Japan's Onsen and Ryokan Tattoo Policies and Towel Rentals Differ by Facility

Whether tattoos get a bather turned away at a Japanese onsen or ryokan depends on the individual facility, and no nationwide law forces this rule either way. Neither the Public Bathhouse Act nor the Hotel Business Act includes a clause about refusing entry over tattoos. In a 2016 announcement, the Japan Tourism Agency also presented sample responses only, treating the actual decision as each facility's own call. Towels are largely a paid item too unless you're staying overnight at the facility, with rental prices ranging from roughly 250 yen to 500 yen depending on where you go. Below is a summary of the real rules and what to pack, based on verifiable official sources.

Refusing tattooed bathers is a facility's own call, and the law stays silent on it

A notice that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sent to the public hygiene divisions of local governments nationwide on March 18, 2016 was written on the premise that how a bathing facility handles tattoos is left entirely to that facility's discretion. Neither the Public Bathhouse Act nor the Hotel Business Act contains a provision that permits or bans refusing entry over tattoos. In practice, this means Facility A at a hot spring town can legally welcome tattooed guests while Facility B down the road turns them away, and both are within the law.

Around the same time, the Japan Tourism Agency also stated in its official guidance that tattoos pose no hygiene problem, while still leaving the final call to each facility. For travelers, then, there is no single "onsen tattoo policy" to look up. Checking the individual facility you plan to visit is the only reliable approach.

Three practical conditions the Tourism Agency laid out for passing

In its 2016 announcement, the Japan Tourism Agency gave facilities three example responses they could reference when dealing with tattooed foreign travelers.

• If the tattoo is covered with a waterproof seal or similar, or if it's small enough (about palm sized) that it doesn't intimidate other bathers, no further action is needed.
• Guide the guest to bathe during time slots when fewer families with children are present.
• At facilities with multiple baths, direct guests to a separate section, or offer a private reserved bath (kashikiri-buro) or a room with its own private bath.

These conditions carry no legal force and are simply recommended examples. Many facilities effectively treat "palm sized or smaller, plus a cover seal" as the real threshold for passing, which makes it the most concrete benchmark travelers can check in advance.

Some towns allow tattoos everywhere, other individual facilities still refuse

Kinosaki Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture announced through its tourism association's official account that all seven soto-yu (shared public bathhouses) in town are tattoo friendly. Overnight guests receive free vouchers for the soto-yu from their ryokan, and day-trip visitors can buy admission tickets at each soto-yu directly. That said, this guidance covers only the town's shared public baths; many ryokan still ban tattoos in their own large communal baths, so those need to be checked separately.

The official FAQ for Kusatsu Onsen's three flagship facilities in Gunma Prefecture, Otakinoyu, Gozanoyu, and Nishinokawara Rotenburo (known together as the Kusatsu 3 Baths), states plainly that they never refuse entry or bathing over tattoos or scarring. This guidance, however, applies only to those three facilities. There is no single unified policy covering all of Kusatsu Onsen, which confirms once again that even within the same hot spring town, checking facility by facility is necessary.

Towels usually cost extra: how prices compare by facility

At day-use onsen facilities, towels are mostly a paid rental or purchase item rather than a free amenity. Whether rental is even offered, and how much it costs, also varies by facility, so skipping the price list can mean paying more than expected on site.

Ryokan guests typically bring the towel provided in their room into the large communal bath. Even so, this depends on each property's own amenity policy, so it's safer to confirm at booking whether a towel for the communal bath is included.

Pre departure checklist

• If you have a tattoo, contact the facility or check its official site directly before booking to confirm whether bathing is allowed. Outside of areas like Kinosaki Onsen, where the tourism association has issued an official townwide policy, facility to facility variation within the same hot spring town can be large.
• If your tattoo is small, bring a waterproof cover seal that can conceal it down to about palm size. Don Quijote and similar stores sell waterproof tattoo cover seals (products in the Hadakakushi-heto line, the irodore brand's Don Quijote collaboration items, and others).
• At a facility where refusal seems likely, book a private reserved bath (kashikiri-buro) or a room with its own bath in advance as a backup.
• For day-use onsen visits, check the price list beforehand for towel rental or purchase costs, and bring your own towel to save on the rental fee.

Reference: 観光庁 - 入れ墨（タトゥー）がある外国人旅行者の入浴に関する対応について

Reference: 厚生労働省 - 入れ墨があることを理由とした入浴拒否に関する事務連絡（平成28年3月18日）

Reference: 草津温泉 大滝乃湯【草津三湯】よくあるご質問（公式）

Reference: 城崎温泉観光協会【公式】 - 外湯タトゥーフレンドリー案内

Reference: 箱根湯寮 料金・営業時間（公式）

Reference: irodore（タトゥーシールブランド） - ドン・キホーテ コラボコレクション