Why baths refuse tattoos
In Japan, tattoos have long been linked with organised crime, and many baths adopted rules against them to keep other bathers at ease. The rule applies to everyone, visitors included, whatever the tattoo, and some inns include stick-on tattoos and body paint: Akan Tsuruga Bessou Hinanoza and Kofuyuden Beniya say so.
In a 2015 survey by the Japan Tourism Agency, 56% of the hotels and inns that replied said they refused guests with tattoos in their shared baths, 31% accepted them, and 13% accepted them if covered. The picture at the inns on our list is better than that, mostly because so many have no shared baths at all.
The rule at each inn we know
Nearly half the inns on our list have no shared baths: you bathe in your room or villa, and no rule applies. A few welcome tattoos in their shared baths, a few allow small ones covered, and a few refuse them, in which case your own bath is the way round it. Where an inn's rule is not published, it is not listed here; we ask it for you.
On our list
Tattoos accepted in the shared baths3
Hoshinoya TokyoOtemachi, TokyoTattoos are not banned in the baths. Staff may refuse if they could cause discomfort
Small or covered tattoos only4
Gora Kadan FujiSubashiri, Mount FujiTattoos must be covered in the baths and pool. Use plasters; swimsuits are not allowed
ShoraisoYudanaka OnsenTattoos not allowed in Yorozuya's shared baths. Palm-sized, covered with a sticker, is fine
No shared baths, so no rule to meet36
Every room or villa has its own bath.
The other 31
Lake Shikotsu Tsuruga Bessou Ao no ZaShikotsuko Onsen, Lake ShikotsuEvery suite has an open-air hot-spring bath
Shikotsuko Tsuruga Besso KohakunoshoShikotsuko Onsen, Lake ShikotsuEvery room has its own hot-spring bath
Not in the shared baths7
The baths in the room, or one reserved for your party, are the way round it.
Akan Tsuruga Bessou HinanozaAkanko Onsen, Lake AkanTattoos are not allowed in the large baths. This includes stick-on tattoos
Iki Retreat Kairi Murakami by Onko ChishinYunomoto Onsen, IkiGuests with tattoos are asked not to bathe
Niseko Konbu Onsen Tsuruga Besso Moku no ShoKonbu Onsen, NisekoNo tattoos in the public baths. Tattoo stickers are not allowed either
The other 2
Cover stickers
Some baths admit a small tattoo under a skin-coloured cover sticker. At the Yorozuya baths used by Shoraiso's guests, a palm-sized tattoo covered with a sticker is fine; at Gora Kadan Fuji tattoos must be covered in the baths and pool, with plasters. Others refuse even covered ones: Niseko Konbu Onsen Tsuruga Besso Moku no Sho does not allow tattoo stickers either.
Swimsuits and rash vests are not allowed in onsen, so they are no way round the rule. Stickers are therefore a help only for small tattoos, which is why most guests with larger ones choose an inn where they need not use the shared bath.
Private baths: the answer
A bath of your own avoids the question. A hot-spring bath in your room, or a kashikiri (a private bath you reserve) shared with other guests in turns, can be used with any tattoo. Kinnotake Sengokuhara and Kinnotake Tonosawa have no shared baths and say tattoos are fine in your private open-air bath; at Fufu Atami, where tattoos are not allowed in the shared baths, your room's open-air bath is fine.
If you want the shared baths too, choose one of the few inns that welcome tattoos there, such as Araya Totoan, Yachiyo or Hoshinoya Tokyo, where staff may still refuse if they judge a tattoo could cause discomfort.
Check before you go
Rules differ from inn to inn and change over time, and some baths that allow tattoos still reserve the right to refuse. Tell us the size and place of the tattoo when you book and we will ask the inn directly, in Japanese, before you arrive.
