared bath as unknown and book a room that solves it.

Best for: A Western room in a Japanese onsen town with the spring piped into its own tub.

Ten rooms, all with different layouts: Western twin, triple and suite, and Japanese-Western rooms for four and six plus a semi-barrier-free detached room. All rooms have a bath and toilet, and the bath runs spring water. The detached rooms have a family bath that three people can use at once. The hotel also runs an orgel recital, an onsen guide service and sightseeing in a London taxi, and sells day bathing.

Petit Hotel Yubara Resort tattoo policy → Check availability
Traveler’s note

Sunayu, the free mixed open-air bath on the riverbed under the dam, is what most people drive here for, and nobody publishes a tattoo rule for it. What the Maniwa Tourism Bureau does publish is how you are expected to be dressed: women are urged to wear a rental bathing gown, men wrap a towel, and a swimsuit is allowed. Gowns rent for 2,000 yen with 1,000 yen back, or 500 yen for inn guests. It is open around the clock and cleaned on Wednesday mornings.

Getting there

Tickets for the ride in

Sold on Klook. Booking through these links costs you nothing extra and sends a small commission our way.

Common questions

Yubara questions

Can I use a shared bath in Yubara with a tattoo?

Nobody has said. Thirteen operators in the town publish nothing either way, so this guide lists no shared bath here. The water you can count on is the family bath at Motoyu Yumoto Onsenkan, 4,000 yen an hour for up to three people, booked at the front desk and locked behind you.

Which Yubara baths can I rent without staying the night?

Yunokura Tsuruya rents its all-cypress Makuyu to day visitors for 3,000 yen for 45 minutes. Hanayashiki sells a rooftop open-air bath between 11:00 and 15:00 with towels included, and Petit Hotel Yubara Resort sells day bathing as well. Hakkei’s three reservable baths run on guest hours, from 16:00.

Which Yubara inns give me a bath in the room?

Yunokura Tsuruya has three rooms and a suite with a cypress open-air bath and two more with an indoor spring tub. Komeya’s two maisonette suites each have their own open-air bath, and a third holds the family bath Ujo-no-yu until checkout. All five rooms at Wankoan have one.

How do I get to Yubara from Okayama?

There is no railway. The Shin Kurayoshi Kaido express bus runs from the west entrance of Okayama station to Yubara Onsenguchi in about 1 h 40 for 2,800 yen, but Jorudan shows only one departure all day, at 17:30. Confirm the morning buses with the operator before you plan around them.

More places to bathe

Other guides

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