At Gora Hanaougi in Hakone and Nanzenji Garden Ryokan Yachiyo in Kyoto, tattooed guests can use the shared baths; at Taketoritei Maruyama in Arima Onsen every bath is private, so tattoos are fine. Seven more name a private or in-room bath for tattooed guests. Each rule is from the inn's own site, checked 24 October 2026.
Many ryokan baths still turn away tattoos, and many inns say nothing at all, which leaves you to ask. This list is only inns that answer the question on their own website: either tattoos are allowed in the shared baths, or the inn names a private bath (kashikiri) or the bath in your room as the place for tattooed guests. A private bath alone is not enough to make the list, because some inns with one still do not say it is open to you. Each note quotes the inn's rule as it reads, links the page we read it on and gives the date we checked; rules change, so check the page again before you book. In the shared-bath inns you still bathe with other guests; everywhere else the bath is yours alone.
By Meg Faibisch Kühn · Updated · How we choose inns
Photo: 663highland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5, cropped and resized
| # | Ryokan | Location | Price | Private onsen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gora Hanaougi | Hakone | Premium | Yes |
| 2 | Nanzenji Garden Ryokan Yachiyo | Kyoto | Premium | – |
| 3 | Gora Kadan | Hakone | Luxury | Yes |
| 4 | Arima Onsen Taketoritei Maruyama | Kobe | Mid-range | Yes |
| 5 | Fuji-Hakone Guest House | Hakone | Budget | Yes |
| 6 | Hatsuhana | Hakone | Premium | Yes |
| 7 | Yoshimatsu | Hakone | Premium | Yes |
| 8 | Arima Onsen Kinzan | Kobe | Luxury | Yes |
| 9 | Kinugawa Kanaya Hotel | Nikko | Luxury | Yes |
| 10 | Sakunami Onsen Yuzukushi Salon Ichinobo | Sendai | Luxury | Yes |
#1Hakone, Kanto
The inn's FAQ is plain: guests with tattoos can use the large baths. Every room also has its own open-air bath of hot spring water, if you would rather bathe alone.
Source: the inn's FAQ, checked October 24, 2026
#2Kyoto, Kansai
Asked whether guests with tattoos can bathe, the inn's FAQ says yes, and asks you to shower well first. The large bath is open 15:00 to 17:00, 22:00 to midnight and 6:30 to 10:00; from 17:00 to 21:45 it becomes a private bath, 45 minutes by booking, free once per guest and ¥4,000 after. It is a traditional bath, not hot spring water.
Source: the inn's FAQ, checked October 24, 2026
#3Hakone, Kanto
Its English FAQ allows small fashion tattoos, up to about A4 size, in the public baths and the pool. For larger tattoos it asks you to use the private bath instead.
Source: the inn's FAQ (PDF), checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: 1-2 nights ideal for combining with Hakone sightseeing
#4Kobe, Kansai
Every hot spring bath in the inn is a private one, so its FAQ says guests with tattoos can use them. The FAQ also says dinner ends on 30 December 2026: from January 2027 the inn serves breakfast only.
Source: the inn's FAQ, checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: 1-2 nights
#5Hakone, Kanto
A guest house in Sengokuhara whose indoor and outdoor hot spring baths are both for private use, so its site says you need not worry about a tattoo. The indoor bath is included in the room rate; the outdoor one is ¥500 per person.
Source: the inn's hot spring page, checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: 1-2 nights
#6Hakone, Kanto
Tattoos are not allowed in the large baths; the FAQ asks tattooed guests to use the open-air bath in their room, which every room has, filled with hot spring water, or the private baths. These are free, 45 minutes each, booked by phone ahead or at check-in.
Source: the inn's FAQ, checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: 1-2 nights
#7Hakone, Kanto
The inn's tattoo policy page says guests with tattoos cannot use the large baths, and offers the family bath, a lockable private bath that needs no booking, or a room with its own open-air bath booked in advance. A small tattoo that a cover sticker hides may be allowed in the large baths.
Source: the inn's tattoo policy page, checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: 1-2 nights
#8Kobe, Kansai
Tattoos are refused in the large baths and the open-air bath. To bathe in the hot spring, the inn asks you to book a room with an open-air or semi-open-air bath of its own, so choose the room type with care.
