Sources and method

This guide lists 296 baths in 45 prefectures. 245 have a tattoo rule published by the facility, its operator group or an official municipal or tourism page. 51 are listed as tattoo-OK by a Japanese bath directory, but the facility's own website says nothing about tattoos.

How a bath gets listed

• We read the facility's own website, FAQ or rules page. If it says guests with tattoos can use the shared bath, the listing is marked Tattoos allowed and we quote the Japanese wording with an English translation.
• If the page sets a condition, such as a cover sticker, a size limit, set hours or a form, the listing is marked Allowed with conditions and the condition is stated.
• Where an operator publishes one rule for all of its properties (for example Hoshino Resorts), each property links to that group rule.
• Where a city tourism listing tags a bath as tattoo-OK without details, it is marked Listed as tattoo-OK.
• Baths that a Japanese directory (@nifty Onsen, tattoo-OK category) lists, but whose website does not mention tattoos, are marked Reported tattoo-OK. Ask at reception before paying.
• If the official page says tattoos are refused, the bath is not listed, even if a directory says otherwise.
• Sauna-only businesses and private sauna rooms are not included, because this guide is about baths.

How we searched

Between 7 and 9 October 2026 we searched each of the 47 prefectures in Japanese and English for phrases that facilities use when they allow tattoos, read the tattoo-OK categories of Japanese bath directories and community maps as leads, and then opened each facility's own website to check the wording. Directories were only used to find candidates; a directory entry alone never upgrades a bath to "Tattoos allowed".

Coordinates come from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan address search or OpenStreetMap Nominatim. English town names come from OpenStreetMap. The map outline is from Natural Earth (public domain), simplified.

Rules change. Each listing shows the date it was checked. Please tell the facility's staff if a rule has changed, and check the official page before you travel.

Checked and excluded

• Hakone Yuryo (Kanagawa): Unconfirmed. No current explicit official tattoo permission source confirmed.
• Kutsusakamoto Onsen (Shizuoka): Temporarily closed. Official Shizuoka City notice reports closure pending road restoration.
• Hotel SANSUI NAHA / Naminoue-no-Yu (Okinawa): Expired trial policy. Official tattoo notice was limited to 1 Jul–31 Aug 2025; no current extension confirmed.
• Myoban Yama-no-Yu (Oita): Temporarily closed. Beppu City tourism listing reports closure from 1 Apr 2026 until further notice.
• Mercure Miyagi Zao (Miyagi): Address unconfirmed. Facility-level address not confirmed against an official source; not listed.
• Yubune Sodegaura (Chiba): Policy unconfirmed. Official sticker-sale page did not explicitly confirm permission to bathe with tattoos.
• Fukusenka's Atakkayu candidate (Fukuoka): Policy unconfirmed. No affirmative current official tattoo rule confirmed for that separate facility.
• Shiosai Toyoura (Hokkaido): Excluded. Official facility information prohibits tattoos.
• Kinosaki Satono-Yu (Hyogo): Closed indefinitely. Official tourism notice says it remains indefinitely closed.
• Kinosaki Kono-Yu (Hyogo): Temporary renovation closure. Official tourism information lists renovation through 30 Oct 2026; not recommended until reopening is confirmed.
• Nagoya, Kanazawa, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Nara and wider Sapporo/Tokyo/Hakone (Multiple): Not exhaustively reviewed. Targeted candidate scan remains incomplete; no permission inferred from bath type, reviews, or generic directories.
• Route Inn hotel chain (Nationwide): Not listed individually. Its hotels share one rule: tattoos must be fully covered with cover stickers in the guest-only large bath. Business-hotel baths were left out so they do not crowd out onsen and sento.
• Dormy Inn hotels (Miyazaki, Kofu and others) (Nationwide): Excluded. The FAQ refuses tattoos in principle and says only that some hotels provide cover stickers, without saying which.
• Prince Hotels with onsen (Naeba, Manza, Shizukuishi and others) (Nationwide): Excluded. Pages say tattoo use "may be partly restricted" without stating the rule.
• Sauna-only businesses and private sauna rooms (Nationwide): Out of scope. Dozens of saunas allow tattoos, but this guide covers baths.
• Sauna Ikitai "tattoo ○" flags (Nationwide): Not used. User-contributed flags without a facility statement and without a stable public source link were not listed.
• Facilities refusing tattoos on their own site (Nationwide): Excluded. Where a directory lists a bath as tattoo-OK but the facility’s site says tattoos are refused (for example Gokurakuyu, Sauna Cotan Sapporo from 1 Jan 2026), the facility’s wording wins.
• Tokushima and Kochi prefectures (Shikoku): No listing yet. No bath with a published tattoo-OK rule or directory report was found in these two prefectures during this search.