Source: the inn's bath page, checked October 24, 2026
Recommended stay: Two nights to experience both bath rotations, explore Arima town, and enjoy two distinct kaiseki dinners.
#9Nikko, Kanto
Article 10 of the house rules asks guests with tattoos not to use the large baths, and to use the bath in their room. Only some rooms have a hot spring bath, so book one of those for an onsen soak.
Source: the inn's house rules (PDF), article 10, checked October 24, 2026
#10Sendai, Tohoku
The house rules are strict about the shared baths: tattoos are refused there, open-air bath included, even under a cover sticker. Guests with tattoos are asked to use the bath in their room, and only some room types have one, so book one that does.
Source: the inn's house rules, checked October 24, 2026
We read each inn's own website, house rules or FAQ, in Japanese where the English pages say nothing, and list an inn only when the page names tattoos. Inns that allow tattoos in the shared baths come first; then the inns where every bath is private; then the ones that keep tattoos out of the shared baths but name a private or in-room bath instead. If an inn you like is not here, it may simply not say: ask it directly before you book, and ask whether its private bath is open to tattooed guests.
In Kinosaki Onsen the town's public baths, the sotoyu that guests walk between in yukata, all allow tattoos, so a stay there gets you into the shared baths whatever your inn's own rule.
Only where the inn allows it. Of the ten inns here, Gora Hanaougi and Nanzenji Garden Ryokan Yachiyo let tattooed guests use the shared baths, and Gora Kadan allows small tattoos up to about A4 size. Yoshimatsu says a small tattoo hidden by a cover sticker may be allowed. The others keep tattoos to a private or in-room bath.
Not always, which is why we list an inn only when its own site says so. Nanaeyae in Nikko, for one, bans tattoos in its large and open-air baths and does not say whether its private baths may be used. If an inn does not say, ask it before you book.
Kinosaki Onsen, where the town's public baths all allow tattoos, so you can use them whatever your own inn's rule.
The inns were picked by hand. Each is listed because its own website, policy page or FAQ says tattooed guests may use its shared baths, or names a private or in-room bath for them, and we read that page on 24 October 2026. An inn that has a private bath but says nothing about tattoos is not listed. Shared-bath inns come first, then inns where every bath is private, then inns that offer a private or in-room bath instead. If the top inn cannot be booked through one of our partners, the highest-placed one that can moves to first place. We do not show review scores, which come without a review count, and inns cannot pay to be listed or placed.
From each inn's own website: Gora Hanaougi, Nanzenji Garden Ryokan Yachiyo, Arima Onsen Taketoritei Maruyama and Fuji-Hakone Guest House allow tattoos in all baths; at Hatsuhana, Yoshimatsu, Arima Onsen Kinzan, Kinugawa Kanaya Hotel and Sakunami Onsen Yuzukushi Salon Ichinobo they are allowed in the private baths only. We have not confirmed this for the other inn on the page.
Every room has its own onsen bath at Gora Hanaougi and Hatsuhana; some rooms do at Arima Onsen Taketoritei Maruyama, Yoshimatsu, Arima Onsen Kinzan, Kinugawa Kanaya Hotel and Sakunami Onsen Yuzukushi Salon Ichinobo, according to each inn's own website. We have not confirmed this for the other 3 inns on the page.
For the kashikiri (private, taken-in-turns) bath, you book a time slot at Nanzenji Garden Ryokan Yachiyo, Gora Kadan, Arima Onsen Taketoritei Maruyama and Hatsuhana; no booking is needed at Yoshimatsu; you use it when it is free. We have not confirmed this for the other 5 inns on the page.
Dinner is served in your room at Gora Kadan and Yoshimatsu; dinner is served in a private dining room at Gora Hanaougi and Hatsuhana, according to each inn's own website. We have not confirmed this for the other 6 inns on the page.
Facts on this page checked .
Ryokans whose own sites confirm an onsen bath in the room or a private bath you book, checked by us: which rooms have one and how the kashikiri booking works.
Eight ryokans in Kinosaki Onsen from the Nishimuraya houses to 350-year-old Yamamotoya and small inns by the station, with private baths, crab season and the pass to the seven public bathhouses.
Every Hakone ryokan we list: Mount Fuji views, natural onsen baths and kaiseki dining, about 80 minutes from Shinjuku by Romancecar.